New York State Corrections Officer Sounds Alarm on Working Conditions in Prisons

A New York State corrections officer’s candid Facebook post is shedding light on growing concerns within the state’s prison system, highlighting issues such as understaffing, increasing violence and an escalating drug crisis.

Nate Lock has served in the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (NYSDOCCS) for 15 years. He took to social media Monday to express frustration over worsening conditions in state facilities, claiming that “no prison guard generation has had it as hard as our current officers do. PERIOD.”

According to the post, the state’s prisons are facing an “alarming drug problem” that is being “ignored and downplayed.” The officer alleges that correctional facilities lack the necessary tools to effectively test for drugs, let alone prevent their entry.

The post also highlights a significant shortage of correction officers statewide, leading to extensive mandatory overtime. Many officers, the post claims, are working 40 to 80 additional hours per pay period, with some allegedly working up to 32 hours straight without relief while overseeing hospitalized inmates.

Lock writes,

We have an ALARMING DRUG PROBLEM that is being ignored and downplayed. We don’t even have the ability to test for drugs effectively much less prevent them from entering our facilities. We have a statewide massive shortage of officers. We have a broken watered down disciplinary system that doesn’t deter or control violence. Do some light reading on the DOCCS webpage in the statistic section in your free time. There you’ll find public statistics that are the root cause for our current situation.

Additionally, the officer pointed to troubling statistics, noting that assaults on staff have more than doubled in the past five years, while inmate-on-inmate violence has more than tripled, despite the prison population being less than half of what it was a decade ago. The use of Narcan, a medication used to reverse opioid overdoses, has reportedly quadrupled in state prisons since 2018, according to Lock.

Lock also posted Tuesday a link to see the DOCCS December fact sheet.

"How far down this road can we afford to go?" the officer asked in his post. "How many officers have to get hurt or worse before we see change?" The concerns raised mirror broader discussions about the impact of recent criminal justice reforms, including the HALT Act, which limits the use of solitary confinement in state prisons. While advocates argue that such measures reduce the potential for inmate mistreatment, many correctional officers contend that these policies have emboldened dangerous offenders and diminished disciplinary control.

Union representatives have repeatedly called for increased hiring and policy changes to ensure the safety of correctional officers and inmates alike. As violence and drug-related incidents continue to rise, the officer’s post underscores a growing sense of urgency among those working behind the walls of New York’s prisons.