Column: Assemblyman Phil Palmesano

Addressing violence against Correction Officers

ALBANY, Nov. 23, 2024 -- Once again, we are sounding the alarm that our brave correction officers are under siege, and New York is doing nothing to help them.

At a time when assaults on officers have reached an all-time high, we should be working to fix this problem. One way to do that is to repeal the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement (HALT) Act. The HALT Act significantly restricts, and sometimes eliminates, the ability of officers to use tools to ensure the safety of both officers and inmates, including segregating the most dangerous and violent inmates from the rest of the general population.

In fact, since HALT took effect in 2022, the number of assaults on officers has skyrocketed by close to 55% and has reached an all-time high this year with more than 1,800 assaults. During this same time period, inmate-on-inmate assaults have soared by 128%, reaching an all-time record of more than 2,530 assaults so far this year. Just recently, a female officer at Rikers Island was punched in the face by a male inmate and required medical attention. This should not be happening, but sadly, it is happening due to the dangerous and out-of-touch policies being advanced by Democrats in Albany. Policies that continue to put the interests of criminals over public safety, crime victims and their families and our brave members of law enforcement both on the streets and working inside our correctional facilities have created an unsafe state.

Even as the prison population in New York has declined from 56,000 to 33,500 inmates, and the state has closed more than 25 correctional facilities since 2011, with two additional maximum-security prisons just closing on Nov. 6, violent assaults remain on the rise. Since 2011, inmate-on-staff assaults have increased by 198%, inmate-on-inmate assaults are up 218% and contraband seizures are up 59%.

The data is clear, and our officers need support and the ability to use all available tools to keep themselves and inmates safe. They are currently hamstrung due to dangerous policies like the HALT Act, and it is actively putting them in harm’s way.

We should repeal the failed and dangerous HALT Act. New York Democrats must finally see the errors of previous legislation and take significant action to address the violence crisis and rising assaults happening inside our prisons today. We should address the staffing crisis by aggressively increasing the pay and benefits for our correction officers and staff.

I was encouraged by the recent contract for our correction officers that included sign-on bonuses to help recruit new officers, but we have much more work to do including implementing other longevity bonuses and benefits to help retain dedicated and hardworking employees.

We need to provide our correction officers with important tools and resources, such as body scanners and drug dogs, at every correctional facility to help keep the drugs and contraband out of our prisons, which have contributed to the rising violence and assaults. And finally, it is long past due for this administration and Democrats in the Legislature to treat our correction officers and civilian staff as the professionals they are and with the respect they deserve and have certainly earned.

Anything less would be a slap in the face to these dedicated workers.

Assemblyman Palmesano represents the 132nd District, which includes Schuyler County, Yates County and parts of Chemung County, Seneca County and Steuben County. For more information about Assemblyman Palmesano, please follow him on Facebook.

Photo in text: Asssemblyman Phil Palmesano