DOCCS Terminates Corrections Officers Who Are Striking Calling It “Resignation” - Cuts Health Insurance, COBRA, and Salary Also

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A Corrections Officer holds a sign on Matteawan Road, which is the road to the Fishkill Correctional Facility and the Beacon High School and Middle Schools, that says: “No One Is Safe Inside.”

The Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) has followed through on its threat to fire Corrections Officers who are striking in the name of unsafe conditions for all people inside of the New York prison system: Corrections Officers, Incarcerated People, and Visitors. DOCCS has sent a letter of resignation to officers who are striking, according to the letter ALBB has seen and republished below.

The letter states that any officer who has not reported to work in 10 days is considered AWOL and has resigned. Corrections Officers were warned via robo-call (audio recording included below) on Sunday that their employment would be terminated, and health insurance would end for themselves and all of their dependents, as would eligibility for COBRA.

According to a source familiar with the situation, about 20 Corrections Officers from Fishkill Corrections Facility, located in Beacon, have received the letter.

Robo-Call To Corrections Officers Threatening to Terminate Their Employment and Health Insurance

However, inconsistencies occurred with the delivery of the letter, which was emailed and text messaged to select officers, despite saying that it was sent Certified Mail. If so, the paper copy has not arrived yet. Additionally, some retired Corrections Officers also received the employment termination letter, according to sources. “They’re not organized,” one officer told ALBB.

The names of terminated officers were not on each letter. “Nobody knows if this is even true, if they are really enforcing this or if it’s just another threat,” one officer who received the letter told ALBB. “As you can see, I got sent that letter, but my name is not on it.”

Governor Kathy Hochul has threatened to arrest Corrections Officers still on strike. According to The City, “the Hochul administration is also pushing to get permission from a state judge to begin arresting striking officers for breaking the law. That process is expected to take several days,” according to Jackie Bray, the Commissioner of Homeland Security and Emergency Services who spoke to reporters on Monday (3/3/2025).

The Letter of Termination Emailed To Corrections Officers On Strike,
And Some Retired Corrections Officers

 

March 2, 2025
CERTIFIED MAIL
RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED

This is to confirm that your absence beginning on February 17, 2025 was unauthorized.

Section 14.10, Unauthorized Absence, of the 2023-2026 Agreement between the State of New York and New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association, Inc. states, "Any employee absent from work without authorization for ten (10) consecutive workdays shall be deemed to have resigned from his position if he has not provided a satisfactory explanation for such absence on or before the eleventh (11th) workday following the commencement of such unauthorized absence."

You did not provide a satisfactory explanation for this absence on or before March 2, 2025, the eleventh workday following the commencement of your unauthorized absence. Therefore, you are deemed to have resigned from your position of Correction Officer with the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. Accordingly, you are separated from employment with an effective date of March 2, 2025.

Please make immediate arrangements to return all Department equipment to the Correctional Facility. Failure to comply with this direction may result in the withholding of any monies due you, as well as possible legal action being instituted against you.

This termination revokes your Peace Officer status granted under Section 2.10 of the Criminal Procedures Law*. If you possess a firearm(s) by virtue of your peace officer status, you must make arrangements to surrender the firearm(s) at a local law enforcement agency. DO NOT BRING YOUR FIREARM(S) TO ANY NYS DOCCS FACILITY.

Sincerely,
Daniel F. Martuscello III
Commissioner

cc: Personal/Labor Relations
NYSCOPBA

*2.10 Persons designated as peace officers.25. Officials, as designated by the commissioner of the department of corrections and community supervision pursuant to rules of the department, and correction officers of any state correctional facility or any penal correctional institution.

The Harriman State Campus, 1220 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12226-2050 | (518) 457-8126

 

Day 11 Prison Strike: Not Ending Any Time Soon. Increase In Officers Striking. A Recap

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The prison strike is in Day 11 and is not letting up any time soon. In fact, the number of Corrections Officers striking is increasing, according to this Cease and Desist court document that was served to them (possibly served illegally if it was served on a Sunday and/or left on a porch or somewhere else, according to one Fishkill Correctional Officer who spoke with ALBB).

“As of Sunday, February 23, 2025, the number of correctional facilities with officers on strike has risen to thirty-eight (38). The number of officers participating in the strike has also risen dramatically since February 18, 2025,” New York State Department Of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) states as the petitioner in their order for Corrections Officers to return to work immediately.

New York State says the strike is illegal under the Taylor Law that says state employees cannot strike. Corrections Officers dispute that. One officer told ALBB: “What we are doing, the courts are going to find that what we are doing is not illegal. There is an exemption to the Taylor law. If the reason for the strike is working in extremely dangerous working conditions.”

ALBB observed to one of our sources that these officers didn’t seem like the protesting types. Our source agreed, and said they are very scared. This week, SCAB posters were zip-tied to the street signs along Matteawan Road, which is the road to both the prison and the school. The literal school-to-prison pipeline.

The posters were removed. These officers popped up with more posters in their hands, to psychically stand there if the posters were going to get cut down again. One officer wears a rat mask with red eyes, which symbolizes a person working through a strike. The officers are trying to encourage their fellow officers to strike in order to end the strike sooner (read about that here).

Seeing these officers standing here on the street corner - a new location, as they are normally on Rte. 52 at the other end of this road - it is clear they are getting the hang of this protest thing. Their signs read:

  • No One Is Safe Inside

  • It’s Not Too Late: Join Us

  • Stop The 24 Hour Mandates

  • Repeal H.A.L.T.

Why Are The Corrections Officers Striking?
Before we get into that, let’s ask:

Who Are The Corrections Officers?
For those new to Beacon, you will learn that Beacon is surrounded by prisons. Therefore, there is a large employment population here of Corrections Officers (COs) - people who work in the prisons. There are also people who prepare meals, do administrative jobs, etc.

There are also retired Corrections Officers. Sometimes they enjoy their retirement and have long lunches, and sometimes they find other jobs, like as security guards in the public schools. Is it fair that they are earning pension and a salary, when some people just want to earn a salary? That is a topic for another time.

