Earlier this week, correctional officers in western New York began strikes at multiple correctional facilities. In response, Governor Kathy Hochul dispatched 3,500 National Guard members to maintain order and distribute food and medicine to incarcerated people. Corrections officers are protesting poor working conditions driven by an ongoing understaffing crisis that has required officers to work mandatory 24-hour shifts in some facilities. Understaffing is affecting safety in prisons across the state and incarcerated people and their families have also been impacted by the strike with visitation cancelled throughout the prison system.

The prison understaffing crisis reaches far beyond New York. The national Safer Prisons, Safer Communities campaign, led by One Voice United, which represents the voices of correctional employees, and FAMM, which represents incarcerated people and their families, aims to raise awareness of the widespread crisis in U.S. prisons of understaffing, overcrowding, and deteriorating conditions.  

Members of the Safer Prisons, Safer Communities campaign released the following statements regarding the corrections staff strikes in New York:

Andy Potter, Founder, One Voice United: As anyone close to corrections will tell you, prison understaffing has become a national crisis that harms correctional employees, their families, and the broader community. Many people don’t realize that the conditions that people are confined in are also the conditions that people work in, and poor conditions contribute to staffing shortages. Along with long shifts, mandatory overtime, and violent situations, corrections workers face exposure to MRSA and mold, bed bugs and vermin, and extreme indoor temperatures. Due to the stressful and dangerous conditions under which they work, correctional officers have significantly higher rates of depression and suicide than the general public. It’s beyond time for our leaders to recognize that our nation’s prison staffing crisis is dire and complex, and take action to fix it.

Dr. Shaneva D. McReynolds, President, FAMM: The crisis unfolding in New York should not be viewed as a flash in the pan. Prisons across the country are facing chronic understaffing and it is having a disastrous impact on incarcerated people and their loved ones. Understaffed prisons lead to violence, dangerous conditions for incarcerated people, cancelled programming, cancelled visitation, and prolonged lockdowns that are tremendously harmful to the physical and mental health of the incarcerated population. These horrible outcomes are not confined to the prison walls. The loved ones of incarcerated people suffer the consequences too. Lack of visitation, calls, letters, and emails lead to stress and trauma over the constant worry about the health and wellbeing of their loved one. New York has seen a stark increase in violence in its prisons against both incarcerated people and correctional staff. But New York is not an outlier. Policymakers in all 50 states and the federal government must listen to incarcerated people, their families, and correctional staff and bring meaningful, comprehensive solutions to this national crisis now.

John Wetzel, former Secretary of Corrections, Pennsylvania Department of Corrections: Corrections lost 10% of its staff in the three years after the COVID-19 emergency and is trending to lose more in the coming years. At the same time, incoming incarcerated people are entering systems less healthy, increasing pressure on already strained staff. The demand on staff exceeds the supply of staff. The only path to sustainable stability is aligning staff workloads with actual staffing levels. This is not a New York problem - this is the most explicit example of the long term and growing pressure of a system that is functioning beyond its capacity. The field of corrections needs support beyond its current capabilities.

Kevin Ring, Vice President of Criminal Justice Advocacy, Arnold Ventures: What’s happening in New York should be a wake-up call for governors across the country. The deadly conditions caused by chronic understaffing and high populations can only be swept under the rug for so long. Today, correctional officers and staff, incarcerated people and their families, and nationally recognized corrections experts are coming together and urging our nation’s governors and other elected leaders to act. We want to help – before the chaos we see in New York spreads to other states.

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About Safer Prisons. Safer Communities

The Safer Prisons, Safer Communities campaign began in early 2024. The two founding organizations are One Voice United, which represents the voices of correctional employees, and FAMM, which represents incarcerated people and their families.

Driven by the dire conditions inside our nation's prisons, the campaign brings together seemingly unlikely allies to advocate for reforms that will improve the lives of corrections officers and incarcerated people alike, improve rehabilitation and reintegration opportunities, and enhance community safety.