Dirty laundry
Probe of warden’s alleged chores-for-favors plan
IT WILL all come out in the wash.
The city’s Department of Investigation is examining why a correction officer at the Vernon C. Bain Center in the Bronx waltzed into work late carrying a supervisor’s laundry, according to sources and jail officials.
Surveillance images obtained by the Daily News show Monique Chambers carrying Administrative Deputy Warden Nicole Renee’s freshly cleaned uniforms. The images were circulated among staff angry a supervisor was apparently playing favorites.
“That is a problem — a correction officer bringing in shirts for a supervisor,” the source said. “If you’re being a teacher’s pet, you get rewarded.”
Chambers, 39, and Renee live near each other in upstate Middletown, according to public records. Sources said Chambers drives Renee, 42, to work.
In exchange for doing errands, Chambers got a more desirable schedule and arrived late without consequence, sources said, and bragged she could get time-off requests approved easily.
“She gets to come in when she wants,” a source said. “She always gets days off. People are told they can’t get days off; she can get them.”
The source noted the controversy touched on a sensitive subject within the Department of Correction: using public resources for personal business. Former Correction Commissioner Joseph Ponte resigned last year after it emerged he used a city-issued vehicle for personal travel.
Sources said Chambers was transferred to the Vernon C. Bain Center from the Brooklyn House of Detention for a disciplinary infraction. The Daily News could not independently confirm the details of that infraction due to secrecy surrounding discipline of correction officers. Renee’s status was unclear. Both the Investigation and Correction departments confirmed the probe, but declined to comment further. Chambers declined to comment when reached at the jail.