Former CO to New York Governor Kathy Hochul: "You created this mess, come here and work!"
Getting punched; spit on; having bodily fluids thrown at you; being exposed to potentially harmful substances and having you and your family threatened... that and other unimaginable horrors are all in a days work for New York Corrections Officers.
For the last several days, numerous prison facilities statewide have had their guards walk out and strike for a safer working environment.
We visited the Marcy, NY Correctional Facility last Wednesday, where several CO's were gathered outside the facility. Other strikes were taking place simultaneously at Mohawk and Midstate.
Governor Kathy Hochul has publicly denounced these strikes, calling them illegal and warning striking CO's to return to their duty, for face legal repercussions.
In fact, the New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision recently announced that any corrections officers still striking will be considered Absent Without Leave (AWOL) and that their health insurance will be at risk.
According to numerous accounts from several of the striking CO's we spoke to, this effort is the last resort for their concerns to be heard over New York's HALT Act.
Effective as of March 31, 2022, HALT placed restrictions on the use, duration, and circumstances of segregated confinement as a punishment in New York State correctional facilities, created alternative therapeutic and rehabilitative confinement options, and imposed periodic public reporting requirements on DOCCS.
According to retired CO, Michael Januchowski, the calls to either repeal or modify the HALT Act, have fallen on "deaf" ears. "We've been complaining about this now for three or four years," he told us.
"We want a safe working environment for everybody."
New York State Senator Mark Walczyk (R) has been on the ground visiting various North Country prisons in support of CO's. "The Governor made our prisons unsafe by allowing deadly drugs to come through the inmate mail, inmate packaged gifts, and the visitors room," the Senator claimed.
"She made the prisons dangerous by taking away solitary confinement as a tool to separate gang leaders and violent convicts from the general population. She put inmates and Corrections Officers in danger by downgrading violent felons to medium security facilities. She overburdened families and Corrections Officers with extra programs and perks for inmates while having less staff to do the job - mandating overtime and extra-long shifts."
Listen to our full on-air segment from Monday, February 24, 2025:
In addition, Senator Walczyk has released his own eye witness account of touring Riverview Correctional Facility in Ogdensburg, including testimony from those who experienced last-week's terrifying inmate uprising at the facility (for additional context, we have heard rumors regarding a separate uprising recently at Mohawk Correctional Facility, but we have no official details as of this publication):
- Inmates, around the midnight shift change, threatened to murder staff and meant it.
- Corrections Officers, some having worked non-stop for days, were able to safely retreat to secure areas and lock the dorms down, while the inmates took control.
- Inmates in C-block (2 dorms) smashed windows, used makeshift battering rams, and cut holes in the ceiling in an attempt to escape into the yard.
- Internal control was lost of the inmate population as they shifted to containment and perimeter security.
- At least one inmate was beaten by other inmates.
- Local law enforcement was called to help create a perimeter around the prison's fence line.
- The Correctional Emergency Response Teams (CERT) were able to deploy chemical agents and regain control just before inmates broke out into the yard (one window was half-hanging, all smashed up).
- The Army National Guard and Air National Guard are on the ground in a supporting role and they haven't shown up in the numbers the Governor called for but say more are coming. Some of them have corrections experience, but not in NY Prisons. Some have none.
- Guardsmen are helping augment dorm security.
- The Superintendent at Riverview is confident they can hold the jail but it's a medium security facility; if the convicts want to control a dorm, they will.
- I saw the look in the CO's eyes.
- I heard more than I'll say here because I don't want to compromise their safety more than it already is.
Other North Country lawmakers are showing their support for CO's on strike.
"The state’s correctional facilities must be safe and secure for all. Those working in these facilities, as well as their families, deserve nothing less," said New York State Senator Joe Griffo (R).
"Problematic policies like the HALT Act must be repealed, and I am urging the governor and my colleagues in the Legislature to take immediate action to address this issue. I also am concerned by reports of potential retaliation against officers and staff.
“The HALT Act has made our prisons less safe for everyone—staff and inmates alike," said New York State Assemblyman Ken Blankenbush (R).
"Since its implementation, violence has skyrocketed and the numbers paint a grim picture. Inmate-on-staff assault rates have increased by 76%, and inmate-on-inmate assaults have surged by 169%. This policy is failing, and we must act now to reverse course.”
"The conditions our corrections officers are dealing with in our prison system statewide is unacceptable," said New York State Assemblyman Robert Smullen.
"I support our corrections officers and will continue to speak up for them—they deserve to feel safe and protected when they show up for work!"
Image via the office of New York State Senator Mark Walczyk.
