Members of the National Guard continue to patrol state prisons following the dismissal of hundreds of corrections officers who participated in a wildcat walkout last month.
Senator Rob Rolison (R, Poughkeepsie) has called on the governor and state prison system to reinstate these officers to address the staff shortage and allow guardsmen to return to their primary duties.
“There were approximately 2,000 members who did not come back from the corrections officers who walked off the job, along with many other officers, based on the conditions in those facilities, the forced overtime,” Rolison stated. He added, “The governor needs to consider, we are a very forgiving state here in the State of New York, letting those members who want to come back to work should be considered to come back to work.”
Rolison, a retired detective from the Town of Poughkeepsie, described the situation as “a crisis of leadership that compromises public safety and puts both staff and the incarcerated at serious risk.”
