ALBANY WATCH

Taxpayers on the hook for millions in police, prison OT during prisoner manhunt

Joseph Spector, jspector@gannett.com

Overtime increased $2.5 million at the Clinton Correctional facility.
Overtime was up $2.5 million at Sing Sign in Ossining, Westchester County.
State Police overtime was up 151% or $10.6 million to a total of $17.6 million.

ALBANY – The prison break in northern New York was a costly one for taxpayers.

Law enforcement officers from several different agencies continue an intensive search for Richard Matt, and David Sweat, near the maximum-security Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, N.Y., June 14, 2015. The search for the two convicted murders nears its second week.

Overtime for State Police and the state prison system surged 64 percent in June and July — an increase of more than $1 million a day — compared to the same period in 2014 because of a three-week manhunt for two escaped prisoners.

The figures released Friday by the state Comptroller’s Office showed that the work hours needs to capture the men was expensive: Overtime increased nearly $23 million during the two-month stretch to almost $59 million.

At the Clinton Correctional Facility, from where Richard Matt and David Sweat escaped on June 6, overtime increased $2.5 million compared to the same two months in 2014.

State Police and the Department of Correctional and Community Supervision, which oversees the prison system, defended the spending.

"The state had the responsibility of tracking down two convicted and dangerous murderers while protecting the public,” Beau Duffy, a spokesman for State Police, said in a statement. “The agencies deployed the resources necessary to get the job done, and as a result, both inmates were caught and not one member of the public or law enforcement was harmed.”

The North Country prison wasn’t the only one to have an increase in overtime during the period.

Overtime doubled to $1.7 million at the Fishkill Correctional Facility; was up 37 percent to $1.8 million at the Elmira Correctional Facility; and increased 35 percent to $2.5 million at Sing Sign in Ossining, Westchester County.

State officials had downplayed the expense of the search, saying the goal was to capture the two convicted killers.

State Police and the corrections department were among the state and federal agencies that responded to the escape, which at times included more than 1,000 officers.

“I don’t concern myself with the cost of the search. I concern myself with finding the inmates,” Maj.Charles Guess of the State Police said June 23.

Gannett Albany’s Bureau and other media outlets obtained the data Friday through a Freedom of Information request.

The overtime increase was greater at the corrections department. Overtime among the prisons and its central staff soared 43 percent: a $12.3 million increase, to $41.1 million.

The percentage increase was larger at State Police, though: up 151 percent or $10.6 million to a total of $17.6 million.

The 23-day manhunt through the Adirondacks ended in late June when Matt was shot and killed June 26.

Sweat was captured two days later and is being housed at a maximum-security facility in the Finger Lakes.

The breakout has led to two arrests.

Prison worker Joyce Mitchell pleaded guilty July 28 to conspiring to help Matt and Sweat escape. She faces up to seven years in prison when she is sentenced Sept. 28.

Corrections officer Gene Palmer is also charged in the caper for allegedly sneaking tools to the men.

At least 12 officers, including the former superintendent at Clinton, filed paperwork to retire since the escape. Superintendent Steven Racette was among three administrators and nine guards who were put on leave after the breakout.

The state Inspector's General Office is investigating the incident amid reports of abuse of inmates at the prison after Sweat and Matt escaped.

JSPECTOR@Gannett.com