“We don’t want to go to the hospital. We don’t want to bring diseases home to our family. We just want a safe working environment for us to do our job,” said Carlton Rabideau, a retired corrections officer at Clinton Correctional Facility. Rabideau joined more than 200 people in front of the maximum security prison Thursday, marking the fourth day of ongoing protests demanding improved working conditions, safety measures and more staffing for corrections officers.”We’re out here today because of the safety conditions inside the prison,” Rabideau said. “It’s not safe.” Above all else, however, Rabideau said they’re demanding New York Governor Kathy Hochul repeal the HALT Act. “Suspending part of it does not help us. It has to completely go 100% go,” he said. The legislation Governor Hochul passed in 2022, places restrictions on who can be placed in the special housing unit and for how long. David Lucia, also a retired CO at the correctional facility in Dannemora, said officers utilize SHU for prisoners who have committed “tier 3” offenses in the prison. “It was used as a tool and now they’ve taken that tool away,” Lucia said. “And now, from what I understand, is that you’ve got individuals being totally disrespectful to staff, intentionally harming staff and all that.”On Thursday, the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision released a statement in response to Governor Hochul’s decision to deploy the National Guard to prisons while protests are underway. In the statements, DOCCS, said it is “suspending the elements of HALT that cannot be operationalized under a prison-wide state of emergency until we can safely operate the prisons.”Other points of the DOCC statement, include rescinding the “70/30″ memorandum, providing 2.5x the overtime rate for employees who work throughout the protests and states employees who return to work by 11:59 Thursday night, will not face disciplinary action. Yet, many protestors said it’s not enough and that they plan to continue protesting until the HALT Act is completely repealed. In the meantime, community members are lending their support to protestors, donating drinks, food and supplies. Kristi Cranford manages Giuseppe’s Pizza, right across the street from the correctional facility. The protestors have been gathered in the pizza shop’s parking lot, but that’s not the only way Cranford said she’s assisting the cause. Wednesday night Cranford said she posted that Giuseppe’s will match every pizza or wings order donated to the protests. As of Thursday, she said more than a dozen orders were already donated. “Everybody’s willing. I had a lady from Kansas call today and her dad was a retired corrections officer here and she wanted to donate,” Cranford said. Cranford said she and her community will continue to support the protests until officers’ demands are met. “It’s been really good to see everybody, you know, donate and bring them things that they need and help whatever they need,” she said. An NBC5 crew on the scene at 11:59 p.m. did not see anyone enter the facility. They did see around eight to 12 protestors still set up across the street from Clinton Correctional Facility.
“We don’t want to go to the hospital. We don’t want to bring diseases home to our family. We just want a safe working environment for us to do our job,” said Carlton Rabideau, a retired corrections officer at Clinton Correctional Facility.
Rabideau joined more than 200 people in front of the maximum security prison Thursday, marking the fourth day of ongoing protests demanding improved working conditions, safety measures and more staffing for corrections officers.
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“We’re out here today because of the safety conditions inside the prison,” Rabideau said. “It’s not safe.”
Above all else, however, Rabideau said they’re demanding New York Governor Kathy Hochul repeal the HALT Act.
“Suspending part of it does not help us. It has to completely go 100% go,” he said.
The legislation Governor Hochul passed in 2022, places restrictions on who can be placed in the special housing unit and for how long. David Lucia, also a retired CO at the correctional facility in Dannemora, said officers utilize SHU for prisoners who have committed “tier 3” offenses in the prison.
“It was used as a tool and now they’ve taken that tool away,” Lucia said. “And now, from what I understand, is that you’ve got individuals being totally disrespectful to staff, intentionally harming staff and all that.”
On Thursday, the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision released a statement in response to Governor Hochul’s decision to deploy the National Guard to prisons while protests are underway. In the statements, DOCCS, said it is “suspending the elements of HALT that cannot be operationalized under a prison-wide state of emergency until we can safely operate the prisons.”
Other points of the DOCC statement, include rescinding the “70/30” memorandum, providing 2.5x the overtime rate for employees who work throughout the protests and states employees who return to work by 11:59 Thursday night, will not face disciplinary action.
Yet, many protestors said it’s not enough and that they plan to continue protesting until the HALT Act is completely repealed.
In the meantime, community members are lending their support to protestors, donating drinks, food and supplies.
Kristi Cranford manages Giuseppe’s Pizza, right across the street from the correctional facility. The protestors have been gathered in the pizza shop’s parking lot, but that’s not the only way Cranford said she’s assisting the cause.
Wednesday night Cranford said she posted that Giuseppe’s will match every pizza or wings order donated to the protests. As of Thursday, she said more than a dozen orders were already donated.
“Everybody’s willing. I had a lady from Kansas call today and her dad was a retired corrections officer here and she wanted to donate,” Cranford said.
Cranford said she and her community will continue to support the protests until officers’ demands are met.
“It’s been really good to see everybody, you know, donate and bring them things that they need and help whatever they need,” she said.
An NBC5 crew on the scene at 11:59 p.m. did not see anyone enter the facility. They did see around eight to 12 protestors still set up across the street from Clinton Correctional Facility.