Where Do They Work?
In Beacon, some work at the Fishkill Correctional Facility, or at the Dutchess County Justice and Transition Center, or other places. One formerly incarcerated person, Ryan Manzi (the Free Palestine chalk artist), describes the Dutchess County facility as “a 💩 way of making a poorly run jail facility sound less offensive.”

Ok. So Why Are The Corrections Officers Striking?
Both formerly incarcerated people and the officers have told ALBB that life inside the jail is like the Wild West. Violent and unfair. For both the officers and the incarcerated people. For the latter, their stories sometimes make it out, sometimes they don’t, and sometimes they die. For officers, because they are in power, their gripes don’t usually make the news.

Until now. “We come out here because we can’t deal with it anymore,” one Fishkill Correctional Office told ALBB. “We are working for a lawless state agency. DOCCS is violating our contract by failing to maintain safe staffing levels inside.” DOCCS has declared that staffing to 70% is the new 100%. For reasons unknown, DOCCS will pay officers overtime on the regular, and without the officers’ permission, but won’t hire as many officers as they need. Recruitment is also an issue, because who wants to work in these conditions.

The officer went onto describe several violent scenarios that happen on a daily basis. “Before H.A.L.T., it was controlled chaos. The Wild West. Fishkill is a war zone on a daily basis. We spend our days running code to code. UI. Unusual Incident. We had 850 UIs last year. When I started, that number was in the mid 200s.” He provided an example: “It’s like Mad Libs. You see the same ones over and over. Guy (incarcerated person) got sliced across the face. Ear cut off. Blood everywhere. But, so many things do not get registered UI. Unless we Narcan the guy, it’s not a UI. If we didn’t have to Narcan him, it’s nothing. No paperwork on him.”

The officer is referring to what they say is rampant drug use and exposure that comes into the jail from the outside. Which is a major reason why the officers are demanding searches of visitors, and changes in how the mail is sorted. The drugs - like fentanyl and household chemicals made into drugs - are liquefied and put onto the envelope or stamp. The incarcerated person then receives the mail, touches the drugs, and gets high, sometimes dangerously so. Officers also can come into contact with the drugs, and also get high. It is common now, the officer says, to Narcan a fellow officer to bring them out of a overdose while sorting the mail.

The Demands Of The Officers

Corrections Officers were protesting several safety issues, including:

Corrections Officers are demanding the repeal of the H.A.L.T. Act, which was

  • Mandated 24hr shifts. Officers are locked into their hallways once told that they have to stay past their shift. They are not given a choice.

  • Mandated Overtime. They are paid to stay, but they are not agreeing to it.

  • Exposure to fentanyl through mail sorting methods.

  • DOCCS being “lawless” and abusing officers. Said the Fishkill Corrections Officer to ALBB: “DOCCS is harassing officers out on workers compensation who are laying in hospital beds reviving from knee replacements, surgeries, incidents at work by being assaulted by inmates or falling down stairs in buildings DOCCS owns but doesn’t maintain. DOCCS demands they come back to work. Even though the doctor says they are in no condition to do anything.”

  • Unmaintained equipment: “They [incarcerated people] break the chairs. $7,000 for a chair. There is not a wheelchair or striker chair in working condition in the Fishkill Correctional Facility,” the officer told ALBB. “After a fight between incarcerated people, we got to drag a guy in a broken wheelchair between buildings for medical treatment. We have to sit on him for 30 mins to make sure he’s OK. Then release him back into the population because he can’t go into the SHU (Special Housing Unit) to be protected against the guy who beat him because H.A.L.T. makes it so difficult to get him in there.”

  • Speaking of H.A.L.T.: “We had 40 charges we could use, now we have 6 charges to choose from. He would have to do something very violent to get put into SHU if he wants to go in there to get away from another inmate.”

  • Repeal of H.A.L.T. Act. This was a bill signed into law to create more humane and therapeutic ways of responding to incarcerated people, where they get put into the SHU (Special Housing Unit). Corrections Officers refer to this confinement as “jail within the jail.” It was punishment based. Bill signers wanted a rehabilitation approach. In practice, however, things seemed to have resulted differently.


    The Corrections Officers say they want H.A.L.T. gone. The officer told ALBB: “The inmates do not like H.A.L.T. Nobody wants halt except Albany legislature.” He went onto explain that the incarcerated people used Special Housing Unit to get away from other incarcerated people who have targeted them for rent money inside the jail (there is a hierarchy), ordered cut hits on other incarcerated people, and other situations.

    According to the bill: “This bill will be known as the "Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement" Act (the H.A.L.T. Solitary Confinement Act.) This bill would limit the time an inmate can spend in segregated confinement, end the segregated confinement of vulnerable people, restrict the criteria that can result in such confinement, improve conditions of confinement, and create more humane and effective alternatives to such confinement.” The bill also makes it illegal to use special or modified food diet as a punishment.

    Some Corrections Officers are saying they have lost the ability to “punish” inmates for violence to other incarcerated people or officers. Other Corrections Officers are saying they have lost the ability to protect a beaten incarcerated person from their aggressor.

    Violence to both inmates and officers is on the rise, according a breakdown presented by Spectrum News.

Striking Corrections Officers Write Messages On Protest Posters For Fellow Officers To Join Them

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On the way to school - to the Beacon High School or Middle School - parents, caregivers, students, staff, and retired Corrections Officers who are security guards, have most likely seen the strike posters that have been popping up on Matteawan Avenue, which is the main artery to the schools and the prison. Some call it a living metaphor for the school to prison pipeline. For some, it’s all a loop. Even some retired teachers become Corrections Officers, who were standing on the picket line today outside the Fishkill Correctional Facility.

This week there were two new posters. One reads: “Stop By And Thank Us For 2.5 OT, SCAB Cowards.”

The 2.5 OT is in reference to the additional pay that current Corrections Officers are getting for working through the strike. They are getting 2.5 times their normal rate.

