Latest news with #NewYorkStateCorrectionalOfficersandPoliceBenevolentAssociation
Yahoo
23-03-2025
- Yahoo
Perspective: Abuse in our prisons is killing our humanity
'Don't tell anyone,' said a prison guard, lowering his voice, 'but I'm not here to be violent.' We wore protective vests and carried handcuffs, pepper spray and a radio with a button to press if attacked. I had been hired as the first Latter-day Saint chaplain in the federal prison system and the first female chaplain at that particular penitentiary. By the time the officer confided in me, I was hearing rumors of abuse in our isolation unit: officers withholding food; verbally and sexually harassing incarcerated men; physically assaulting them. I reported these rumors to my supervisor but saw no response. Advocacy groups have long raised alarms about abuse in prisons beyond the view of cameras. Numerous incidents highlight the severity and pervasiveness of this issue. Nearly a year into my time in the prison, one guard bragged that he and other guards punished incarcerated men beyond what the courts assigned. They did this in the isolation unit, where cameras were scarce. When I told my supervisor, he said the guard might be joking. I wrote a report to a special investigations team, but I had no evidence to corroborate the claim. I do not know the outcome of my report, because I resigned shortly after filing it. My worries about violence within prison walls have resurfaced due to recent events. Ten former New York state prison guards have been charged for their role in the fatal beating of Robert Brooks on Dec. 9. Body camera footage shows officers pummeling Brooks while handcuffed on a medical examination table at Marcy Correctional Facility. If the officers had not been wearing body cameras — which they seemingly didn't realize were recording — the true cause of Brooks' death might have never come to light. During the trial of the officers implicated in Brooks' death, thousands of New York State correctional officers went on a strike that lasted 22 days and cost the state millions of dollars daily. During this period, at least seven prisoners in New York facilities lost their lives. One of them, 22-year-old Messiah Nantwi — imprisoned at a facility just across the street from where Brooks was killed — may have been assaulted by officers. Nine incarcerated men alleged that he had been beaten by staff. The protesting officers demanded safer working conditions, fewer mandated shifts and the repeal of the Halt Act, which limits solitary confinement. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association reached a tentative agreement outlining key provisions to address these concerns. More state and federal policy makers should consider similar provisions. Correctional officers in facilities across the nation face burnout under extreme conditions. Mandatory overtime shifts lead to chronic sleep deprivation, impaired cognitive function and compromised safety. Overworked staff navigate violent conditions where it is easier to maintain control when prisoners are seen as objects rather than people. Incarcerated individuals, already scarred by systemic injustice, are further exposed to violence, deepening the cycle of harm and survival rooted in trauma. In my year serving inside the prison in 2021, I witnessed the consequences of this cycle. One officer recounted how a prisoner murdered a fellow officer. Every day, he wondered who might be next. All of us — incarcerated men and staff — constantly scanned our surroundings in a life-threatening environment where the fear of death was a matter of course. We need a rethinking of policies that created today's mass incarceration system. Not only is the system unjust; it's unsustainable. But addressing systemic issues and creating policy change takes time — time that officers and incarcerated people don't have when their lives are at risk daily. Deaths continue to occur beyond the reach of surveillance. A 2024 Justice Department report examining deaths in Federal Bureau of Prisons facilities from fiscal years 2014 to 2021 found that in at least 64 cases, cameras were either absent, inoperative or failed to provide sufficient coverage. Of those cases, 18 deaths were classified as homicides. More recently, on Dec. 30, in the isolation unit at a federal prison in Pennsylvania, Terry Flowers died after being 'placed in a holding cell where he continued to spit at and kick employees until he became unresponsive,' according to a local news report. It remains unclear whether this was a standard medical emergency or if other factors contributed to his death. Flowers' family and the public may never know. As a chaplain, I communicated with families whose loved ones had died, whether from a medical emergency or assault. I witnessed the pain of families questioning what had happened. The uncertainty of not knowing the cause of a loved one's death behind bars deepens an already painful situation. I recall a particularly emotional conversation with a father who kept saying, 'I'm just trying to bury my son.' For everyone's sake — incarcerated individuals, staff and families — we need to immediately increase surveillance in all prisons, as Hochul proposed in New York. This not only deters abuse of those incarcerated but provides legal protection for officers when prisoners file false claims against them. Understanding the mental toll of isolation, the high rate of suicides in isolation units and the impact of these units on officers, we should limit the time incarcerated individuals spend in isolation and the time officers work in isolation units. Prioritizing adequate rest after standard shifts rather than imposing overtime is essential to maintaining safety and well-being in high-security settings. Finally, independent reviews, in addition to those of the Department of Justice, should be conducted to help prevent systemic abuse and increase accountability. Their results must be made public for transparency and accountability. Reforming our prison system requires a fundamental shift in how we view punishment, accountability and human worth. The call for reform is not just about preventing death. It's about seeing our shared humanity and reclaiming our responsibility to one another.
