Hawley co-sponsors proposals to improve safety, staffing in prisons

Press Release, Assemblyman Steve Hawley’s Office

Photo from Hawley’s Office: Assemblyman Steve Hawley said the state prisons face a serious staffing crisis.

ALBANY – Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,C-Batavia) today attended a press conference in Albany alongside his legislative colleagues to announce a series of proposals aimed at improving safety and the ongoing staffing shortages in New York state’s correctional facilities. Hawley also announced that he has signed on as a co-sponsor of the legislation (A.10430).

The proposals follow recommendations from the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) and the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association (NYSCOPBA), which have called for reforms to the state’s HALT Act and other policy changes to address rising violence and the ongoing staffing crisis within correctional facilities.

“Correctional officers report to work every day under extremely difficult and dangerous conditions, and they deserve to know the state has their backs,” said Hawley. “Right now, we still have members of the National Guard stationed in correctional facilities across New York at a cost of $50 million per month. That alone shows just how serious the staffing crisis has become. We need real, long-term solutions that support the men and women working on the front lines while also ensuring facilities are safe for incarcerated individuals.”

Some of the provisions in the legislation Hawley and his colleagues are proposing include:

• Expanding misconduct and offenses eligible for segregated confinement.
• Revising definitions to better align with penal law crimes, particularly violent felony offenses.
• Permitting short-term segregated confinement for ongoing misbehavior not currently eligible for disciplinary confinement in the general population.
• Reducing subjectivity in determining rioting or escape offenses.
• Allowing short-term protective custody in segregated confinement when no safe housing alternative is available.
• Providing DOCCS with greater flexibility in administering out-of-cell programming and managing repeat offenders.
• Expanding considerations relating to good time allowances.

“These proposals are about restoring common sense to our correctional system and making sure our prisons are safe for everyone inside them,” Hawley added. “Our correctional officers deserve the tools they need to do their jobs safely, and we must also ensure a secure environment for incarcerated individuals.”