New York Daily News

State Republican pols pushing for more Rikers cops

- BY GRAHAM RAYMAN

A group of Republican state legislator­s called on New York City to bolster the ranks of correction officers after years of attrition that have dropped the Correction Department’s head count by nearly 30%.

More than 4,000 officers have resigned or retired since 2019, but the city has not refilled the ranks, the legislator­s said Tuesday.

“Many correction officers don’t care to finish out their careers and plan to retire early as they fear they might not make it home to their loved ones,” said Assemblyma­n Matt Simpson (R-Warren County). “New York is struggling to retain and recruit correction officers, and it seems the only solutions offered are further hindering their safety.”

Six GOP Assembly members — all from outside the city — gathered with Correction Officers’ Benevolent Associatio­n President Benny Boscio outside Rikers Island after a tour of the jails and a meeting with Correction Department leadership.

About 100 officers are resigning and retiring every month, Boscio said.

“We have lost about 30% of our workforce since 2019,” Boscio said. “No other municipal workforce has lost that amount of workers in such a short period of time.”

“Our members are sick and tired of being scapegoate­d for problems we didn’t create, and they are disgusted by the left-wing elected officials in our City Council who have completely turned their backs on us.”

In June 2020, the city employed 8,246 correction officers, according to figures published by the state comptrolle­r’s office. By August 2022, the number of officers had declined to 6,114 — a drop of about 26%, the second-highest vacancy rate by job title in city government, the comptrolle­r’s office said.

Efforts by the Correction Department to recruit new classes of officers have faltered, union figures show. The most recent academy class totaled 100 cadets when the agency was trying to fill 500 spots, the union says.

Boscio called for improved recruiting and retention efforts, saying safer, better-run jails require more officers.

The legislator­s, from four districts on Long Island and two upstate, also called for stiffer punishment­s for detainees who sexually assault female officers and a rollback of the HALT Act, which sharply limits the use of solitary confinemen­t in jails and prisons.

“Since the implementa­tion of the HALT Act, we have seen a dramatic spike in violence inside our correction­al facilities,” said Assemblyma­n Philip Palmesano (R-Steuben County). “Stabbings alone have increased inside Rikers from 123 to 491 from 2020 to 2022.”

Victor Pate, who spent time in solitary in New York prisons and jails and is the #HALTsolita­ry Campaign co-director, countered that solitary confinemen­t leads to more violence in and out of the lockups.

“Countless people had to suffer and die in solitary for lawmakers to finally act and enact HALT into law after nearly a decade of deliberati­on with all stakeholde­rs,” Pate said.

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