New York Times
11-03-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
2,000 Striking N.Y. Prison Officers Fired and Barred From Public Jobs
More than 2,000 state prison officers who failed to return to work after three weeks of wildcat strikes have been fired and will be barred from future law enforcement and other civil service jobs in New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul said on Tuesday. The affected officers, unlike 5,000 of their striking colleagues, spurned a Monday deadline set by their union and state officials as part of an agreement to end an illegal labor action that spread to nearly all of New York's prisons. The deal to end the strikes was contingent on 85 percent of officers' returning to the job by Monday morning. Although not enough strikers went back to meet that threshold, Ms. Hochul declared the strike over and said the state would fulfill its obligations under the agreement. 'Today, we can finally say this work stoppage is over and move forward towards making our prisons safer for all, supporting our correctional staff and recruiting the correction officers of the future,' the governor said in a statement. Ms. Hochul signed an executive order on Tuesday prohibiting officers who did not meet the deadline from future state employment and local law enforcement jobs. It made good on a threat to punish those who stayed out of work in defiance of a state civil service law that prohibits most public employees from striking. In the order, the governor justified her action by citing a provision of the civil service law that 'authorizes the disqualification of applicants for civil service employment who have previously been dismissed from public service for misconduct.' A spokesman for the officers' union, the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, declined to comment on the strikes' end, the deal that prompted it or Ms. Hochul's punishment of the holdouts. The union did not authorize the strikes. With the strikes over, about 10,000 officers were available to work at the state's 42 correctional facilities on Tuesday, officials said, compared with about 13,500 before the work stoppage began at two prisons in mid-February. About 6,000 National Guard troops that Ms. Hochul deployed to maintain order in the system amid the strikes will remain in prisons in a support role for an unspecified period, officials said. Striking officers said they had been driven to walk out by severe staff shortages, excessive forced overtime and dangerous working conditions. A state law limiting the use of solitary confinement was particularly contentious. Officers said it created hazards for them and incarcerated people alike by preventing violent inmates from being properly isolated. As part of the agreement to end the strikes, corrections officials said that some provisions of the law, the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement, or HALT, Act, would be suspended for 90 days and re-evaluated. In a statement, the Legal Aid Society criticized the 'vague terms' of the agreement to pause provisions of the HALT Act, saying it raised the prospect of 'a boundless and illegal circumvention of critical legal protections for incarcerated New Yorkers.' The society threatened legal action to ensure 'clarity' about how the state was complying with the law. The strikes began around the time 10 corrections officers were criminally charged, six with murder, in the fatal beating of an inmate at the Marcy Correctional Facility in December. The assault, during which the man, Robert Brooks, was handcuffed and shackled, was captured by officers' body-worn cameras. At least nine prisoners died during the strikes. One death, of Messiah Nantwi, 22, is being investigated by a special prosecutor and resulted in 15 corrections department employees being placed on leave. Nine prisoners interviewed by The New York Times said he had died after being beaten by prison officers. Ms. Hochul, acknowledging that the investigation is continuing, has said 'early reports point to extremely disturbing conduct leading to Mr. Nantwi's death.'
