Pictured is the Lakeview Correctional Facility outside of Brocton.

Growing concerns regarding the safety of correctional officers inside state prisons will be in the spotlight on Thursday afternoon.

State officials will be joined by New York State Correctional and Police Benevolent Association members and their families for a 2 p.m. press conference outside of Sunset Bay Beach Club at 1028 S. Shore Drive

in Irving calling on the governor and state leaders to urgently address the issue as well as the severe understaffing which is impacting the health, safety and family lives of correctional officers.

Planning on attending the event are state Sen. George Borrello of Sunset Bay, Assemblyman Stephen Hawley of Batavia, Assemblyman Joseph M. Giglio of Gowanda, Chris Summers, president of NYSCOBA and Kenny Gold, NYSCOPBA Western Region Vice President.

The appeal comes in the wake of numerous, alarming incidents of violence in local prisons, including an incident at Collins Correctional Facility on Aug. 4 where 11 correctional officers and a nurse performing life-saving measures on an inmate became ill from an undetermined substance and were taken to the hospital. All 11 were administered Narcan before going to the hospital, with some of those officers requiring multiple doses of Narcan.

Another incident at Collins on June 18 resulted in an officer having a portion of his finger bitten off by an out-of-control inmate. Seven other officers were injured as they attempted to get the individual to return to his cell.

Both inmate-on-staff violence and inmate-on-inmate violence have skyrocketed following the implementation of the HALT Act, which severely limits the use of segregated housing for disciplinary and safety reasons. Assaults on staff are up by over 30 percent since implementation of the measure on April 1, 2022.

Exacerbating the crisis is significant understaffing in prisons, which has only worsened as working conditions for correctional officers have deteriorated. NYSCOPBA members are routinely forced to work overtime to compensate for understaffing, putting extreme pressures on families and impacting the health and well-being of officers.

The press conference is part of an afternoon-long “Family Day” event for NYSCOPBA members and their families to show appreciation for their hard work amidst such a challenging time.