New York Can’t Recruit Its Way Out Of State Prisons’ Policy Problems

Earlier this year, I put out a column about the prison staffing crisis in New York. If I put out the same column today, I wouldn’t have to make one edit.

Since then, and now 18 months after the strike that prompted thousands to walk off the job, nothing has changed. The staffing crisis is still a crisis. Data released last week shows the number of officers employed by the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) has stayed fundamentally static.

According to DOCCS reports, correction officers, sergeants and lieutenants employed by the department fell from 14,334 in September of 2024 to 11,319 in March of 2025, six months after a deal was reached between correction officers and state officials to bring employees back. This month, that number is even lower: 11,113.

That means thousands of National Guard troops are still deployed at state prisons throughout New York to fill gaps in the workforce. Nearly 3,000 National Guard troops are still stationed in 32 DOCCS facilities, costing taxpayers $50 million a month and more than $1 billion to date. This is despite the aggressive recruitment campaign DOCCS insists it is running.

While more people graduating from the academy and increased interest in these needed positions are good things, we’re missing the forest for the trees. Retention of new and current employees is what tells the story. Retention is the giveaway that nothing has been done structurally to fix the working conditions in our state prisons.

The conditions that triggered the strikes in February of 2025 remain virtually the same. Policy is what needs to change, not more sign-on bonuses. Prisons are still unsafe, still understaffed and still structured in ways that prioritize the inmate over the men and women who work inside them.

I’m sure Gov. Kathy Hochul and state leaders were banking on this problem resolving itself and the news cycle moving on to the next thing, as it does. But this isn’t going away—not until change is made internally, inside the Legislature and inside the prisons.

A good place to start is the Assembly Minority Conference’s proposals (A.10430) to overhaul the ineffective HALT Act and improve safety and security across state correctional facilities, mirroring the recommendations made by, and unanimously agreed to by, DOCCS, the NYS Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association and other impacted state agencies and unions with input from independent stakeholders including the Correctional Association of New York.

These provisions include expanding misconduct categories eligible for segregated confinement, aligning definitions with Penal Law, allowing short?term segregated confinement for ongoing misbehavior not eligible for disciplinary confinement, reducing subjectivity in rioting and escape offenses, permitting short?term protective custody when no safe alternative exists, giving DOCCS flexibility in out-of-cell programming and managing repeat offenders and expanding considerations for good time allowances.

As I said back in March, it’s time to put reforms into action. The state’s “Recover, Recruit, and Rebuild” campaign will not succeed without a fourth R: Reform.

If you have any questions or comments on this or any other state issue, or if you would like to be added to my mailing list or receive my newsletter, please contact my office. My office can be reached by mail at 19 Canalview Mall, Fulton, NY 13069 and by email at [email protected]. You may also find me, Assemblyman Will Barclay, on Facebook or X at @WillABarclay