The Press-Republican, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
NEW YORK — Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Friday an agreement with the Legislature on the prison reform omnibus bill that would enact a series of 10 changes within state prisons and local jails.
The bill, A8871/S8415, aims to improve the safety and security of all incarcerated individuals and employees within prisons and jails, while increasing accountability through reporting and greater oversight.
This landmark legislation follows the murder of Robert Brooks and Messiah Nantwi in Department of Correction and Community Supervision prisons, after which Hochul directed DOCCS to implement immediate changes. She then worked with the Legislature to provide additional funding for cameras and investigative staff.
“Every single individual who enters our prisons deserves to be safe, whether they are employed there or serving their time,” Hochul said in a press release.
“In the year since the murder of Robert Brooks, we have implemented a number of new policies and initiatives to begin the process of reforming our corrections system: expediting the installation and use of fixed and body worn cameras, making it law that body worn cameras must be worn and turned on, and investing more money in the Office of Special Investigations .”
DOCCS previously began implementing core reforms with a focus on improving safety, accountability and transparency across the state’s facilities. Body-worn cameras are now fully deployed statewide, with all correction officers required to activate them at all times. Regular audits are conducted to ensure compliance.
In addition, DOCCS has implemented targeted de-escalation training, launched independent reviews of policies and practices, commissioned an external culture and harm-reduction assessment, and made leadership changes at both Marcy and Mid-State correctional facilities. The Department has also strengthened CERT operations through expanded training, background checks and mandatory camera use during deployments, while advancing multiple contraband-control measures, including enhanced body scanning and legal mail screening.
Based on the agreement, the legislation, signed Friday, will:
— Require state and local correctional facilities to disclose video footage related to deaths to Office of the Attorney General within 72 hours or within 24 hours if it is belatedly discovered.
— Require complete audio/visual camera coverage in all DOCCS facilities and transport vehicles, extended storage of videos, and quick disclosure of the videos to incarcerated individuals and their counsel.
— Require DOCCS post online within 48 hours of notifying next of kin of an incarcerated individual’s death.
— Require the State Commission of Correction to conduct a study on DOCCS deaths over the past ten years.
— Require copies of autopsy reports of individuals incarcerated in state or local facilities to include copies of the photographs and x-rays.
— Provide for designation of a Deputy AG when OAG has a conflict.
— Require DOCCS OSI to quarterly report data.
— Increase the number of SCOC commissioners from three to five total, including three full-time and two part-time members, with at least one of the commissioners being a formerly-incarcerated person.
— Give CANY more access to DOCCS facilities and data and give incarcerated individuals more avenues to privately access CANY.
— Provide a window post incarceration for individuals to file claims arising from harms caused during incarceration.
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