In the past, no matter what political side of the aisle you came from, there were a few professions everyone respected, and one of those was our correctional officers. They do a thankless job that even in the best of times, few wanted to attempt. After all, they are locked inside a fortress with criminals a judge has decided to separate from civilized society, at least for a set amount of time. Some are separated for life because they commit deeds that are so bad.

Unfortunately, over the past few years, the Majority party lawmakers here in Albany have decided that law enforcement, the judiciary and correctional officers are the bad guys. The Majority parties in the Legislature demonized these professions and have made their working environment dangerous. But correctional officers still trudged into work each day, even though they knew that little by little, inmates were taking over the asylum.

In any other profession or workplace, harassment, violence, illegal drugs, crimes and disease spread would be shut down by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Even New York state has its own version of OSHA, known as PESH, the Public Employee Safety and Health Bureau. Both of these agencies failed the New York correctional officers by never even considering the working environment they were subjected to.

The catalyst of all of this workplace violence is the HALT Act, which is opposed by the entirety of the Republican Conference and the New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association, Inc. (NYSCOPBA). What the HALT Act does is remove the ability of officers to segregate the most violent offenders from the general population. Not only does this jeopardize the safety of the officers, but of the other inmates who are trying to better their lives as well. The HALT Act created a situation where there were no consequences for an inmate who committed crimes inside prisons. The inside of our prisons turned into a “survival of the fittest” jungle.

In 2021, during the first few months of my tenure in the Legislature, I was asked to debate the HALT Act. (Only the oldest of our local law enforcement population may remember that I attended the Correction Officers Academy in Albany). Despite our passionate debate about the eventual outcome, The HALT Act was passed by the overwhelming majority of votes from New York City legislators.

Just as predicted, inmates inside the prisons faced very few consequences for their actions. It is no surprise then that staffing inside our prisons has hit critically low levels, with many officers deciding going inside the walls just isn’t worth the risk. The correctional officers told anyone and everyone how bad it was inside the prisons. Even our local county jails felt the effects. The deaf Majority in the Legislature believed the inmates were the actual victims of society.

This all came to a head when thousands of correctional officers decided they had enough and walked off the job. Their demands were simple. Repeal the HALT Act, increase recruitment efforts and end the mandatory overtime that forced some officers to work 24 hours straight or more. These are reasonable goals, and I was proud to join these officers to thank them for the work they do and let them know I will always have their backs.

As a former police chief, I have worked with these men and women and gotten to know them personally. The Norwich Police Department housed all the firearms and ammunition for both Camp Pharsalia and Camp Georgetown Correctional Facilities for many years. On a near daily basis, correctional officers were at the police station. They are some of the most hardworking people I’ve met and they deserve respect for the dangerous job they do.

However, the governor didn’t see them the same way, instead of coming from a place of understanding and respect, she threatened them. That’s right, the sitting governor of the state of New York threatened to not only end the livelihood of correctional officers at prisons, but she also put out an executive order blackballing them from being employed by any local government entity, including law enforcement throughout the state.

Adding even more insult to injury, she then threatened them with jail time if they did not return to work in dangerous conditions. This is especially ironic because the governor has voiced her support for unions and even walked the picket line with striking workers in other industries, but when it comes to law enforcement, she was completely hostile. If that doesn’t show the blatant contempt the state government currently has for law enforcement, I don’t know what does.

The strike came to an end, but not before thousands of correctional officers were fired. The firings will only exacerbate the already low number of correctional officers on the job. The governor’s actions are also demoralizing another state agency, the National Guard. Taking people from civilian work and locking them inside prisons isn’t the greatest recruiting tool.

The governor should apologize directly to correctional officers for her actions and allow all of them to return to work by canceling her ‘blackball’ executive order. I want to end this with a direct message to correctional officers: I respect you; the majority of New Yorkers respect you and I will always fight for you and have your backs.