By Alexander Violo
The Press-Republican, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
MALONE, N.Y. — On Feb. 17, 2025, correction officers across New York started a 22-day strike that led to the firing of more than 2,000 striking officers and the deployment of the National Guard to state prisons.
With three state prisons located near one another on Bare Hill and Brand roads, Malone was at the center of the strike and for over three weeks current and former correction officers, and their supporters, gathered last year to call for improved safety conditions within state facilities and the repeal of the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement Act.
One year later concerns remain about staffing levels at and officer safety in the state’s correctional facilities.
Daniel G. Stec, R – Queensbury, a state senator, said staff levels are approximately 20% below what they were before last year’s strike.
“I think in December of 24 the number of COs was 14,000 and change, and December of last year was 11,000 and change, we are down about 3,000 just form the end of 24 to the end of 25,” Stec told the Telegram this week.
According to Stec, he believes the state’s Department of Corrections and Community Supervision is making an effort to recruit more staff.
“I know it’s true that they have made an effort to recruit more, it’s not like they aren’t trying to recruit more,” Stec said, “Between legislation in the change of requirements and financial incentives they are trying to recruit more COs.”
Stec said of the over 2,000 officers fired after the strike some were rehired.
“I do know a lot of them did come back to work, I know a lot of them were offered and decided to not go back for whatever reason,” he said, “The bottom line is that in spite of recruitment efforts and a larger academy class, at the end of the day we are still down 3,000 from where we were just a month before the strike.”
Stec said he does not believe careers in the department are as sought after as they once were when multiple family members would work as correction officers.
“I don’t think those kitchen table conversations are happening with nieces and nephews, sons and daughters anymore,” he said, “The negative news and the negative spotlight on the state making that job more miserable and less safe is I think keeping people away.”
Assemblyman Michael S. Cashman , D–Plattsburgh, said there continues to be great concern about the health and safety of correction officers, civilian staff and incarcerated individuals at state correctional facilities.
“Every state employee, be it a correction officer, New York State DOT or teachers, they should have a safe environment and should be treated with dignity and respect and that’s the crux of this, and our COs are still not receiving that,” Cashman said.
According to Stec, in talking with officers who both went on strike, and those that remained within the facilities during the strike, the primary cause of last year’s strike was safety.
“It was always about safety, and part of that safety, specifically was staffing, quality of life and time off,” he said, “There was mandatory overtime, that was happening routinely everywhere in the state. While that doesn’t seem to happen as much anymore they still can’t take time off, they can’t take vacation, they can’t schedule time off.”
According to Cashman, he continues to push for safety reform on behalf of state employees, including correction officers.
“That includes making sure we are doing scans of packages going into the facilities, there have been numerous chemical exposures that need to be dealt with appropriately,” Cashman said, “The issues remains yet billions of dollars are being spent on the National Guard being in there. It doesn’t help with morale and it certainly doesn’t help with recruitment.”
Stec said when chemical exposures are reported at state prisons in rural communities it taxes local rescue squads and area hospitals.
“They don’t know what causes it, some chemical, they try to suggest that its psychosomatic or stress induced,” he said, adding he disagrees that it’s a psychosomatic or stress induced issue, “There’s chemicals in there that they got to get out.”
Cashman said one year after the strike staffing issues persist at state correctional facilities.
“That’s why the governor continues to hold in her executive proposal for money to retain the National Guard there,” Cashman said, “There needs to be broader range reform that supports these men and women. People often talk about that it was a wildcat strike but let me be very clear the core of the issue was health and safety.”
According to Stec, the state spent around $700 million last year on the National Guard in state prisons.
“They are not doing the job of COs, the are a body, eyes and ears, they are there for safety, they’re a deterrent but they aren’t taking groups to programming, they aren’t in the watchtowers, they aren’t doing those jobs,” he said, “There’s 2,800 National Guard people in these facilities.”
Stec said in next year’s budget there’s a proposal to allocate around $535 million on National Guard in state correctional facilities.
“They’re down on staff and that’s a problem because it’s a safety issue,” he said, “They can’t hire the COs that they need.”
According to James Miller , director of public relations at the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, staffing issues at state prisons create challenges for officers.
Safety of staff and providing a work life balance for our members is still a priority for NYSCOPBA and will continue to be until staffing levels are increased and there isn’t a need to supplement staff with National Guardsman, according to Miller.
Prior to the strike, staffing levels had decreased by 2,000 officers while the inmate population had increased by over 2,000 inmates since January of 2023, according to Miller, who said since the strike, that number has risen to over 4.000 officers, which has contributed to unsafe working conditions, and lack of any semblance of family life.
“NYSCOPBA is committed to working with DOCCS to attract new recruits to increase staffing levels, but it is conceivable that it could take years to accomplish that while you continue to have officers retire each year,” Miller said.
Miller said current staffing levels at state prisons are still contributing to mandatory overtime for correction officers.
“Officers are still stuck working mandatory overtime as a result of current staffing levels and it largely prevents them from having any work-life balance,” he said.
According to Miller, recommendations from the HALT committee formed after the end of last year’s strike have yet to lead to substantial changes to HALT.
“The HALT Committee, which was formed after the strike, submitted recommendations to the Governor last year and we have yet to see any positive changes made to the HALT Act,” Miller said.
Stec said one issue he sees with HALT is the amount of programming for incarcerated individuals that the legislation mandates.
“HALT mandates a lot of programming and that’s very labor intensive,” Stec said, “If these guys have to be moved around every couple of hours and not isolated in their cell that takes staff. If you don’t have the people to do that then the programming they want to see happen isn’t happening.”
Mayor Andrea M. Dumas , of the village of Malone , said she believes the situation at state prisons remains largely unchanged since last year’s strike.
“There has not been one thing that I can relay to the community that has changed,” Dumas said, “I hear day in, day out that it’s the same. We are continuing to hear rescue calls to the facilities for members being brought into the hospital.”
Dumas said she hears from correction officers and civilian staff at the state prisons that nothing has changed.
“They have the scanners there but still the safety issues aren’t changing,” she said, “Now with them closing a prison and adding more incarcerated individuals to other prisons they are just moving the problems from one area to another with no change. We are concerned for them.”
Bare Hill Correctional Facility in the town of Malone is slated to close in March.
In states that have limited the use of solitary confinement, what effect have those changes had on officer workload and safety?
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