Albany – A member of the New York State Public Employees Federation (PEF) who works for the state Division of Parole was shot as he sat at his desk in his downtown Brooklyn office Thursday night. Parole Officer Samuel Salters suffered a gunshot wound to his shoulder and remains in stable condition at Bellevue Hospital Center. Salters was shot by a paroled murderer who eye witnesses said sat in the waiting room of the parole office until his name was called, then calmly approached Officer Salters and shot him.

The incident has renewed calls for metal detectors in parole offices, something PEF has been trying to negotiate with the state Divison of Parole (DOP) for several years.

“The DOP agreed to a pilot program in 2009 that would install two metal detectors in offices in New York City,” said PEF President Kenneth Brynien. “That program has been stalled due to disagreement over how to staff the detectors. Our parole officers are being forced to choose between protecting their own safety and that of the public. Our officers are trying to deal with caseloads that have become unmanageably high. Pulling
officers off caseloads to staff metal detectors puts public safety at risk.”

“This comes down to appropriate staffing levels,” said parole officer and PEF Council Leader Manuelita Clemente. “We recognize there is a hiring freeze due to the state’s fiscal crisis, but we are talking about life and death and the safety of our officers, visitors and parolees. The only deterrent at this time is a piece of paper on the wall that lists banned items including weapons,” Clemente said.

In March 2009, another parolee brought a weapon into a parole office in Queens. That parolee was shot to death at the Queens DOP office after grabbing a parole officer and holding a knife to her throat.

“This latest incident should serve as a warning, the state can no longer hide behind the budget deficit as an excuse not to staff metal detectors in the state’s parole offices,” Brynien added.

PEF is the state’s second-largest state-employee union, representing 58,000 professional, scientific and technical employees, including more than 900 parole officers.