Today, ALBB asked one Corrections Officer out on the line if it was hard to publicly call out other officers who are working. The officer responded: “I have mixed emotions for people not on strike. We work with them. Someone who is a single parent. Special needs. They have special circumstances, and I get it. I for one don't feel good about pushing on them. But lots of people don’t have special circumstances. People are afraid of NY State. Some people are greedy. One officer driving by rolled down the window and said 'I’m going work!' because he knew we knew he was getting paid so much more now in Over Time.”

“We are from all cultures,” the officer continued. “We are a giant dysfunctional family most days. The biggest thing is, when we are out here on the street, we can’t be in there to protect them,” the officer said, in reference to other officers, nodding to the jail across the street. “The protectors are all out here. Sometimes they [those not striking] don’t recognize the seriousness of the situation.”

“DOCCS violated federal law by refusing to accommodate for Muslim officers to grow beards. They [DOCCS] lost that. We won. The officers won.”
— Correctoins Officer at Fishkill Correctional

While the officer was listing what he viewed as several federal violations made by DOCCS (Department of Corrections and Community Supervision) over the years, the officer included an example of fellow officers suing the DOCCS for prohibiting officers from growing and wearing beards. “DOCCS violated federal law by refusing to accommodate for Muslim officers to grow beards. They [DOCCS] lost that. We won. The officers won.”

Another officer today expressed concern over what was going to happen when Ramadan starts on Friday. “Who is going to give the Muslims their special meals?” one officer asked. “They [the Muslim male incarcerated people] don’t screw around. They have issues with the female officers. Their special meals and times are accommodated, but I don’t know how that is going to happen while we are outside.”

“Another officer today expressed concern over what was going to happen when Ramadan starts on Friday. “Who is going to give the Muslims their special meals?” one officer asked. “They [the Muslim male incarcerated people] don’t screw around. They have issues with the female officers. Their special meals and times are accommodated, but I don’t know how that is going to happen while we are outside.””
— Corrections Officer at Fishkill Correctional Facility

As new developments happen each day with the National Guard inside, who have no experience in the correctional world, some officers who are hearing what the National Guard is experiencing were imagining what might be next.

ALBB did not have time to inquire further on the accommodations or idiosyncrasies around incarcerated Muslim males and female officers, but will try during another visit.

Today, there was a large spread of donated food, including warming dishes from catering for Spanish and Italian food. Another Corrections Officer, a quiet person who was organizing the food spread, wanted ALBB to take a photo of the birthday cake, as it was a different officer’s birthday today.

Correction Officers Served Court Orders To Stop Striking By NY State Police - Threats Of Arrest - Loss of Health Care

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Over the weekend, Corrections Officers who are striking in what has become a state-wide prison strike (read more of the origins here), began to be served court orders to stop striking. New York State Police Officers began delivering the cease and desist letters that were ordered by Governor Kathy Hochul.

The Times Union reports that some letters are being sent by mail and email. A Fishkill Corrections Officer told A Little Beacon Blog today 2-25-2025 that some court orders were served to striking Fishkill officers on Sunday, a day which is not allowed in New York State, and being left somewhere not in a person’s hands, which may be part of a Conspicuous Service, which is when a person cannot be found and the server makes at least 2 attempts to find them, and then leaves the paper in an approved place and sends a copy by mail. Conspicuous Service, however, can only be done under certain circumstances. Serving the papers incorrectly could be reason to delay or throw out the start of a legal case.

Corrections Officers of the Fishkill Corrections Facility confirm that some officers have received the court order at their homes, which some felt was an unlawful delivery on the weekend. “These are scare tactics from Albany,” one Corrections Officer told ALBB. “They were out serving people on Sunday between 10pm and Midnight.” NY State Law states that the hours between 6am and 10pm be used.

“They can’t serve those cease and desist orders on a Sunday. Some police were leaving the paperwork on the Corrections Officers’ doorsteps. There are rules about getting served. It has to be in person. They need to verify that it’s you. An admission that ‘Yes I am the person.’ No signature by you is required when getting served.”

Said another officer: “One person I know was standing outside when the police came. We are telling everyone to stay inside.” The Times Union reported: “On Saturday, striking Correction Officers were informed that they are not being paid and have been listed as ‘absent without leave’ during their ‘illegal work action.’ In addition, they were cautioned that their health insurance coverage is being terminated.”

One Corrections Officer stated to ALBB: “They (DOCC) are lawless. This is the problem with our agency - the Department Of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) - and the State of New York. They use emotional scare tactics on people already scared of this job.”

In the interview with ALBB, the Corrections Officer continued with an example of a fellow officer who was not striking but was out on Family Medical Leave (FMLA) for his wife who has been battling cancer for 2 years: “I called one of our officers to check in on him. He’s not striking, but he’s out on FMLA. He can’t deal with anything. His wife has cancer. When he called DOCCS to check on his own status, they said: ‘Just so you know, you’re being classified as AWOL.’ They were threatening to use that to threaten him off payroll and lose health insurance. Now that guy is sitting at home, looking at his wife, thinking my health insurance is going to get canceled. What am going to do.’”

Corrections Officers who are working in place of striking officers are getting paid 2.5 times their usual rate. The Times Union also reports that in addition to National Guard being used to assist in securing the prisons, and supplying meals and medicine, NY State Police are also being called to work in the prisons. “State Police also are assisting with security at multiple prisons; a missive shared with members on Friday said that officials at the agency’s headquarters had ‘sent out a request to compile a list of all troopers with prior NY State Department of Corrections experience.’”

When serving court documents, parties who are involved in the situation cannot serve the papers. It is unclear at this time if the NY State Police would be considered a participating party, since some of them may be filling in for striking Corrections Officers.

“We don’t want to be out here,” the Fishkill Correctional Officer told ALBB. “We have tried for 5 years to bring these issues before the jail.” He was referring to rising acts of violence on inmates by inmates, as well as inmates on officers. Spectrum News did a analysis of rising acts of violance on inmates and officers in the last 5 years since H.A.L.T. was s started.

