Res. No. 147 Title Resolution calling upon the New York State Legislature to enact and the Governor to sign into law legislation to merge the New York City Departments of Correction and Probation. Body By Council Members Weprin and Gerson Whereas, According to the Fiscal 2002 Preliminary Mayor's Management Report, the Department of Correction ("DOC") "provides custody, care, and control of misdemeanants and felons sentenced to one year of incarceration or less; detainees awaiting trial or sentence; newly sentenced felons awaiting transportation to State correctional facilities; alleged parole violators awaiting revocation hearings; and state prisoners with court appearances in New York City;" and Whereas, According to the report, the Department of Probation ("DOP") "provides community-oriented criminal justice sanctions . . . supplies the Supreme, Criminal, and Family Courts with information and recommendations for court dispositions; supervises offenders by monitoring and enforcing compliance with conditions of probation, and provides access to rehabilitation services and counseling;" and Whereas, Both agencies are required to interact with many of the same criminal justice entities, including the courts, judges, attorneys, the State prison system, the State Division of Parole, and the Police Department; and Whereas, Many probationers at one time or another have been DOC inmates, and many DOC inmates have been probationers; and Whereas, According to a conservative estimate by the New York City Council's Finance Division, the consolidation of DOC and DOP would enable the City to eliminate many duplicative administrative positions in executive management, administrative services, planning, finance, public affairs, and human resources; and Whereas, Given that both agencies maintain databases on the case histories of individuals who come into their custody, enhanced computer linkages through a merger would improve communication between both agencies; and Whereas, The merger would enable DOC staff to better assess inmate security risk through reviews of probation records and pre-sentence investigation reports; help DOP staff to identify the optimal type and degree of monitoring required by a probationer who has spent time detained at Rikers; and contribute to expedited completion of pre-sentence investigation reports; and Whereas, The merger would enable the City to direct more resources for rehabilitation, and the savings in overload and managerial expenditures would also make more money available for programs offering opportunities to prisoners released from correctional facilities and detainees placed on probation; and Whereas, According to the Finance Division of the New York City Council, the implementation of this merger would require some one-time start up costs, but produce substantial savings to the City of approximately; and Whereas, The implementation of this merger would require approval of the New York State Legislature; now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls upon the New York State Legislature to enact and the Governor sign into law legislation to merge the New York City Departments of Correction and Probation.