New York Times
09-03-2025
- New York Times
New Deal Reached to End Wildcat Strikes by N.Y. Prison Guards
A new agreement has been reached to end wildcat strikes by thousands of New York State correctional officers, which have created chaos throughout the prison system. Under the agreement, negotiated by state officials and the correctional officers' union, the officers are expected to return to work Monday. The officers, who maintained that staffing shortages, forced overtime and dangerous working conditions prompted the illegal strikes, had received an ultimatum this week from the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision: go back to their posts or face discipline, termination or, possibly, criminal charges, according to a memorandum issued by the agency. The union agreed on Saturday to the terms outlined in the memorandum, the corrections department said in a statement. Those terms will take effect when 85 percent of staff return to work. Any disputes over the agreement will be resolved by an arbitrator. It was unclear on Sunday how the union, the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, would enforce the return-to-work provision since it did not authorize the strikes. The department and the union struck a similar deal last month that would have ended the strikes by March 1. Most officers ignored that agreement. In the new memorandum, the state agreed to a 90-day pause on some provisions in the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement Act, known as HALT, which limits the use of solitary confinement for prisoners. Officers on strike have said that, without solitary confinement, they cannot properly separate violent individuals from staff members and other incarcerated people. The corrections department will re-evaluate the provisions next month and determine whether they should be reinstituted. If staffing vacancies reach 30 percent at a given prison, the department may close parts of the facility to prevent officers from being stretched too thin, the memorandum said. The agency reserved the right to punish the officers who went on strike, the statement said. The union could not be reached on Sunday for comment on the agreement. The turmoil began on Feb. 17, when officers at two state prisons declared unauthorized strikes. Two days later, a judge ordered an end to the work stoppage. Instead, more strikes ensued. Officers at nearly all the 42 state prisons joined the work action, and Gov. Kathy Hochul deployed about 7,000 National Guard troops to staff the facilities. During the labor unrest, Messiah Nantwi, a 22-year-old prisoner, died on March 1 at Mid-State Correctional Facility in Marcy, N.Y. Two days later, 15 corrections department employees were put on leave in connection with his death. Nine prisoners interviewed by The New York Times said Mr. Nantwi died after he was beaten by prison guards. Gov. Kathy Hochul said that while the death was still under investigation, 'early reports point to extremely disturbing conduct leading to Mr. Nantwi's death.' At least eight other prisoners have died since the strikes began. They include two men at Auburn Correctional Facility in central New York who did not immediately receive medical treatment, according to prisoners, and a man who hanged himself inside his cell at Sing Sing Correctional Facility in the Hudson Valley. Some inmates have gone without showers and hot food throughout the strikes, while others have missed their court dates. Dozens of officers and sergeants who have participated in the strikes have been fired, Jackie Bray, the commissioner of the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, said at a news conference last week.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Hochul admin offers another deal to New York prison workers in desperate attempt to end strike
Gov. Kathy Hochul's administration is bypassing the correction officers union, offering illegally striking guards at over 30 New York prisons another deal if they return to work Friday. The state proposed a new deal — which is opposed by the union— in a desperate attempt to get the prisons fully staffed after the guards walked off the job on Feb. 17 over unsafe working conditions. Department of Corrections and Community Supervision Commissioner Daniel Martuscello told reporters Thursday the new terms would establish a committee 'focused on safety' that would address concerns about the HALT law governing solitary confinement in prisons. Correction officers have argued the law limits their ability to control unruly inmates and safely do their job. The potential agreement would also include many of the same provisions included in the first deal offered by the state and accepted by the union last week, including: A 90-day suspension of some aspects of the solitary confinement law 2.5 times overtime pay for 30 days after officers return to work Adjourning legal proceedings against participants in the illegal strike Reimplementation of health insurance for those who'd been terminated No discipline for striking workers 'They deserve it. We've heard them. We need them. They play an important role in public safety,' Martuscello said of the correction workers. The proposal is being offered to the guards without the support of the leadership of the correction union, the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association or NYSCOPBA. Martuscello said the union's head, Chris Summers, gave him a verbal agreement that he would sign a deal, but that never happened. 'Unfortunately, this evening, President Summers and his executive board have refused to sign the Memorandum of Understanding, once again failing his members,' he said. The Watertown Daily Times first reported a letter shared by the union's executive board to NYSCOPBA members asking them to side with them in rejecting the deal. The executive board alleges that Hochul and DOCCS sprung the deal on them at the last minute in order to pin the threat of not returning to work Friday morning on the union. 'They refused and gave us an ultimatum, which is why we had no choice but to decline to sign the agreement in its current form,' the board writes in the letter. The Albany Times Union reported earlier in the day that the union's brass was not on board with the emerging deal. The union confirmed as much in a later statement without details. 'This agreement does not represent the best interests of our membership,' NYSCOPBA spokesperson James Miller wrote in a statement to reporters earlier Thursday. 'At this time, NYSCOPBA will not be signing this agreement,' Miller added. The rift between the union's leadership and its members has been on full display for weeks, with several officers telling The Post they don't trust their bargaining unit to represent them. The union's executive vice president Matt Keough said as much Wednesday, Spectrum News reported. 'Our union membership has no faith in us right now,' Keough said. Despite the lack of a legally binding agreement, Martuscello is offering a verbal commitment of his own. 'These terms outlined, that my employees asked for, will be upheld and we will follow this to the letter for those individuals that return to duty tomorrow,' he said. The wildcat strike, now on its 18th day, has thrown the state prison system into chaos and forced the Hochul administation to call in thousands of National Guard troops to man the detention faciltities.