“There are 15 officers to cover the RRU program. The most violent program.” The RRU (Residential Rehabilitation Unit) is a part of the H.A.L.T. program, which to the public, is known as a program that eliminated the concept of “solitary confinement,” or made it more difficult to put an incarcerated person away from the general population of the jail. The Corrections Officers say that after a fight between incarcerated people, where the injuries are serious, they want to separate them and put those people or one of them out of the general population for their own safety, and that of who they fought with.

According to the NY State manual, the “RRU is the separate housing unit used for therapy, treatment, and rehabilitative programming of incarcerated individuals who have been determined to require more than 15 days of disciplinary confinement pursuant to Department proceedings. Such units shall be therapeutic, trauma-informed, and aim to address individual treatment and rehabilitation needs and underlying causes of problematic behaviors.”

The Corrections Officer continued: “But you got 5 officers. You call them (DOCC) and you say ‘I don’t have enough staff,” and they say ‘make it work.’ That’s always been DOCCS’ motto. We have made shit work at our own peril. I’m amazed that none of use have been murdered. There is a line in corrections ‘no one walks alone.’ We are all walking alone now.”

Memo Issued Last Week From DOCCS To Officers to Pause Parts Of H.A.L.T. As Concession To Strike

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Fishkill Correctional Facility Superintendent Michael Daye, who last Thursday walked down a piece of paper to the group of people standing across the street from the prison.
Photo Credit: ALBB

One day after a New York Supreme Court Judged issued a restraining order against Corrections Officers refusing to go to work as they reject mandated 24-36 hour shifts and demand safer working conditions through the repeal of H.A.L.T., a law enacted to eliminate solitary confinement used as punishment or retaliation against incarcerated people in their care, the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) Commissioner, Daniel Martuscello III, issued a memo on Thursday that would temporarily suspend parts of the H.A.L.T. Act, which stands for Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement.

As explained by WSKG, "The HALT Act is meant to limit extended solitary confinement. It allows for some hours outside the cell while in solitary holding. Its use is prohibited to those 21 years or younger, or 55 years and older—and those who are disabled or pregnant. Solitary confinement is also limited to 15 consecutive days."

Retired Corrections Officers who have been speaking on behalf of currently employed Corrections officers have indicated that the officers will not end the strike until H.A.L.T. is repealed, citing unsafe working conditions when incarcerated people cut and injure other incarcerated people or other officers.

Retirees have told ALBB that without disciplinary repercussions for physical abuse, there is incentive for people not to get into fights who feel compelled to do so. Separating two individuals fighting has become almost impossible.

Yet, as is common in the judicial system, revenge can be carried out by those in authority within the judicial system to send someone into solitary confinement who otherwise did not deserve to be separated or punished in that manner.

The recent death of Robert Brooks by a group of Corrections Officers who took turns beating him is fresh in the news as a reminder to how unsafe an incarcerated person can be within prison walls. As of this reporting, at least 10 officers have been charged in his beating, as reported by Syracuse News. The beating death of Robert Brooks was only revealed because body cameras were on some officers involved in the killing.

The memo from DOCCS offered that solitary confinement "can take place under 'exceptional circumstances' that 'create a significant and unreasonable risk to the safety and security of other incarcerated persons, staff or the facility,'” WSKG reported.

DOCCS also offered to take no disciplinary action against anyone striking if they reported to work the next day. However, the number of people on the picket line across from Fishkill Correctional Facility has only increased since then.

WSKG reports that the DOCCS memo also "eliminated" the 70/30 memo issued by DOCCS Commissioner Daniel that codified a lower staffing requirement. Fewer people on staff means more employees are mandated to work 24-36 hour shifts and forced to earn overtime that they did not sign up to earn. The 70/30 rule established 70% staffing as the new 100%. The Commissioner has since offered to reverse that in this latest memo, according to WSKG.

For those officers not on strike, overtime will be granted at 2.5 times the regular rate of pay.

The memo also stated that DOCCS would work with the Corrections Officers Union, the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association (NYSCOPBA) to increase recruitment issues. Retirees have stated that recruitment is a problem because of the increased violence that happens to incarcerated people and officers since the H.A.L.T Act was enacted. Spectrum News published the rate of increased violence to both parties over the years.

It is not clear why anyone would want to work as a Corrections Officer under these conditions. It is clear that people who become incarcerated are not always safe from other incarcerated people, Corrections Officers, or people on the outside who want to enact revenge with increased charges to lengthen time spent in prison by tweaking levers of the judicial system to their advantage.

The National Guard remains deployed in several prisons throughout New York State to provide meals and medication to incarcerated people.

Pictured here is Fishkill Correctional Facility Superintendent Michael Daye, who last Thursday walked down a piece of paper to the group of people standing across the street from the prison. On video taken by ALBB, he can be heard saying to a retired officer representing the group: “I can’t make them take it, but I attempted to deliver it.”

ALBB could not confirm the content contained on the paper, and if it was the Thursday memo from DOCCS. Moments after he attempted to deliver the document and walked away, a person followed the Superintendent to retrieve the piece of paper.

Judge Grants Temporary Restraining Order Mandating End To Strike Of Some Corrections Officers

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Last Wednesday, a New Yorker Supreme Court Judge granted a temporary restraining order that mandated that Corrections Officers end their strike. Officers are striking for unsafe working conditions, mandated 24 shifts, unsafe mail sorting practices, and purposeful low staffing known as 70/30, where 70% staffed is the new 100%, as reported by ALBB last week. The Union representing the Corrections Officers, the NYSCOPBA, has maintained since the beginning of the strike that it is “not in any way sanctioned,” reports numerous outlets including WIVB4.

In court documents obtained by WIVB4, the strike is deemed illegal by the Taylor Law, which prohibits public employees from striking without permission from their union. Workers can be docked "twice their daily rate of pay," the legislation says, "not earlier than 30 nor later than 90 days following the date of such determination."

