11 Days Left. Will You Help OCP?  
It's true. OCP may be in its final days of existence. As it stands now, we only have days left until your association is no longer. Since we dropped below 2,000 members and lost payroll deduction, we stopped receiving membership dues in October. Dues are the means by which we fight for pay raises and better retirement at the Capitol, keep communications open state-wide via the website, emails, and newsletters, employ staff to negotiate with agency leadership to improve working conditions, and provide legal representation to those employees with legitimate grievances. This is it. If you want an association representing only you and doing all of those things and more, then we need you now. There are two things you can do to keep OCP alive: 1) Continue paying your membership dues by either using the “Pay Dues with Paypal” link to the left, or mail them to P.O. Box 57652, Oklahoma City, OK 73157. OCP still has a lawsuit pending claiming that the 2,000-member requirement is unconstitutional. But the decision on that case won't be made until next summer and OCP won't be around then unless our members show their support by continuing to make financial contributions. 2) SIGN UP A NEW MEMBER! If every OCP member would recruit one person to join the association, we would not have to worry about the 2,000-member requirement. To help with recruitment, we are offering a "SAVE OCP" membership rate of $2.50 per month to those people who aren't currently members but are willing to get on board to reinstate our payroll deduction. Your $2.50 dues will go entirely to the memorial foundation and while you won't get all of the benefits of full membership, you'll ensure the association stays alive. Click herefor the online membership application or find it using the “Become a Member” link on the left of this page.
What Has OCP Done For You?
CLEET Training This fall OCP offered two CLEET classes for Probation and Parole Officers. We were contacted by members who said the training would be helpful, so we made it happen! Two districts hosted ten-hour trainings on edge weapons to help CLEET-certified officers stay current on their required hours. The class instruction and meals were provided by OCP at no cost to attendees. OCP exists to help you and we hope to be able to continue offering training such as this to all corrections employees in the future. Charitable Events This August, OCP hosted its second annual fundraising bowling tournament, which benefited the OK Special Olympics. With no dues money being used, OCP signed up 30+ four member teams each featuring one Special Olympian, set up a music booth with a DJ and karaoke entertainers, and had food for everyone. It was a wonderful time and it made a tremendous impact for a great cause. As an added bonus, it's one more way for the community to see that corrections employees care! Through the help and donations of dozens of local businesses and individuals, each olympian walked away with a prize and the OK Special Olympics received almost $1,000. House Bill 1382 To bring attention to the wide array of services provided by Correctional Officers in Oklahoma, OCP introduced HB1382 last session. The bill changed references to "guards" in the law to "correctional officers." Throughout session, this bill allowed us to speak with legislators about the fact that CO's are trained in and do so much more than is often understood by the public. If we are ever going to get appropriate compensation for corrections professionals, legislators need to have a good understanding of all you do for the state! We hope that OCP will be able to be at the Capitol again next session so that we can continue to work to improve the laws and budgets affecting you. Kyte Newsletter Have you ever noticed a stack of papers when you walk through your facility doors titled the Kyte? The Kyte is a quarterly newspaper that OCP started in March of 2010 to address OK corrections issues like overtime and turnover rates, DOC funding, legislative updates, and many more. The goal is to provide you with an unfettered source for all things concerning OK corrections. To view the current or past issues, go to www.o-c-p.organd click The Kyte button in the column to your left. Perkscards! There are countless serious issues we work on every day for the benefit of corrections. But at OCP we are also always considering ways we can help make your life a little easier. On our last trip around the state, we delivered Perkscards to our members. They provide discounts for stores and services around the state (like BassPro, Lowes, AMC Movies) and will hopefully come in handy as the holidays approach. If you didn't receive a perkscard and would like to, email Kyle at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and we'll drop you one in the mail. State Contracts Earlier this year, OCP was contacted by several members who were frustrated with the state's purchasing practices. Agencies often spend far more money using state approved vendors than if they were able to shop for the best deal on the products they need. OCP worked with News 9's Impact Team to bring attention to this issue. The news story spurred the creation of a legislative task force on the topic and some changes have already been made as a result. When the state spends its money more wisely, there is more left over to sufficiently fund Public Safety! Commercials Check out the top left corner of the websiteto see the commercial OCP created and broadcast around the state. The theme was to educate the public and legislators about the variety of careers within the field of corrections. We received countless comments around the Capitol about it! OCP hopes to continue with our mission of improving the image of corrections by educating the public about just what you do for them! Oklahoma Parole Case Backlog is Eliminated
