For the second day in a row, frustrated and angry corrections officers are mounting what they are calling informational pickets across the state including at areas facilities such as as ones in Collins, Alden and Attica.
Hundreds of off-duty corrections officers are banding together to stage the informational pickets at 21 of the state’s 24 prisons in the hopes of attracting the attention of state lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul about a long list of reforms and operational changes they feel are necessary not only for their own protection and safety but also for the prisoners.
The tipping point was a Feb. 12 incident at Collins Correctional Facility, a medium security prison in southern Erie County that escalated into a four-day-long lockdown at the prison.
Corrections officers are determined to bring about the changes they seek, although they remain frustrated because they feel their issues are falling on deaf ears from Albany.,
Retired corrections officer Dave Washburn, a 25-year veteran from both Elmira and Groveland Corrections Facilities, explains.
"We write letters to our senators and Assembly people, and I've written letters to the governor and to Commissioner Martuscello, and emails, and none of them have been answered," he said. "You know, these cries for help, families want to see their mom or dad that are in these facilities, the working conditions are horrid."
Late on Feb. 18, Gov. Hochul said she wants the National Guard to be deployed to aid those prison guards still working inside the facilities.
At the same time, Hochul is asking the state Department of Corrections Commissioner Daniel Martuscello to meet with leaders from the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association leaders to lay the groundwork for resolving the complex set of issues.
But, corrections officers and their retired counterparts like longtime Wende guard Dan Bauer are fearful it might be too late.
"The attorney general and the governor are not going to do anything for us until something bad happens and worse," he said. "We are concerned that the inmates will do something. We've heard that there's been revolting across the state, and we don't want anybody to get hurt."
Political leaders, both Democrats like State Sen. Sean Ryan and Republican Congressman Nick Langworthy, also said they are concerned and fearful about what may happen at the prisons.
"I think they need to be heard loud and clear. We had a situation over the weekend that is unacceptable, where the portion of the prison was put in danger and was taken over by prisoners," Langworthy said. "I don't think there's been really enough transparency about what exactly happened, but they've had enough, and they're standing up and they're being heard."
For now, the standoff continues.