Norman Seabrook served 21 years as a powerful union boss in charge of the largest correction union in the country. But he was arrested Wednesday,charged in a public corruption case and suspended by the city. Now he's been removed as union president.
Federal prosecutors said Seabrook invested $20 million from the union's retirement and operating funds in a struggling recent York based hedge fund. In exchange, he allegedly received $60000 in personal kickbacks delivered to him in an expensive Ferragamo bag by a man who is now a cooperating witness.
The union was in the middle of an election in which Seabrook was running unopposed. But now, or Elias Husamudeen will take over. He was the union's vice president,appointed to the position by Seabrook in 2010. In a statement, Husamudeen said the union would stay focused on protecting correction officers who face gang violence and encounters with the mentally ill that they are not properly trained to handle.
Over the final few years, and violence at Rikers Island has boiled over and the city is in the middle of instituting reforms as part of a legal settlement. Ending solitary confinement totally for younger inmates is one of many changes expected to approach — but guards have complained that could leave them vulnerable. Former Department of Correction Commissioner Martin Horn knows Husamudeen and said he's soft-spoken and less histrionic and magnetic than Seabrook. "But he can be a tough negotiator and will continue to advocate vigorously for his members," Horn said.
Source: wnyc.org