By CARY ASPINWALL World Staff Writer OKLAHOMA CITY - The parole process is speeding up under Gov. Mary Fallin's tenure. All backlogged cases from the previous administration have been cleared, and the governor is now acting on all cases within 30 days, spokesman Alex Weintz said. Oklahoma's Pardon and Parole Board examined ways to streamline its process and trim its lengthy meeting schedule at the start of its three-day monthly meeting this week. Board members regularly sit through marathon three- and four-day monthly meetings to review hundreds of cases of criminals seeking parole. Although their meeting schedule has lengthened, board members expressed few concerns regarding a criminal justice reform law, aimed at speeding up the state's parole backlog, that was deemed unconstitutional last month in an opinion by Attorney General Scott Pruitt. Fallin signed the bill in May, but she maintained from the law's early stages that the parole change wouldn't affect her because she intended to act on all Pardon and Parole Board recommendations once her office cleared an initial backlog. House Bill 2131, passed earlier this year, included a provision that if the governor did not act within 30 days on recommendations made by the Pardon and Parole Board in cases of low-risk, nonviolent offenders, the parole would be considered granted. The bill was approved the same month that a report by the Northpointe Institute of Public Management assessed Oklahoma's process as backlogged and in need of reform to aid the state's overcrowded prisons. State prisons are currently operating at 99 percent capacity, and the Department of Corrections has faced several years of deep budget cuts, despite increasing numbers of inmates. Pardon and Parole Board members commended Fallin at Tuesday's meeting for reducing the backlog and acting within the 30-day time frame specified by state statutes, chairman Richard Dugger said. When her predecessor, Brad Henry, left office, it was taking an average of nearly 90 days for the governor to review parole recommendations. Henry approved more than 300 paroles on his last day in office, but Fallin chose to review all of those cases upon taking office. Oklahoma remains the only state in the U.S. where the governor still has final say in all pardons and paroles. Pruitt's opinion stated that the Oklahoma Constitution grants the governor the power to determine parole and does not place a time limit on exercising that power. It's possible the parole time frame issue could end up on a state question ballot next year, legal counsel Tracy George told the Pardon and Parole Board. Board member Currie Ballard said he supports the idea of letting voters decide if there should be a constitutionally specified time limit for the governor to sign paroles, in certain nonviolent cases. "I concur that it's a constitutional issue," he said. "So let the people actually vote on it." Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20111012_11_A1_CUTLIN246033 Add new comment
OSP Altercation, Two Officers Hospitalized
October 11, 2011 OSP altercation, two officers hospitalized
McALESTER — Two correctional officers at Oklahoma State Penitentiary were injured Monday afternoon after an altercation occurred with one of the prison’s maximum security offenders.
View the original article at http://mcalesternews.com/local/x1225304817/OSP-altercation-two-officers-hospitalized
OCP Responds to Labor Commissioner Calling Employees "Feral Hogs"
OCP's Press Release Response:
Corrections Employees Speak Out Against Labor Commissioner's Comments Oklahoma City - September 19, 2011 - Last week at a public speaking engagement Labor Commissioner Mark Costello criticized state employees, comparing them to feral hogs. He referred to state employees’ exorbitant salaries and pension benefits and advocated for fewer protections for new employees who are disciplined or fired. Many corrections employees are outraged by the statements and feel that Costello must have been lax in his research of this issue. “Costello is painting with a pretty broad brush to speak about all state employees so negatively. He might want to do some fact-checking on salaries and pensions,” stated Amanda Ewing, Executive Director of the Oklahoma Corrections Professionals. The average starting salary for a corrections officer in Oklahoma is $24,600. “In order to even be considered for a job, corrections officer candidates must explicitly agree to working conditions that the vast majority of people would find terrifying,” Ewing said. In order to take the test to be considered for hire, the Office of Personnel Management requires candidates to agree with a long list of statements, such as “I am willing to supervise as many as 200 inmates by myself,” and “I am willing to assess and react appropriately to extremely violent situations such as rapes, suicides, and stabbings.” “There is no way the DOC could protect the public as it does with the type of employees Costello was describing,” said David Ramsey, training officer at Joseph Harp Correctional Center and OCP President. Costello also advocated for fewer protections for new employees and prohibiting employee associations from having dues automatically deducted from state employees’ paychecks. “Automatic deductions don’t cost the state a cent,” states Ewing, “Fiscal analysts, as well as OPM and DOC officials have repeatedly said there is no cost for this service, so why don’t we let state employees do what they want to with their paychecks, just like the rest of the public does? And the Merit Protection Commission has helped many employees who were wrongly fired. We are working to create a safer environment for the public servants in this dangerous profession. Shouldn’t our Labor Commissioner be doing the same?” The Oklahoma Corrections Professionals represents Department of Corrections and Pardon and Parole Board employees and its mission is to provide a unified voice for corrections professionals.
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