Violence in facilities has increased 124% over the past decade
Violent attacks on staff by incarcerated individuals reached an all-time high in 2021, despite the lowest prison population since 1984
Lead plaintiff in landmark prisoner civil rights case believes HALT will lead to more violence in facilities
For Immediate Release/Press release
March 29, 2022
Albany, NY – The New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association, Inc. (NYSCOPBA) calls on New York to pause the full implementation of the Humane Alternatives for Long Term (HALT) Solitary Confinement Act. New York State had set a target date of April 1, 2022, for HALT to be fully implemented in all state-run correctional facilities.
NYSCOPBA President Michael Powers said: “The State’s assault numbers speak for themselves. Violence in New York’s prisons, specifically against staff, is at a record high despite a significantly smaller incarcerated population. Sadly, over the past calendar year, our members suffered from some of the most vicious, unprovoked attacks our organization has ever seen. Along with the increased violence, the glaring absence of confinement options and the continued under-staffing of our facilities, the State cannot in good conscience move forward with the full implementation of HALT. Simply put, the State isn’t ready.”
The Union isn’t alone in its concerns. Recently, the lead plaintiff in a landmark 2011 prisoner civil rights lawsuit against New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS), Peoples v. Annucci, sent a letter to NYSCOPBA President Michael Powers expressing his own concerns over current prison conditions and how policies like HALT will “increase prison violence.” The lawsuit resulted in a settlement known as the “NYCLU settlement,” which facilitated an overhaul of segregated confinement policies in New York State and laid the framework for the HALT Solitary Confinement Act. HALT goes beyond the NYCLU settlement in terms of its leniency for violence and discipline of inmate misconduct.
“We believe there is a direct correlation between the reduction of disciplinary procedures within our facilities and the rise in prison violence,” President Powers said. “HALT, which hinders the ability to separate vicious predators from the general prison population for more than fifteen days, if at all, will only exacerbate the issue. The reality is, in order to achieve a better rehabilitation model, you must first address the violence. It simply cannot be ignored or else you will continue to see chaos and an unhealthy environment for everyone who resides inside a prison facility. We know it and even the lead plaintiff in the NYCLU settlement knows it.”
According to data maintained by DOCCS, assaults on staff reached a record number of 1173 in 2021. So far in 2022, assault numbers are on pace to meet or exceed 2021’s record breaking total.
In 2021, the violence experienced by staff at the hands of incarcerated individuals was not only more frequent, but more egregious as well. In April, a female civilian staff member was suddenly attacked in a stairwell in Green Haven Correctional and nearly sexually assaulted. In August, an officer in Auburn Correctional was slashed from his mouth to ear with a metal object. In October, an officer in Attica was held and stabbed in the chest near his heart with a sharpened piece of metal. In November, an inmate who refused to take a shower attacked and kicked a female officer in the head repeatedly, causing injuries including a wound that required 70 stitches to close. DOCCS acknowledged the rise in severity of attacks in November 2021, releasing a memo to the incarcerated population describing the violence as “savagery.”
DOCCS convened a “Prison Violence Task Force” this year for the purpose of collaborating with labor unions, including NYSCOPBA, on ways to address prison violence through contraband mitigation and changes in policy. None of the security measured discussed pertain to HALT or immediately improving conditions to quell the violence. NYSCOPBA will continue to work with DOCCS to generate ideas and programs that will help reduce violence in facilities, ultimately violence is an issue the Department is tasked with solving.
NYSCOPBA has sponsored legislation which would commission a violence study to be conducted in New York State Correctional Facilities, aimed at determining the catalyst for the rise in violent incidents. The legislation includes input from various prison-specific stakeholders and is currently pending in the New York State Legislature.
In May 2021, NYSCOPBA filed a federal lawsuit against New York State to overturn HALT, arguing that the new law violates its members’ civil rights. That lawsuit is still pending.