Statement from Senators Rob Rolison, Ranking Member and Dean Murray, Member of the Crime Victims, Crime, and Corrections Committee

Senator Julia Salazar’s statement is nothing short of outrageous. It is a shameful attempt to shift blame away from the root cause of this prison crisis: the dangerous, soft-on-crime policies pushed by out-of-touch far-left politicians like herself. Instead of addressing the complete breakdown of order inside our correctional facilities caused by years of reckless policies that have emboldened violent criminals, Senator Salazar has chosen to vilify the very men and women who put their lives on the line to maintain safety and order.
 

The policies of the Democratic Majority in the State Legislature, alongside Governor Hochul have stripped corrections officers of the tools they need to do their jobs. The weak-on-crime agenda that made our streets dangerous is now eroding our correctional facilities into lawless battlegrounds.

Corrections officers aren’t asking for special treatment — they’re asking for the ability to do their jobs in a safe and secure environment. With assaults on correction officers and staff on the rise, the only guarantee they are looking for is to make it home to their families at the end of their shifts. 
 

Instead of standing with them, the Democrats in Albany are using a heinous crime — the murder of Robert Brooks — as a political weapon to attack all COs. Those responsible for that crime must be held fully accountable, but one crime does not justify making every dedicated officer pay the price.
 

If the Democrats truly care about restoring order and protecting both staff and incarcerated individuals, they should join us in calling for a halt to the HALT Act — a policy failure that has turned our correctional facilities into chaos. We must immediately restore discipline, proper staffing, and the ability for officers to do their jobs safely.
 

We would call on Senator Salazar to apologize for this disgraceful statement, but we know our request would be met with the same deafness and indifference that created this crisis in the first place. Instead, we will continue fighting to ensure our correction officers and civilian staff have the support, respect, and resources they need to restore order in New York’s correctional facilities — no matter how much the far left tries to stand in the way.
 

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