BUFFALO, N.Y. — A representative for the New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association tells 2 On Your Side that the state has ordered three correctional facilities to close in the next 90 days, including the Gowanda Correctional Facility in Erie County.
According to the union representative, the other two prisons affected are Watertown Correctional and the Clinton Annex.
NYSCOPBA says the move to close the Gowanda facility will displace some 511 corrections officers and sergeants, which does not include civilian staff.
A measure that allows the governor to close prisons with 90-days notice was included in the state's 2020-21 budget.
Previously, the head of New York’s prison agency was required to give a year’s notice before closing a correctional facility, but Cuomo introduced the proposal to change the law saying the state’s prison population had fallen by thousands since late 1999.
New York State has yet to officially announce the three closures. 2 On Your Side has reached out to Governor Cuomo's office for comment.
The Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) spokesperson Thomas Mailey released the following statement Monday afternoon:
"Since taking office, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has been at the forefront of some of the nation’s most progressive criminal justice reforms by spearheading a series of smart and fair policies that have closed prisons and decreased incarceration rates, brought accountability and transparency to our criminal justice system, protected the rights of victims and upheld due process, all while ensuring New York residents remain safe and secure.
"Since Governor Cuomo took office in 2011, the prison population has declined by more than 22,000 - a 39% reduction - from 57,229 to 34,842 people, as of December 21, 2020. In fact, the current DOCCS population is at its lowest level in more than 30 years, with New York leading the nation with the lowest imprisonment rate of any large state.
"That’s why DOCCS carefully reviewed the operations at its 52 correctional facilities and identified Watertown and Gowanda Correctional Facilities and the Clinton Annex for closure. While conducting the review, DOCCS based the decision on a variety of factors, including but not limited to physical infrastructure, program offerings, facility security level, specialized medical and mental health services, other facilities in the area to minimize the impact to staff, potential reuse options and areas of the State where prior closures have occurred in order to minimize the impact to communities. With the closure of these two facilities and the Clinton-Annex, we will be able to absorb the incarcerated population into vacant beds available at other institutions. These closures will result in an annual savings of approximately $89 million and a reduction of around 2,750 beds.
"DOCCS will work closely with the various bargaining units to provide staff opportunities for priority placement via voluntary transfers and will receive priority in terms of employment at other facilities or other state agencies as a result of the formal Civil Service process that is followed with the closure of a correctional facility. DOCCS does not anticipate any layoffs due to these closures.
"DOCCS will also work cooperatively with the Office of General Services and Economic Development to facilitate the re-use of the closed facilities. Upon closure, DOCCS will begin the decommission process in order to protect the State assets for potential re-use."
Michael Powers, president of NYSCOPBA, tells 2 on Your Side that as soon as he learned of the governor's decision he was angry.
"To have this come out the way it has on December 21 of 2020 and to have it impact over nine hundred employees and turn their worlds upside down, was just disingenuous," Powers says.
For months, NYSCOPBA members have reached out to the state in an effort to come up with solutions and ideas to better enhance facility work environments. Powers says, these were efforts made in hopes of avoiding closures.
"Could they have listened to us and brought us in the room to discuss some of the issues we have going forward that might have created a safer work environment? Yea they could have, but they didn't and here's the knee jerk reaction."
The state says the decision will not result in layoffs and will save taxpayers money.
To that, state senate minority leader Senator Robert Ortt says, "In my six years in Albany, I've rarely seen savings materialize for taxpayers and their families."
When asked about his thoughts on the decision itself, Ortt says he believes Cuomo's decision to be more about advancing a political narrative, than anything else.
"Closing a prison itself doesn't do anything," Ortt says. "It doesn't reflect less crime, it doesn't reflect any of that, it just says 'we're going to close this."
Ortt says the legislature was not part of the decision and is thus calling for the state to reverse this decision - sooner rather than later.
