BUFFALO, N.Y. — The union representing corrections officers is calling on the New York State Legislature to repeal the HALT Act to address the recent rise in prison violence.
The Humane Alternatives for Long Term (HALT) Solitary Confinement Act was passed in 2021 and was implemented in state prisons to limit the use of solitary confinement for prisoners to 15 days, as well as implement, alternative rehabilitative measures.
The union, New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association, Inc. (NYSCOPBA), says that violence in prisons, and attacks on staff, has "exploded" since the HALT Act was passed.
"We’ve been warning the State for years that the implementation of HALT would do nothing to better the lives of individuals who reside in prisons and would only make our facilities more dangerous. We pleaded with the Legislature to pass our prison violence study legislation before implementing HALT, and those cries fell on deaf ears. In the two weeks since HALT’s full implementation, attacks have significantly increased and now this year is on track to be the most violent in our prisons in New York State history. The individuals who created this poorly thought-out legislation need to make immediate modifications to the HALT Act to address this rise in violence they so carelessly caused," said NYSCOPBA President Michael Powers in a press release.
The union says that numbers reported by the NYS Department of Correction and Community Supervision indicates that both inmate-on-staff assaults and inmate-on-inmate assaults will surpass their single year records by the end of this year.
“The numbers support what we’ve been saying for years. Any reduction in disciplinary penalties within our facilities only leads to more violence,” Powers said. “HALT hinders the ability to separate vicious predators from the general prison population for more than fifteen days, which simply isn’t enough of a deterrent. Bad individuals who mean to do harm to others are seizing this opportunity and unfortunately, our officers who take an oath to maintain care, custody and control of these facilities have been put in harm’s way. Shame on the New York State Legislature for ignoring the decade of rising violence in our facilities which is backed by factual data, and instead crafted legislation based off emotion.”
The union highlighted several incidents that happened in the recent weeks, including:
- Nine officers were injured after a series of attacks in Upstate Correctional Facility, Clinton Correctional Facility and Great Meadow Correctional Facility.
- Three officers were injured in an attack at Upstate Correctional, including one officer who needed to be transported to a nearby hospital.
- Five officers were transported to the hospital after two separate attacks at Lakeview Shock Incarceration Facility.
- A civilian staff member was injured when an inmate attempted to stab her in the neck with a pen at Mohawk Correctional Facility
- Twelve officers sustained injuries after multiple incidents over a two-day span involving inmate fights and unprovoked attacks at Orleans Correctional Facility
- An inmate slashed an officer across his face in an unprovoked attack at Cape Vincent Correctional Facility.
- An officer was attacked and punched repeatedly in the head by an inmate at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility.
- A female officer was transported to a local hospital after being attacked by an inmate who refused to get off the phone at Marcy Correctional Facility.
NYSCOPBA filed a lawsuit last May against the state to overturn HALT. It is still pending in court.
