ALBANY – Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Monday that his Executive Budget proposal will include legislation to strengthen the Department of Corrections’s ability to discipline employees for jeopardizing the safety and security of co-workers, inmates and parolees.
“New York’s correction officers work day in and day out ensure the security of our communities,” Governor Cuomo said. “The current system, however, makes it difficult to hold bad actors fully accountable. The bottom line is that those who break the law and abuse their positions of power must be held responsible for their misconduct, and this proposal will help to ensure accountability and promote safety in the correctional system.”
Under Cuomo’s proposal, the department’s commissioner can terminate employees for crimes committed while executing official duties. Departmental procedures would also prevent bad actors from being promoted or hired in the first place.
Those crimes include:
- The excessive use of force;
- The false reporting regarding one or more acts of excessive use of force;
- The failure to report an excessive use of force occurrence;
- The use or possession of controlled substances;
- The introduction of controlled substances into a department facility;
- Or an inappropriate sexual relationship or contact with an inmate or a parolee.
Currently, a long arbitration process takes place anytime an employee is alleged to have committed a serious act of misconduct.