Running the Department of Corrections is considered to be one of the hardest jobs in state government.
Former Hampton Police Chief Bill Wrenn has become the department's 8th Commissioner in the past ten years.
Problems run rampant at the DOC....everything from low employee morale to decrepit buildings to a high recidivism rate.
Wrenn promises he's up to the task.
But New Hampshire Public Radio's Dan Gorenstein reports that his commitment to the job hardly makes him unique among his predecessors.
T.5
:00 sfx crowd sound
A couple of things became clear at Bill Wrenn's swearing in ceremony in Concord recently.
1:30 this is terrific, what a great turnout. Let me start off by thanking you all for coming to this swearing in.
As Governor John Lynch noticed...Bill Wrenn has a lot of friends.
Some two dozen friends and supporters- many in law enforcement- came out to wish the new Commissioner well.
3:19 I would like to introduce Representative Mike O'Neil who has a few words to say.
3:24 Bill we had a long conversation...I think your nomination and confirmation has been a great thing...you've done a great job, it's going to be a big loss for us in Hampton....I wish you the best of luck.
As House Majority Leader Mike O'Neil's comments suggest Bill Wrenn has some powerful backing...at least publicly.
That impression was only reinforced by comments from the House Speaker as well as one Executive Councilor.
The coming out for Bill Wrenn is in stark contrast to that for the previous DOC Commissioner Stephen Curry.
Curry, a retired army General arrived in New Hampshire as an unknown quantity, an outsider.
Wrenn brings 30 years worth of law enforcement experience, time spent as the President of the New Hampshire Chiefs of Police and connections to the job.
That might be why he is confident he can deliver on the promise he made at the ceremony.
T.6
3:01 I am going to hit the ground running, I am going to roll up my sleeves, I am telling you, you are going to get the 100% I give to any job. Corrections is going to get it, and I am there for the long haul. I am going to provide that consistency I have heard so much about. I am looking forward to getting started.
Governor John Lynch, who nominated Wrenn, has praised the new commissioner as someone who has the vision to reform the Department of Corrections.
However, when pressed on any issue such as the recidivism rate, or drug rehab programs, Wrenn says he wants to talk to his staff first.
One of the people Commissioner Wrenn will certainly sit down with is Assistance Commissioner Les Dolecal.
Dolecal has served in her current position for 3 ½ years.
She says at the DOC there is no one priority. There are twenty.
T.8
:38 some of the things we have got in front of us right now include, women's incarceration issues, what we are going to do there. We have some older buildings in need of repair or replacement. We've got staffing issues, budget always. Overtime, recruiting. Many things.
Ted Kirkpatrick agrees Wrenn has his work cut out for him.
Kirkpatrick is co-director of the UNH research group Justice Works that studies law enforcement, the courts and corrections.
He says as a result of the high turnover in the commissioner's office, the DOC is isolated from the larger justice system.
Kirkpatrick recommends Wrenn work with the Attorney General, probation and parole and others to plan a state wide correctional policy.
9:15 who is it that we are going to incarcerate for what period, over what length and what services are we going to see as cost effective investments for NH to make sure re-entry of inmates is more likely to be law-abiding than law breaking roles.
When Wrenn begins the job in earnest he will also find a department full of morale and labor problems.
Union members labeled former Commissioner Curry a tyrant who ignored contract agreements.
SEA President Gary Smith says consistent application of personnel rules and honoring the bargaining agreement will go a long way in earning Wrenn friends.
T.10
:57 none of us has a crystal ball to be able to determine the future with any certainty. All we can do is look back at traits, what we get from our own dialogue with Commissioner Wrenn...based on what he has expressed is personally important to him fits with what's important for the workers of the DOC. That's what makes me optimistic.
The governor has charged Wrenn with uniting the DOC staff around a common vision.
But a distinct rift exists within DOC ranks.
One measure of that is the failed campaign among some workers to save Curry's job.
Lt. Paul Cascio helped organize the effort.
He says he liked Curry's style.
Cascio says he remembers one week, as acting warden at the Women's Prison in Goffstown, the automated phone system went out.
3:19 so I just sent him an email I said can you ask some to take a look at our system and have it fixed. It would really be helpful for staff. Well, he showed up the next day, calls me in...and he goes tell me about the phone system...next thing I know, he picks up the phone calls me and syas you have money in the budget for a new system...and by the way you also have money for a new oven.
Justice Works' Ted Kirkpatrick says on top of internal matters, Wrenn will be faced with outside challenges.
Kirkpatrick says the state is ambivalent about the department's mission to both make neighborhoods safe and spend little on rehabilitation of inmates.
:54 I always tell people when they say, 'how bad is it?' well, imagine you are Commissioner of DOC and you know you need new funds to do X,Y,Z and you go to the Legislature and you are arguing for funds to be spent on behalf of those who have violated the law, and you are in the same que for resources that someone who runs the program for orphan children is in.
Finally, Wrenn may be challenged by his own training.
He is only the second DOC commissioner to come from law enforcement in recent years.
The last one with a similar background only lasted a year.
For NHPR News, I'm DG.
