ALBANY — New York’s state prisons have a long list of issues that are making them less safe for everybody inside, as detailed in the latest state report on conditions inside the facilities.
On June 29, state officials released a report they commissioned from the law firm WilmerHale, which was meant to be a “top to bottom” review of the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision at a cost of nearly $10 million. It was originally meant to be done by the end of the summer in 2025, then delayed to “at least” the end of 2025. Just ahead of the July Fourth weekend, state officials published the report.
Lawmakers have tried to right the ship at the department since the 2024 and 2025 murders of two incarcerated men at the hands of security staff, a subsequent walk-out of thousands of officers that lasted nearly a month, and an ongoing struggle to fill the thousands of vacant jobs throughout the 41 operating prisons.
Across more than 275 pages, the WilmerHale report finds that low staffing numbers are a major concern, as well as a general lack of accountability among staff and an entrenched adversarial relationship that pits corrections officers against the incarcerated people they’re in close proximity with.
Ultimately, the report found that the conditions that led to the murders of Robert Brooks and Messiah Nantwi in state prisons, at the hands of corrections officers, were not unique, but rather symptoms of a much wider, more integral series of problems.
The report notes that some officers are branded with the derisive title “inmate lover” if they’re seen as being too nice to an incarcerated person.
The report notes that training for new recruits, which has become key part of the state’s efforts to correct issues in the state prisons, is outdated and insufficient for conditions in the prisons as they stand today, using a paramilitary, classroom-based approach that doesn’t contribute to preparedness on the job. When officers do get on-the-job training, the report found it was insufficient and lacked the educational factors necessary to work well.
The report also found that it’s become too difficult to punish staff misconduct, with insufficient review of body-worn and fixed cameras, the use of chemicals like pepper spray, and issues with the reporting structure for when misconduct is observed.
The report also found that there’s been a massive increase in the use of pepper spray in recent years; from 124 uses in 2015 to over 4,750 in 2024.
WilmerHale’s report further found that DOCCS lacks a coherent strategy to promote wellness or rehabilitation for staff or the incarcerated people in its charge; problems with classification systems, rehabilitative programming, mental and medical care keep those in prison in a state of distress and anger, while understaffing and the conditions of the job keep the staff from feeling safe enough to provide better services.
Additionally, DOCCS has failed to effectively modernize its operations, relying on outdated and largely paper-based record keeping systems. The report found that most documentation on incarcerated people and staff are kept at their facility of employment, and are not always transferred with a person if they move to a different facility. This keeps administrators at DOCCS headquarters in Albany from being able to identify trends or see problems before they arise.
One trend identified by the WilmerHale investigators was that racial divisions in the prisons are causing issues as well; incarcerated Black people report worse treatment at the hands of the majority-white officer corps, and former officers interviewed by the investigators reported a culture that at the least ignored or enabled racism.
The report offered a raft of recommendations at its conclusion; changes to medical processes, record keeping systems, hiring practices and training methods are all part of the prescriptions.
DOCCS also released the results of another analysis of itself, a report conducted by the Amend center at the University of California San Francisco’s School of Medicine. Amend focuses on prison reform through a public health approach, and like WilmerHale conducted a review of DOCCS operations across its facilities.
The Amend report largely agrees with the WilmerHale one; staff feel tense and unsafe at work, and are mistrustful of department leadership. Incarcerated people lack the proper care and programming needed to be properly rehabilitated, and there are a number of inconsistencies between how DOCCS operates now and how its stated goals should be achieved. A lack of staff and gaps in training were also identified in the Amend report.
In their release publishing the reports, DOCCS noted they have achieved about 12 of the combined 77 recommendations from the two documents, and is working toward another 47 of them. The department has also started working with the Holistic Safety Framework program from Chicago Beyond, a program that focuses on making prisons better at rehabilitation and promotes safety by making conditions better for prison staff and incarcerated people.
Two state prisons, Five Points and Mohawk Correctional Facilities, currently use the Holistic Safety Framework, and soon Mid-State, Marcy, Franklin and Adirondack Correctional Facilities will start using it.
“These reports reflect both the important work already underway to strengthen safety, accountability, and professionalism across DOCCS, and the significant work that still lies ahead,” DOCCS Commissioner Daniel F. Martuscello III said in a statement alongside the reports. “We remain committed to instituting meaningful reforms, implementing the requirements of the Corrections Omnibus Reform Act, and working closely with external partners, service providers, and stakeholders to strengthen transparency, improve operations, and advance safer conditions for everyone in our facilities and communities.”
Sen. Julia Salazar, D-Brooklyn, chair of the Senate Corrections Committee, and Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages, D-Hempstead, released a joint statement after the reports were published.
They said they confirmed what many people watching the state prisons may have suspected.
“These were not isolated acts by a few bad actors. They were the predictable result of a system with insufficient training, weak accountability, and staffing levels that have collapsed even as reported uses of force have tripled over the past decade,” the lawmakers said.
Both lawmakers said it’s evident that legislative action will be needed to fix the problems in the state prisons, something they said they intend to push when they return to Albany next year. They named the Fair and Timely Parole Act, the Elder Parole Act, the Second Look Act and the Earned Time Act as bills they plan to prioritize.
“In the coming weeks, our members will be reviewing the (WilmerHale) report’s 57 recommendations in detail,” they said. “Our caucus welcomes input from constituents, advocates and DOCCS staff as this work moves forward.”