New York Times
07-03-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
N.Y. Corrections Department Issues Ultimatum to Striking Officers
Corrections officers who staged unauthorized strikes that have sowed chaos across New York State's prisons for the last two and a half weeks received an ultimatum on Thursday night: Return to work on Friday or face termination, disciplinary action and the possibility of criminal charges. In exchange for the officers' returning to work, the state would place a 90-day pause on some provisions of the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement Act, known as HALT, which limits the use of solitary confinement for inmates, Daniel F. Martuscello III, commissioner of the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, said in a news conference Thursday night. The department will also create a committee to study the law, which many corrections officers say has made their jobs more dangerous and difficult. Striking officers have also complained about staffing shortages and forced overtime, with some being required to work 24-hour shifts. The shifts of workers who return to duty on Friday will be limited to 12 hours, Mr. Martuscello said. When all workers are back in place and the prisons return to normal operations, he said, workers will not be forced to work shifts longer than eight hours. Dozens of corrections officers and sergeants have been fired for participating in the illegal strikes, Jackie Bray, commissioner of the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, said Thursday evening. Others who refuse to return to work on Friday will also be fired, and will face possible disciplinary action, civil contempt charges or criminal prosecution, Ms. Bray said. Those who return to work on Friday can avoid all of that, Ms. Bray said. Striking corrections officers and sergeants who already quit, who were fired, or who face contempt charges or other disciplinary actions will have their records swept clean and their jobs reinstated, but only if they accept the terms offered Thursday night. 'This deal will not be offered again,' Ms. Bray said. 'We want you back. We need you back. You need to come back to work tomorrow.' The state's offer was authorized by Gov. Kathy Hochul, said Avi Small, a spokesman for the governor. The deal offered Thursday did not include the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, the union that represents prison guards. The schism between the union's leaders and members dates at least to Feb. 17, when corrections officers at two prisons declared a strike that was not authorized by their union. After the work action spread to nearly all the state's prisons, the union negotiated an agreement with the corrections department that would have ended the strikes on March 1. Most officers ignored the agreement and continued to strike. In response, Mr. Martuscello said, he spent much of the last week traveling the state, speaking with strikers over the phone. He also ordered his deputies to go the picket lines and speak with workers directly. Those conversations informed the compromise offer, which Mr. Martuscello announced on Thursday. Because that process excluded the union, union leaders said they would not sign on to the deal. That appeared to raise questions about whether the deal would be legally binding, even if striking officers did return to work on Friday. 'This agreement was not negotiated with NYSCOPBA — the legally recognized entity through which all negotiations must be conducted,' James Miller, a spokesman for the union, said in an email. Governor Hochul deployed National Guard troops to staff the prisons and maintain order. At least nine prisoners have died during the strikes, including two men at Auburn Correctional Facility in central New York who did not receive needed medical treatment in time. At Sing Sing Correctional Facility, in the Hudson Valley, no one intervened as a man hanged himself in his cell. Eleven corrections staff members were placed on administrative leave after the death on March 1 of Messiah Nantwi, 22, an inmate at Mid-State Correctional Facility, a medium-security prison in Marcy, N.Y. Nine prisoners interviewed by The New York Times said Mr. Nantwi had been brutally beaten by corrections officers. Their accounts could not be independently confirmed, and Thomas Mailey, a prisons spokesman, said the death was under investigation. In some prisons, inmates went without hot food and showers because of the strikes. In others, they have missed court dates or have been confined in housing areas for more than a week.
