State elected officials joined representatives from New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association to call for changes in correctional facilities.

This comes after three different incidents led to a total of 20 corrections officers needing medical care, some needing to be revived with Narcan.

In a letter to Gov. Kathy Hochul, legislators cited three instances in the last 10 days where correctional officers and sergeants fell gravely ill and required emergency hospital care after coming into contact with unknown drugs while attending to inmates. The incidents occurred on Aug. 4 and 13 at Collins Correctional Facility and Aug. 8 at Wyoming Correctional Facility.

“The recent series of hazardous drug exposures that have put the lives of NYSCOPBA members at risk are a wake-up call that current security procedures are failing. Even the smallest amounts of a deadly drug like fentanyl or other synthetic opioids can be life-threatening. The seriousness of these incidents demands a serious response, which is why we are calling on the governor to suspend full-contact visitation until better screening protocols can be put in place,” said Sen. George Borrello.

Sen. Borello said that body scanners are not being used to prevent contraband, like dangerous drugs, from being smuggled into the facility.

“We have access to technology that can greatly reduce the incidence of drugs and other contraband coming into the prisons. However, by all accounts it is not being used to screen visitors, as it was intended,” said Borrello. “It’s outrageous and another example of the criminal coddling mindset that has brought us to this point.” 

There is now a call out to the governor to immediately issue an executive order suspending contact visits between prisoners and visitors.

“Like all law-enforcement officers, the brave men and women who protect law-abiding New Yorkers as corrections officers risk their lives every day to keep the rest of us safe. The governor likes to say that her number one job is to protect all New Yorkers, well, this is her opportunity to do that,” Assemblyman Joseph M. Giglio, Assembly Minority Conference Ranking Member on the Corrections Committee. “Drugs are entering our prison system, endangering the lives of corrections officers and inmates. We know the danger and we know how to stop it. But it requires executive action by the governor. She needs to find the courage of her convictions and do the right thing to save lives.”