Safety concerns following the death of an inmate at the Nassau County Correctional Center were the focus of a public hearing on Wednesday.

Some corrections officers say they are also skeptical of the new corrections commissioner recently appointed by the Blakeman administration.

So far this year, there have been 250 use-of-force incidents involving correction officers. There were 191 in all of 2018.

Correction Officers Union President Brian Sullivan blames the increase on bail reform, a new law that prevents solitary confinement, understaffing and poor management.

He says that Nassau County made a mistake appointing Michael Sposato as corrections commissioner in September.

Sposato previously served as county sheriff but was fired in 2018 by the Curran administration following a string of inmate deaths.

"To say that he was brought back here to cure the ails of this department is a slap in the face, it really is a slap in the face," Sullivan said. "He was the guy that was in charge of this place as it deteriorated."

In a statement, a county spokesperson wrote, "Commissioner Sposato has saved taxpayers millions of dollars by cutting unnecessary overtime that does not impact the safety and security of the facility."

Some on Nassau Legislature's Public Safety Committee about security at the county jail question if cutting overtime is the priority of the position.

"Do you see any type of inherent conflict of someone who is supposed to be in charge of taking care of staff and running the facility directly with also being charged with the idea of being in charge of controlling overtime," asked Legislator Delia DeRiggi-Whitton.

The acting sheriff for Nassau County responded that there was no problem with that and it's good management.

Sposato was not present at Wednesday's hearing.

The jail is around 100 correction officers short right now. Most members on the board agreed more officers need to be hired.

There was talk about possibly raising the base salary to encourage more people to become officers.