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Presenting City record a program designed to acquaint New Yorkers with the workings of their city government now to introduce this evening's guest here is similar and say Go director of radio communications for the city of New York Mr Siegel Good evening ladies and gentlemen we are living in an age of progress one a vast scientific invention and discovery but yet somehow the field of social relations still present serious problems evidence of this is the fact that the city maintains an operate some twelve houses of the touch and for people who have not been able to adjust themselves to society and turn to crime we are fortunate that these prisons and workhouses a supervised by Commissioner of Corrections and I am cross and extremely capable and enlightened administrative judge of course is also a member of the parole commission on the New York City Youth Board she was originally appointed on January first one hundred fifty four and she'd been reappointed on January first nineteen fifty eight commercial Let's get some vital statistics out of the way first what does the department corrections actually dealt according to the chart as this is its exact function the New York City Department of Correction has jurisdiction and control of ten institutions for the care and custody of offenders either while awaiting trial or receiving treatment after attending. The institutions are a penitentiary a work out five detention prison to hospital prison wards and a detention prison for female offenders which says also as a sentence institution the department also has charge of detention pens adjacent to the various courts of twenty seven different locations throughout the city of New York prisoners in these pens I held for disposition by sixty nine courts in performing its functions the Department of Corrections also is responsible for the transportation between the various courts and all institutions of the city and state of New York of all places charged with all convicted of crimes our offenses judge want to be on your budget over a Department of Corrections. At the fifty seven fifty eight budget under which we are operating until the end of this month was fourteen million three hundred ninety. Two Dallas both crime rate and. I repeat fourteen million three hundred ninety two thousand four hundred seventy three dollars plus some sense while the most lay close to fifty Dean million dollars. How many employees do you have. Two thousand one hundred and sixty correctional officers and civilian what your current capital budget my current capital budget is about ten million dollars That is the monies that we were allocated for expenditures this year but the overall capital budget is about fifty million dollars but it will take us five to ten years to complete the entire capital outlay budget that was for current financial summary actually pressure. Sensors in our city prisons have been harboring between eight thousand and eighty six hundred. Are High Mass was eighty six something about two or three months ago where in the a thousands now it goes up and down but we reach the high spot we have accommodations for only a little over five thousand so it means doubling up almost in every one of our institutions or commercial we hear a great deal about personal education would you want to have a little bit about that. In my opinion. Prison would be a complete waste if the community is did not recognize that it obligatory for them to try to correct that's the purpose of the department to correct to rehabilitate we have we're developing an educational system when this administration took over it was very very limited the Board of Education had stepped into the picture we hope and we are developing programs both academic nature and vocational not only for our youth but for our adult pop population I difficulty this year is the lack of funding because of the present predicament in which the city finds itself we have not been able to expand our educational and rehabilitative services but we have set a program going we give opportunities to all population that is sentenced to take the high school equivalency test and we have really done a tremendous job more so in this administration than in any other we are also developing a counseling says this as well as an education of that for our young people which I hope will produce results again it comes down to the need for more money that the public will understand how important it is to develop the educational and rehabilitated says if we may be able to stem the tide of this to rethink increasing. QUESTION We heard recently that the medical care for drug addicts which had previously been handled by you had a problem was recently turned over to the Department of hospitals I believe but you like to tell us a little bit about I'd like to make that clear that unfortunately when this administration took over the Department of Correction was used as the only place in the city for. Unfortunate victims of drugs that were not prisoners they were just sick people but no hospitals took them so they were sent to the Department of Corrections in my opinion that was wrong from the beginning and I immediately died in trying to see what we could do to change that pattern. After negotiation and conferences with the federal government with the state government with the our various public and private agencies we came to the conclusion that they certainly it's agreed that a person that is sick but is not a criminal doesn't belong in a jail that was difficult to find a place for them but the city should be congratulated in particularly the mayor who personally did all he could to help make this change and