A National Guard truck headed to Fishkill Correctional Facility during the strike of some corrections Officers.
photo Credit: Anonymous

Governor Hochul ordered the National Guard to replace Corrections Officers who are outside striking. The National Guard is to distribute meals and medicine to incarcerated people.

WIVB4 reported that Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt said: “Deploying our National Guard makes this situation even more dangerous. As a former member of the New York National Guard, I have the highest regard for these soldiers,” he said. “This is not what they are trained for.”

Picketing Prison Employees Demand A Stop To Mandated 24hr Shifts, Fentanyl Exposure and More

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Picketing prison employees demonstrated on Rte. 52 in Beacon, NY in the early morning of Tuesday 2/18/2025 across from the Fishkill Correctional Facility entrance. Around 20-30 employees participated, who were joined by retirees who were there to support and speak to members of the media. Most employees were masked and did not want to be identified, to protect themselves against retaliation from their union.

Corrections Officers were protesting several safety issues, including:

Corrections Officers are demanding the repeal of the H.A.L.T. Act, which was a bill signed into law to create more humane and therapeutic ways of responding to inmates. Corrections Officers refer to confinement as “Jail within the jail” and punishment based, whereas bill signers may have sought a rehabilitation approach.

  • Mandated 24hr shifts

  • Mandated Overtime

  • Exposure to fentanyl through mail sorting methods

  • Repeal of H.A.L.T. Act. According to the bill: “This bill will be known as the "Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement" Act (the H.A.L.T. Solitary Confinement Act.) This bill would limit the time an inmate can spend in segregated confinement, end the segregated confinement of vulnerable people, restrict the criteria that can result in such confinement, improve conditions of confinement, and create more humane and effective alternatives to such confinement.” The bill also makes it illegal to use special or modified food diet as a punishment. Corrections officers are saying they have lost the ability to “punish” inmates for violence to other inmates of officers, or drug use. Violence to both inmates and officers is on the rise, according a breakdown presented by Spectrum News.

A sign spray painted with the word “STRIKE” was erected at 9:30am, about an hour into the picket on Tuesday morning.

Since their demonstration, and while corrections officers throughout the state went on strike for these demands, Governor Kathy Hochul called up the National Guard to “protect striking corrections officers and communities,” as reported by MidHudson News. The Governor demanded that “the illegal and unlawful actions being taken by a number of correction officers must end immediately,” according to the newspaper.

While the gathering was initially called a “picket,” a sign spray painted with the word “STRIKE” emerged at around 9:30am. It could not be confirmed or denied if any demonstrating employees were striking, or if they were not on shift today.

Demand: End Mandatory 24hr Shifts

Retired correctional officers who spoke to A Little Beacon Blog stood with a sign saying “Retirees Stand With CO (Correctional Officers): FCF Strong” and said they were there to get the word out about “how unsafe the working conditions are for the officers in Fishkill Correctional and state-wide.”

Unsafe conditions include “officers being told they have to work 24 plus hours, having to stay awake that long with a house full of people that aren’t so nice,” retiree Rob Johnson told ALBB.

Demand: End Mandatory Overtime

Mandatory overtime is another issue corrections officers are refusing. Said one retiree to ALBB: “It’s one thing if you wanted to stay in overtime. But some guys are getting hit with 80-100 hours overtime every two weeks. My one friend had over 3,000 hours overtime in one year. He did a double every day for almost a year.”

The retirees also described corrections officers who drive inmates in vans. “Trip officers can do 30 plus hours driving in a van. Armed. Sometimes two guys, with sometimes 4-6 inmates in a van too. How safe is that?”

Demand: Lunch Breaks

“There are no lunch breaks,” Rob told ALBB. “You can’t get a relief to get off the door. You bring your meals and hope you get time to eat.”

Last Week’s Walk-Out At Collins and Elmira Corrections Facilities

A strike began yesterday on President’s Day when several employees at the state prisons in Collins and Elmira walked out, prompting a cancellation of visitation, the New York Post reported. Striking is illegal in New York State “and could lead to severe consequences for individuals and unions that participate in them,” the newspaper reported.

But when alleged “uprising inmates” injured three guards while employees were vocalizing about understaffing issues and mandatory overtime, and when a agency memo circulated talking about more reductions in staff, the employees in Collins and Elmira walked out last week, the New York Post reported.

The Department of Corrections and Community Supervision spokesman Thomas Mailey issued a statement: “The job actions initiated by some rogue NYSCOPBA [NYS Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association] members at Collins and Elmira Correctional Facilities this morning are illegal and unlawful,” he said “The staff that have gathered outside of both facilities, and who refused to enter the facility for their respective shifts, was not in any way sanctioned by NYSCOPBA,” the union said in a statement.

Demand: Change Mail Sorting Methods and Raise Awareness About Fentanyl Exposure To Corrections Officers

The retirees told ALBB of the continued exposure to fentanyl that corrections officers face when doing activities like sorting mail intended for inmates, and frisking them. “People from the outside are sending in envelopes laced with fentanyl,” one retiree told ALBB. “They liquefy the fentanyl and the put it on the glue of the envelope, or the glue of the stamp. This is intended for the inmate to get high. But corrections officers are coming into contact with it when they touch the envelopes, and some have needed Narcan treatment.” These envelopes are usually placed inside of an envelopes that goes through the USPS.

Employment and Assault Issues Across The State

Spectrum News has done a breakdown of both employment numbers compared to the number of incarcerated people - both of which are declining in New York State. The news agency also did a breakdown of the number of assaults on corrections officers, as well as on inmates. Both of which are rising.

Corrections officers are demanding more staff. But recruiting staff may be difficult. Said one former inmate, Ryan Manzi, to ALBB: “Those protesters I’m sure are being slaved working within the prison, however, they knew about mandated overtime, including when there’s a state of emergency due to snow. Under-staffing is a universal problem in the criminal justice system.”

