RELEASE | Statement from Senator George Borrello on (prison) DOCCS Staffing Reductions

(Today - New York State Police are aware of a situation at Collins Correctional Facility in Erie County. NYS Department of Corrections is the lead on the case - from NBC5: inmates barricaded themselves inside two dormitory areas early Wednesday morning, according to the Albany Times Union. The lockdown took place at Collins Correctional Facility in Erie County, with the incident beginning around 1 a.m. The Times Union said three corrections officers were injured during the initial incident, according to Kenny Gold, a regional vice president for the New York Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association). 

Statement from Senator George Borrello on DOCCS Staffing Reductions

“I’ve learned that Acting DOCCS Commissioner Daniel Martuscello has ordered prison superintendents to treat 70 percent staffing capacity as "full staffing," and is requiring superintendents to submit plans to permanently operate with fewer personnel. This is a de facto 30 percent staffing cut in a system already under siege, as today’s lockdown at Collins Correctional proves. Rather than addressing the ongoing crisis of rising violence and officer shortages, DOCCS and the Hochul administration are deliberately making an already dangerous situation worse.

Correctional officers are already stretched to the breaking point, routinely working double and even triple shifts just to maintain the bare minimum coverage. This unsustainable workload is taking a devastating toll on their health, families, and safety, making them more vulnerable to attack while fueling instability inside prisons. Instead of protecting officers, DOCCS and the Hochul administration are slashing staff while ignoring the real causes of escalating violence—like the disastrous HALT Act, which has stripped officers of the tools they need to maintain control.

The lockdown at Collins and this 30 percent staffing reduction are just the latest evidence of DOCCS reckless mismanagement and Albany’s pro-criminal policies. They are abandoning the men and women who keep our prisons secure to serve a radical political agenda. I strongly condemn this staffing reduction and urge Governor Hochul and Commissioner Martuscello to immediately reverse this dangerous decision before more lives are put at risk. Should any lives be lost, whether they be staff or inmates, the blood will be on their hands."