Why COs are quitting

NYS law, strike result in new dangers

By Kat Slattery | Manor Ink

Town of Rockland, NY – You may know a corrections officer, but how much do you know about what goes on beyond the barbed wire? Breaking up fights, witnessing violence, overdoses and even death on a regular basis are the horrors of dealing with prison reality.

These are just some of the challenging experiences of a CO. David Cornish of Livingston Manor worked for the NYS Department of Corrections for 17 years in several different facilities, first as an officer and later as a sergeant in Woodbourne Correctional Facility. Manor Ink sat down with him to talk about his work experiences.

Rehabilitation a initial goal

When he started his career, Cornish saw being a CO as a chance to guide the inmates to reform. “People mess up in life, they end up in prison,” said Cornish. “We were trying to correct their actions and get them back into society. I felt that’s what I was paid to do.”

Unfortunately, his outlook changed in March 2021, when the state’s Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement or HALT Act was passed. The goal was to reduce the amount of time inmates had to spend in solitary confinement, due to its harmful psychological, physical, developmental and social impacts on them. In reality, the plan didn’t work as well as they had imagined.

“They went way too far,” said Cornish. “The disciplinary process got completely shredded.” Cornish felt uneasy with the changes and, as it turned out, the working conditions became incredibly dangerous. Violence and drug problems in the facilities heightened, putting employees in life-threatening conditions. Those circumstances led the officers to strike.

“The entire system was falling apart,” explained Cornish. “There was a massive amount of drugs coming into the facility, because there were no repercussions for anything. When there are no repercussions, it’s very hard to investigate as well.”

As drugs came in, mostly through the mail, many of the staff were exposed to the nerve agents in the drugs. As a result, many had to be revived with NARCAN and some even had to be hospitalized. Some have never fully recovered as a result of the exposure. “The state, at one point, said it was all in their heads,” Cornish said.

The strike and consequent staff firings

The chaos led to the strike. Similar mayhem was occurring in other facilities all across the state. Many officers were working 24- to 36-hour shifts, and in February 2025, a strike was called. The state activated the National Guard to fill in for the striking workers, resulting in the firing of 2,000 people. When the National Guard began to leave, a staffing shortage resulted. The state was forced to try to rehire the 2,000 that they let go. As a condition of rehiring, the officers had to sign papers agreeing to not speak poorly about the conditions in the facilities.

COs often see horrors that can become routine and start to mask normal reality. “You don’t realize how much pressure you’re under until you actually leave,” said Cornish. “That’s because it will destroy you. It will, and it does.”

Being a corrections officer often means becoming desensitized to stressful and dangerous conditions. It’s former COs like David Cornish who help people understand what the corrections officers they may know deal with every day.