today South committed drug addicts drug addicts no longer are in the Department of Corrections they are being taken care of by our city hospitals and there is a program that is being developed in cooperation with the state government for a real research and study of the best possible ways of providing medical care for people that are addicted but that doesn't mean to say that the Department of Correction hasn't a narcotic problem the great majority of our. Inmates have been directly or indirectly involved in narcotics those that are uses are victims of the unsound manner in which the whole narcotic problem has been handled all over the country and as victims they have become involved either in Los unease all right with the women in prostitution in order to get the money to buy this illicit need of their I say illicit need drugs out of no Lisette matter due to the way the federal government is handling that Fed Federal legislation that makes it illegal to possess or to use or to dispense or sells drugs now there's no question that the people that sell drugs today are criminals most of the real big sellers are not use it it's the little fellas that are the users as well as the sellers in the language of the narcotic world the pushers they get involved in it and it's tragic when you realize that so large a percentage of our population in the Department of Corrections are involved in drugs we try to do everything we can for them but we have an adequate resources either medical or psychiatric we hope that in this cooperative effort of the state and the city we may find ways. With an enlightened public and an intelligent public we may get the funding to do the jobs that have to be done George we've heard about the establishment around inmate camps all in the prisons would you want to say a word or two about this where we found that it was a very important to have some channel of communication between this large mass of prisoners when you realize that we have over forty four thousand that them prisoners ranging in the age of sixteen to all ages so that I doubt that the best way we could do it is to develop a council first a youth council in. The group that are under twenty one that we keep separate and apart we have an adolescent set up that we can well be proud of that unfortunately not enough money they are housed in dormitories and each dormitory elect two representatives to the youth council at the penitentiary in the adult population that are housed in cell block each cell block elect representatives to the adult Council they meet regularly under the supervision and leadership of one of the deputy warden's. It is and it is an attempt to try to get the prisoner to realize that there are lines of communication between each individual prisoner through his representative and the prison authorities we have found that it has been very beneficial in getting them to understand our program are objects to our room it has reduced conflict within the prison amongst the prisoners and above all a better understanding between staff and the prison is a correction officer job is a very difficult job and with where shorthanded we need our situated so that because of the overcrowding the two correctional officers are in charge in the adult cell block of a minimum of two hundred and forty prisoners sometimes there's only one man on duty so that you can readily understand how important it is to develop every possible means. Understanding between prisoners and correction officers in one of our cellblocks we've had over three hundred prisoners three hundred forty one DOD those that were awaiting assignment going Oh would you like to tell us a little bit about what the current goals of the department are well the current goals at the present time is one to develop a proper realignment between the city and the state I think at the present time that the state is compelled to assume responsibilities that isn't pin knowledge a should be distinctly a state function to reduce the. Period of time that detainees are kept in prison awaiting trial that is something we cannot control because that up to the judges but by cooperation with the judge is presenting our report to them trying to get them to recognize how imperative it is to move on but in detention because of the overcrowded conditions and reduce the bail that is for gold I will making some progress if not fast enough because the pressure of crime is so great I second go is to see that the state assumes its full responsibility as far as reimbursement to us is consent for those that are sentenced the law says that we should receive reimbursement for a felony that are said to us under a year when we took over we received sixty cents a day for a day and for each of the felons that we have. Cost this close to five dollars a day the minimum if we would add in operational and the expense of building and maintain maintaining it would be much more than that. That's one of our goals to will complete realized men between the state that it requires a good deal of study and discussion Well thank you very much Commissioner cos I would certainly enjoy the surprise of the work of the sillies Department of Corrections thank you and good evening and that concludes another edition of city records interviewing corrections commissioner and across was Seymour N. Segal director of radio communications for the city of New York we invite your comments and suggestions on these programs you may send them to the city record W.I.-FI see New York seven and join us again next Wednesday evening at six when Mr Siegel Well the interview Commissioner Edward Cavanaugh of the fire department city record of the transcribed public affairs feature of your city station.