Hawley says closing prisons would put correctional officers at risk
Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R-Batavia) doesn’t want the state to close any prisons.
Hawley released a statement today after Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Friday the state would close three prisons due to a declining inmate population and crime rate.
The prisons that will close haven’t been identified. The Department of Corrections and Community Supervision will select the prisons, transition staff and incarcerated individuals, and cease facility operations by no later than Sept. 1, 2019, Cuomo said.
“Closing any state prisons would have dire consequences for public safety and the brave correctional officers who work with our incarcerated population,” Hawley said. “By consolidating the prison population, we run the risk of double bunking inmates and exacerbate the high number of violent attacks against corrections officers we have seen in recent years. This is not about a declining prison population, this is about the governor scrambling to save money to cover up his $2.3 billion budget shortfall – a terrible solution for an even worse self-inflicted problem.”