Ryan felt that there is an “old guard” in charge, where potential younger correctional officers are more informed and either not choosing the profession, or resisting it from inside. “They have championed basic human rights and it’s clear that the old regime and the youth mindset don’t mesh well.”

Ryan continued: “The working conditions are poor in a lot of these facilities, even newer ones, and to some I’ve personally interacted with, the risk/reward of the job truly isn’t worth their mental health, physical health and safety.”

Demand: Repeal the H.A.L.T. Program To End It

The corrections officers are demanding the end of the H.A.L.T. (Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement), saying they and other inmates are at risk.

“There’s no punishment inside the jail anymore,” Rob told ALBB, as he described how officers would punish inmates. “There used to be the Keyblock area. It’s like a little jail inside the jail. If you do bad, you got to go to jail, basically. That’s been almost squashed. They can’t do more than 14 days in that. It’s not unsafe. There are windows and doors. It’s not a little box that anybody’s in. It’s a miscommunication with all that stuff. The H.A.L.T Program needs to be repealed. It makes it so unsafe. The officers are getting assaulted on a daily basis as well as being made to stay awake for 24 plus hours.”

Ray, a retired corrections officer, also spoke to ALBB about his views of H.A.L.T. and why he views a method of punishment necessary for acts of violence or drug use while inside the jail. He said: “The H.A.L.T Act was instituted to basically take away any punishment and reduce what they used to call Keyblock Solitary Confinement for disciplinary actions. It used to be where there was penalties and disciplin and consequences for poor behavior, violence, drug use, and now basically, it’s a slap on the hand. They can’t do any more than 15 days in confinement. It’s like ‘Time Out’ for bad guys. So an officer can get assaulted, beat. Inmates acan be beat and assaulted. Inmates can be high. And there’s no repercussions for poor behavior and disciplinary action. we have no control over that any longer. If there are no repercussions, then there is no reason not to misbehave. There needs to be repercussions for misbehavior. It’s jail. It’s prison. They’re not in there for being good citizens. If you can’t behave in jail and there not be repercussions for misbehavior, what’s going to stop all the violence and misbehavior. People are being assaulted on a daily basis across the state, in every jail.”

School Buses Allowed To Pass Through Fishkill Correctional Facility - Thanks To Assemblyman Jacobson's Negotiations

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When the Fishkill Correctional Facility first told the Beacon City School District that it would be partially closing their portion of Matteawan Road to the public, that included school buses of the Beacon City School District (BCSD). There are 6 schools in the district, where kids as young as Pre-K can go to Glenham elementary but live in the South Avenue Elementary district, as well as middle schoolers and high schoolers living in the far corners of Beacon when it bleeds into Fishkill or Glenham. That road was a pass-through, and without it, major re-routes would need to take place, which could lead to delays in afternoon drop-offs and morning pickups.

Assemblyman Jonathan Jacobson, whose district includes Dutchess County (Beacon, Fishkill, etc.) and Orange County (Newburgh) was in contact with Department Of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) immediately after Beacon’s City Administrator Chris White and BCSD’s Superintendent Matt Landahl were notified by DOCCS of the closure in two weeks time.

Said Assemblyman Jacobson’s office to A Little Beacon Blog: “We facilitated an agreement to allow school buses to continue using the DOCCS-owned stretch of Matteawan. We believe that the exemption is permanent.”

As to to the reason for the closure, Assemblyman Jacobson’s office elaborated: “Our understanding is that there have been numerous trespasses, which triggered the Fishkill Correctional Superintendent to order the closure. The land has technically always been closed off to public access, but DOCCS did not have the budget to post someone there to guard the road. We don't have any documented info on when the guard was pulled from that duty, but think it was at least 5 years ago. Traffic being what it is in Beacon, folks just started using that road more and more. We understand that new signage was posted 1-1/2 years ago saying that it's private property, but folks just ignored it.”

Video Of The Drive On Matteawan Road Past Fishkill Correctional Facility That Is Partially Closed Now - The Experience

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As of November 1, 2021, the Fishkill Correctional Facility partially closed their part of Matteawan Road between the Beacon High School and Business Route 52, seemingly without defining their reason to either the City of Beacon or the Beacon City School District (BCSD), as indicated by Beacon’s City Administrator, Chris White, during the 10/25/2021 City Council Workshop Meeting when he stated that the City was not informed of the partial closure until October 18, 2021, and in the City of Beacon’s Resolution urging reconsideration of the partial closure until solutions are found. The story was first reported on here.

He also stated during the 11/1/2021 City Council Meeting that the City was not informed that the Beacon City School District buses succeeded in becoming exempt from the closure, and could continue their routes. Some in the community who are district families learned that news from the school district’s Superintendent Matt Landahl, as he robo-emailed/texted families to remind them of the new change in the partial road closure.

Over the course of this developing story, Beaconites of various ages have chimed in in social media to say that they remember the road being partially closed in years past by guards, who either restricted access, or asked for identifying information of drivers.

Pedestrians who walk, hike or jog through these grounds note the beauty - despite the fact that it is a correctional facility with personal struggles and achievements going on behind the tall walls and barbed wire. Pedestrians have usually been told to leave the property, sometimes much to their chagrin (or odd excitement…again…despite that the property is a correctional facility).

So that everyone can know or remember what the route looks and drives like, A Little Beacon Blog took a drive down the pass-through before it closed to the public. As Beacon’s City Administrator stated during a City Council Meeting and in Beacon’s Resolution, Matteawan Road is owned by 3 entities: DOCCS (New York State Department Of Corrections and Community Supervision), the City of Beacon, and the Town of Fishkill (where Matteawan Road intersects with Business Route 52 and is called Prospect Street.

The speed limit on this section of the road is 30 mph. The vehicle in this video is driving 20 mph, because anything higher felt too fast. Certainly a civilian car was tailing the vehicle for going under the speed limit, as people who drive in Beacon tend to be impatient.

