ALBANY, N.Y. — The union representing New York state correction officers is urging Gov. Kathy Hochul to step in, saying the state prison system has become increasingly dangerous for both staff and incarcerated individuals.
In an April 17 letter to the governor, obtained by CBS 6 Albany, the New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association said the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision is facing what it called a “systemic emergency” fueled by violence, contraband, staff assaults, overdoses, exposure incidents and deaths.
The union pointed to a series of recent incidents across multiple facilities as evidence of what it described as worsening conditions inside state prisons.
At Mohawk Correctional Facility, the union said three correction officers and two National Guard members were hospitalized on April 5 after being exposed to an unknown substance found on papers brought in by a visitor. According to the letter, one officer was placed in intensive care and required a ventilator.
At Clinton Correctional Facility, the union said eight officers were injured over a six-day period beginning March 30 in five separate incidents. Those incidents included assaults by apparently intoxicated incarcerated individuals, along with larger disturbances involving dozens of people and recovered weapons.
The union also pointed to a March 30 attack at Coxsackie Correctional Facility, where it said a convicted murderer injured officers with a broken pen, and two assaults at Lakeview and Attica involving the same incarcerated individual.
At Upstate Correctional Facility, NYSCOPBA said an incarcerated person killed another incarcerated person on April 6 after being assigned a cellmate despite what the union described as a known violent history.
The letter also referenced three deaths at Upstate, Riverview and Gouverneur correctional facilities that were under investigation by New York State Police, with early reports indicating incarcerated-on-incarcerated violence. NYSCOPBA said DOCCS data showed 44 incarcerated deaths year-to-date as of April 1, including six ruled suicides.
The union said contraband remains a major driver of instability inside facilities. At Riverview, officers recently intercepted more than two pounds of marijuana hidden inside a microwave shipment, according to the letter. NYSCOPBA also said multiple visitors have been caught trying to smuggle contraband into prisons.
“This is not normal,” the union wrote, arguing that the incidents are signs of a correctional system under mounting pressure.
NYSCOPBA is asking Hochul to personally push state lawmakers to adopt recommendations from the Statewide HALT Committee to amend New York’s Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement Act.
According to the union, those recommendations include:
- Expanding the list of serious offenses eligible for segregated confinement
- Allowing temporary SHU or RRU placement for protective custody when there is a significant safety risk
- Permitting up to 15 days of SHU time for repeated misconduct when other interventions have failed.
The union also called for tougher contraband laws, including stronger penalties for smuggling drugs, weapons and toxic materials into correctional facilities through visits, mail, packages or outside deliveries. It specifically cited legislation addressing civilian drone use around correctional facilities.
NYSCOPBA also urged the state to end double bunking, saying housing two incarcerated individuals in one cell raises the risk of assaults and deaths while making it harder for staff to maintain order.
In the letter, the union said correction officers are being assaulted, facilities are being flooded with contraband and staff are being exposed to unknown substances, while incarcerated individuals are overdosing, dying and attacking one another.
The union closed by calling on Hochul to use “the full weight” of her office to push for changes, saying the time for action is now.
