State Senator Pam Helming is urging lawmakers to take immediate action to improve safety conditions inside New York’s correctional facilities, citing a sharp rise in assaults on correction officers and a system she describes as “broken.”
In a column published Sunday, Helming recounted a recent visit to the Groveland and Five Points correctional facilities, where she met officers who had been attacked on the job. “They were bundled up in layers and huddled around burn barrels, trying to stay warm in the coldest week of winter,” she wrote, noting visible injuries on multiple staff members. According to the Department of Corrections, assaults on staff have increased by 85 percent since 2019.
Helming, who represents the 54th District, said the officers are not asking for pay increases but for safer working conditions. She called on state leaders to repeal the HALT Act, which limits the use of solitary confinement, and to halt further prison closures and consolidations. She also criticized the Department of Corrections’ directive that 70 percent staffing levels be considered full staffing.
Among her proposed reforms, Helming is pushing for mandatory body scanner screenings for all prison visitors, stronger contraband detection measures, and a 20-year retirement option for correction officers. “Now lawmakers need to get to work and take immediate action to improve safety and security inside state prisons,” she wrote.
The senator acknowledged that some might criticize officers for their unsanctioned protests, but she emphasized that their concerns cannot be ignored. “Their voices must be heard,” she stated, pledging to continue pressing state leaders, including Governor Kathy Hochul and legislative leaders, to act.
“To them I say: Do what’s right. Do your jobs,” she concluded.
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