The intersection where Matteawan Road becomes Prospect Street at Business Route 52 is a very tight turn right, and a Hope-I-Don’t-Die turn when turning left. Just a few weeks ago, there was an accident near that intersection. With so many parents and buses picking up and dropping off, in addition to a shift change for the Correctional Facility at around 3pm, chances for an accident increase no matter if public traffic is decreased on Prospect Street or not. The regular driving on Business Route 52 is too fast and consistent for that angle of a turn, as it is a business route. Turning in either direction is a risk, as it is not often that there is a break in traffic.

A red/green traffic light may help that intersection no matter if the road remains partially closed or not.

City of Beacon Urges Reconsideration of Partial Matteawan Road Closure By Fishkill Correctional Facility

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The week that the Beacon City School District announced to families that the part of Matteawan Road that passes through the Fishkill Correctional Facility after the Beacon High School, and intersects with Business Route 52 (at which point, it is called Prospect Street), would be closed to the public on November 1, 2021, the The City of Beacon’s Administrator Chris White announced at a public City Council Workshop Meeting (at 1:19:00) that the City strongly urged the Fishkill Correctional Facility to reconsider the partial road closure, to start a dialogue to form a better plan, and to support Assemblyman Jacobson’s efforts to allow school bus routes at the very least until solutions could be found.

According to Administrator Chris, the City of Beacon was first informed on October 18, 2021 by the Superintendent of the Fishkill Correctional Facility that the part of Matteawan Road passing the facility would be closed to the public on November 1, 2021. In response, Administrator Chris prepared a resolution of the City’s urging of a reconsideration.

The proposed resolution to be signed during tonight’s public City Council Meeting can be found here. Today, November 1, 2021, which is the start of the partial road closure to the public, Beacon City School’s Superintendent Landahl sent a notice to district families that buses will continue running through Mattweawan Road near the Fishkill Correctional Facility, but reminded families that that part of the road is closed to the public. There has been no announcement to Beacon residents of the road block via robo-call, text, or website posting, other than the mention of it during last week’s City Council Meeting.

In providing context for Beacon’s position on the closure, Administrator Chris stated:

“Mattawean Road runs through the City of Beacon and the Town of Fishkill. It goes past the Fishkill Correctional Facility. The Town owns a piece of the road near Prospect Street that feeds in. Then the prison owns a large part of it, and then the City owns the rest of it.

“We had heard rumors from the School District that the Fishkill Correctional Facility was going to close that road as of November 1st. We only received a call on October 18th, which was the first official notification that the City was given, that the road was going to be closed permanently in less than 2 weeks.

“We have been in touch with Superintendent and our state representatives. I know that Assemblyman Jacobson's office is working diligently to try to exempt buses which would be severely disrupted if that closed. We thought we would support - I put this together because I thought it important to support our state delegation's effort to delay the implementation of this so we can do some planning, to exempt buses at the very least, and to begin a real dialogue between the Town of Fishkill, Beacon City School District, and the City of Beacon.

“There has been no planning or traffic modeling to look at what the impacts were. I would say this strongly recognizes their right and their necessity to secure their facility. Nobody is questing that. The way that we do it, though, is important. We think we can thread that needle so that it's not as disruptive to the traffic going into Rombout and the High School.”

Covered In The Proposed Resolution

Included in the City of Beacon’s Resolution, spearheaded by Administrator Chris, is the point that, for years, “Matteawan Road serves as a connection between the Town of Fishkill and the City of Beacon and is an important street access from Fishkill Avenue to the Beacon High School and Rombout Middle School.” In response ALBB’s article announcing this partial road closure last week, former City Councilperson Ali T. Muhammad, who grew up walking to Beacon school in that area, recalled when that part of the road was temporarily closed: “Grew up there, sounds awful. Last time it was shut down was due to 9/11. Good luck.”

The resolution points out that the closure to the public is “during the daytime.” The resolution makes sure to state the City of Beacon’s dissatisfaction with not being consulted by the Fishkill Correctional Facility prior to their decision: “City of Beacon recognizes the necessity and right of DOCCS and the Fishkill Correctional Facility to secure their grounds, including this section of road, the City is concerned that it and other major stakeholders, including the Beacon City School District, were not consulted on the closure and received insufficient notice to allow for traffic safety modifications and adjustment that might need to be implemented as a result of the change to traffic patterns in and around Matteawan Road.”

The City of Beacon cited concern for where traffic would increase due to the partial closure of Mattawean Road, stating that it “would create traffic and pedestrian safety issues at key intersections in the City of Beacon, including Verplanck Avenue and Matteawan Road, Wilkes Street and Matteawan Road, and at access roads through Memorial Park, which now may be used as a cut-through for motorists.”

The resolution pointed out the effort required to properly answer the partial road closure: “Any adjustments to the traffic control signage in the area will take the City a period of at least several months to assess needed modification and adopt revisions to the City Code for such modifications, which require a public hearing and adoption of a local law amending the City Code, and the City received less than two weeks’ notice of the impending partial road closure without any prior traffic safety planning by the Facility or coordination with the City.”

The City of Beacon is asking for a pausing of the partial road closure, and a commitment to work together on solutions moving forward “with a immediate establishment of a working committee to coordinate with Fishkill Correctional Facility on this matter, including the following key stakeholders: the City of Beacon, Town Town of Fishkill, and Beacon City School District in order to consider potential alternatives, and if necessary, properly plan for the impact that a partial closure of Matteawan Road would create.

Beacon’s resolution would then be sent to Governor Kathy Hochul, State Senator Sue Serino, Assemblymember Jonathan Jacobson, DOCCS Acting Commissioner Anthony Annucci, and Fishkill Correctional Facility Superintendent Edward Burnett.

Unnamed Prisoner Graves and New Release Of Inmates Meeting A Certain Set Of Criteria

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Two yesterdays ago, on April 16, 2020, Beacon Prison Action sent a press release regarding multiple new unmarked graves being dug at the Fishkill Correctional Facility. Beacon Prison Action consists of c​ommunity members in the Beacon/Fishkill/Newburgh area, and is most active through the Beacon Prison Rides Project and the Beacon Prison Books Project (run closely with Binnacle Books).

