Dozens of correction officers and other staff of the Elmira Correctional Facility stood across the maximum security state prison Monday to protest what they say are unsafe working conditions in light of increased violence and plans to reduce prison staffing statewide.
The New York State Correction Officers Police Benevolent Association, which represents correction officers in the state prison system, said the protests at Elmira — and at the Collins Correctional Facility in Erie County — are not sanctioned by the union, according to NYSCOPBA spokesman James Miller.
Tensions have been high since the recent fatal beating of inmate Robert Brooks at the Marcy Correctional Facility in Oneida County. Critics also say low staffing and New York’s HALT Act, which restricts the use of solitary confinement as a punishment, have exacerbated the situation.
The bottom line, according to one Elmira correction officer who declined to give his name due to fear of disciplinary action, is the prison environment isn’t safe for staff or inmates. The officer said staff is in jeopardy every day, working long shifts. Monday’s action was “all about safety and health.”
“We just want safer working conditions,” the officer said.
Corrections officers and other staff gather across the street from the Elmira Correctional Facility during a demonstration Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. The employees were protesting what they claim are unsafe working conditions at the prison.
Despite incidents of violence in the state prison system, corrections officials are considering reducing overall staffing to 70% of their present levels.
State legislators representing the Elmira area say poor policy decisions in Albany have led to dangerous levels of discontent within the prison system.
“New York state’s correctional system is clearly in crisis,” said state Sen. Tom O’Mara, R-Big Flats. “It has been continually building and growing worse, as many of us have warned, over the past decade of rapid prison closures, increasingly dangerous and demanding working conditions inside prisons, drastic workforce reductions, and the enactment of the HALT Act and other failed policies out of Albany.
This sign at a protest outside the Elmira Correctional Facility on Monday, Feb. 17, 2025, refers to a plan by state officials to reduce prison staffing to 70% of current levels.
“We need a comprehensive overhaul of safety and security within the system, beginning with the immediate repeal of HALT, for correctional officers, staff and inmates alike, and it needs to be made a priority,” O’Mara said.
The Marcy incident does not represent the conduct of correction officers at Elmira and across the state, he added. In December, Brooks was fatally beaten while his hands were handcuffed behind his back. The death was ruled a homicide and over a dozen people involved in Brooks’ death have been suspended without pay and are in the process of being terminated. The incident was captured on body camera footage.
Assemblyman Phil Palmesano, R-Corning, a vocal critic of the HALT Act, said Elmira is a microcosm of troubles across the prison system statewide.
“The combination of prison closures, a massive staffing shortage, and policies that make (correction officers’) jobs more difficult have created a powder keg environment inside state prisons,” Palmesano said in a statement.
Elmira Correctional Facility staff line up across the street from the prison during a demonstration Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. The correction officers and others were protesting what they call unsafe working conditions.
“We are seeing record highs of inmate-on-staff and inmate-on-inmate assaults (up 76% and 169% respectively) since the implementation of the HALT Act. More correction officers are retiring and resigning each year than are coming in. Currently, there are more than 2,200 correction officer vacancies. This is unacceptable, dangerous and unsustainable and must be addressed now.”
More: How Marcy body cameras turned a secret assault into a reckoning at NY prisons
DOCCS: Actions at Elmira, Collins facilities are ‘unlawful’
In the meantime, the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision says it has taken multiple steps to improve conditions for its workers, including negotiating a new labor agreement with NYSCOPBA that includes yearly salary increases, increases in location pay, and paid parental leave.
The department has also instituted new policies and procedures to reduce the amount of contraband entering its facilities to increase the safety of all, a spokesman said.
“The job actions initiated by some rogue NYSCOPBA members, at Collins and Elmira Correctional facilities this morning are illegal and unlawful,” the department said in a statement. “We are committed to engaging the union in order to return staff to work and resume normal operations at the two facilities. Visitation at both facilities have been cancelled until further notice.”
(This story has been updated to add new information.)
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This article originally appeared on Elmira Star-Gazette: Elmira prison staff stage demonstration to protest working conditions