The graveyard that sits near the Fishkill Correctional Facility is located through the woods beyond the Willow Loop, and behind Beacon High School.

Beacon Prison Action submitted photos of “multiple” fresh graves taken Wednesday morning (April 15, 2020). According to the press release: “Four gravestones are without identifying markers, leaving these recent casualties unnamed. A new grave, between two more markers, has yet to be filled.”

A Little Beacon Blog is pursuing information about the protocol for how it is determined for a prisoner to be buried there. If you have information, please see below.

The Prison Population By Numbers And COVID-19 Positive

According to Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS): “The New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, guided by the Departmental Mission, is responsible for the confinement and rehabilitation with under 42,000 individuals under custody held at 52 state facilities and supervision of over 35,000 parolees throughout seven regional offices statewide.”

According to the USA Today Network’s Democrat and Chronicle, “New York has approximately 43,000 incarcerated individuals and 29,000 employees at its 52 state-level facilities, according to the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.”

According to the DOCCS COVID-19 Confirmed page, the following COVID-19 statuses have been reported:

DOCCS COVID-10 Confirmed Cases
Staff Incarcerated Population Parolees
753 204* 29
*Of these confirmed cases, 49 are now recovered and out of isolation.

DOCCS COVID-19 Confirmed Deaths
Staff Incarcerated Population Parolees
1 5 4

New Release Of Inmates Over Age Of 55, Who Are Eligible For Release In 90 Days, No Violent Felonies, No Sexual Assault

Beacon Prison Action, as well as other groups including the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) on March 20, 2020, have made requests of how inmates could avoid infection.

Since then, Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) has approved the release of inmates meeting different sets of requirements, which was confirmed by Melissa DeRosa, Secretary to Governor Cuomo during today’s (4/18/2020) briefing when asked about it by a reporter (see minute 31).

DeRosa confirmed that inmates who are over the age of 55, who are eligible for release within 90 days, who have not committed violent felonies or sexual assault offense, and who do not pose a threat to society can be released. DeRosa estimated the number of inmates that fit this specific criteria to be around 200 people, and confirmed it would be a “rolling release” throughout this “current emergency.”

Additional Types Of Inmates Who Have Been Approved For Release

This is not the first set of requirements that have been created so that some inmates can be offered early release due to COVID-19. According to PrisonPolicy.org:

  • A judge in the Bronx approved the release of 51 people jailed for alleged parole violations on Rikers Island in New York City. (April 13)

  • 65 people have been released early from the Westchester County Jail in Valhalla, New York, following discussions between the District Attorney and the Legal Aid Society of Westchester. (April 13)

  • District attorneys in Brooklyn, New York, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have taken steps to reduce jail admissions by releasing people charged with nonviolent offenses and not actively prosecuting low-level, non-violent offenses. (March 17 and March 18)

  • In New York state, all in-person parole visits have been suspended and replaced with telephone call, text message, and video call check-ins. (March 20). Details from TimesUnion: “As new cases and deaths from COVID-19 increased, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Friday ordered non-essential construction projects to stop, and a state agency told parole officers that 1,100 parole violators who are being held in jails and prisons across New York will be released.

  • New York City has released 200 people from Rikers Island in the past week, and expects to release another 175 people before the weekend. (March 26)

  • In New York, Gov. Cuomo announced that up to 1,100 people who are being held in jails and prisons across the state may be released with community supervision. (March 27)

Early prison release is being addressed at the national level. You can read about Attorney General William Barr’s directive here at The New York Times. A clip: “Attorney General William P. Barr ordered the Bureau of Prisons on Friday (April 3, 2020) to expand the group of federal inmates eligible for early release and to prioritize those at three facilities where known coronavirus cases have grown precipitously, as the virus threatens to overwhelm prison medical facilities and nearby hospitals.”

Inmates With Dementia and Alzheimer’s

Beacon Prison Action also highlighted inmates who have dementia and Alzheimer’s. From their press release: “Fishkill prison itself has a special Long-Term Care unit for people with serious health conditions, as well as a Unit for the Cognitively Impaired, largely serving elderly prisoners suffering from Alzheimer’s and dementia. In their last report on this prison, the Correctional Association of New York concluded, “[Our visit to this unit] reinforced the costly, cruel, and nonsensical policy of continued incarceration of people who are so physically and/or cognitively impaired that they pose no safety risk to the community and for whom there no longer remains any justifiable reason to keep them in prison.” (​Fishkill Correctional Facility 2012​ ​by the Correctional Association of New York).

Graves With No Names At Fishkill Correctional Facility

Back to the graves in Beacon, and why some markers have no names. According to Beacon’s most referenced book, “Beacon Revisited” by Robert J. Murphy and Denise Doring VanBuren, the graveyard is known as the Cemetery of Convicts, 1985. From the book: “At the edge of a stand of tall evergreens not far from Beacon’s new high school lies the state-owned cemetery wherein hundreds of unknown men and women are buried. Between the opening of the Matteawan State Hospital (then the Asylum for the Criminally Insane) in 1892, its closing in 1977, and its transformation into Fishkill Correctional Facility, about 1,800 inmates and patients were buried in the remote corner of the prison’s grounds. Today, only numbered stones mark the graves of these unfortunates.”

A Little Beacon Blog has questions and is in pursuit of the bigger picture. If you know the answer and you are an official, please comment below or email us at editorial@alittlebeaconblog.com. We are looking for answers to the following questions:

  • Do all of the graves state no names?

  • When a prisoner dies while incarcerated, what is the protocol? Are they buried there? Or are they sent to their family? Or if they have no next of kin, buried there? The DOCCS Handbook for Families and Friends is here, but doesn’t seem to mention it.

  • Why would new burials have no name on the marker? The prison system knows the name of the individual, but why would a name not be placed on a grave?

  • Are prisoners from all over New York state sent here to be buried, or just those in Fishkill Correctional Facility?