BOLDEST
BLOG

DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION HAS ‘REAL ISSUES,’ DE BLASIO ADMITS AMID GUARD EXODUS

The city’s Department of Correction has “real issues to be addressed,” Mayor Bill de Blasio admitted Monday — the day after The Post exclusively reported how hundreds of fed-up guards have departed for the NYPD in recent years.

Hizzoner agreed with DOC head Vincent Schiraldi’s blunt assessment to The Post that morale is “very low” within the department — as it surfaced that the newest class of 555 NYPD recruits includes 42 former DOC officers.

“Look, it’s a tough job, and it’s been a tough time for the Correction Department,” said de Blasio during a wide-ranging press briefing.

But the mayor, in the final half-year of his second term, said better days are coming for DOC guards, citing the reduced workload expected with the recent closure of a Rikers Island facility and a gradual return to normalcy in the city’s court system with the COVID-19 pandemic slowing.

“We’ve really tried to address a number of the concerns officers have,” he said. “Very good news has been that we’ve been able to close down another building at Rikers and therefore not need as many officers to cover the inmates we have.

“And also the courts [are] finally starting to come back to life more,” de Blasio continued. “We need to see much more of what we’re seeing now, but at least it’s started so people who are deemed appropriate to go to state prison are now being moved out of our city jails.”

Current and former DOC guards interviewed for the front-page Post story cited a poor and unresponsive agency administration and an expectation to pull double and triple shifts as some of the reasons for their displeasure.

De Blasio said he felt the DOC is headed in the right direction but conceded that the city has its work cut out for it.

“So we see some reason for progress that I think are going to help a lot,” he said. “But there’s real issues to be addressed, and we’ll keep addressing them for sure.”

His sentiment echoed that of Schiraldi, who was named commissioner of the embattled DOC just last month.

“Morale at the Department of Correction is very low,” Schiraldi told The Post on Sunday. “It’s been a month, and I think I’m playing to reasonably good reviews. But there’s no switch you pull on the wall that all of a sudden makes people happy to come to work.”

LETTER FROM BENNY BOSCIO
President

Welcome to the official website of The Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association (COBA). COBA is the second-largest law enforcement union in the City of New York. Our members are New York City Correction Officers, also known as New York City’s Boldest, who supervise the second-largest municipal jail system in the nation. COBA is committed to advocating for safer working conditions, wage increases, and excellent benefits for all our members.

Our website was designed to provide helpful information on the latest issues impacting our members and their families. You can also find our official union publications, news clips, and learn about upcoming events.

FOLLOW US

STATEMENT FROM COBA PRESIDENT BENNY BOSCIO ON THE FEDERAL MONITOR'S SPECIAL REPORT RELEASED ON MAY 26, 2023

“After being appointed nearly 8 yrs ago and receiving some $20 million in consulting fees by NYC taxpayers, the latest Federal Monitor’s biased and one-sided “special report” is no different than the nearly 36 reports that came before it.

If the Monitor is interested in cherry picking data in a two week period, why then does he exclude the brazen assaults on our officers committed by repeat violent offenders in that same period? Or why does he exclude the numbers of inmates whose lives have been saved thanks to Correction Officers? The reality is that the Federal Monitor and his team have strayed very far from their original mission and this new report conveniently excludes key data showing any progress that is being made to combat jail violence, which is largely the result of the dedication and hard work of our officers serving on the frontlines.

These reports now serve only to provide politically-driven talking points for the City Council and the Board of Correction so they can continue to second guess and scapegoat our members, instead of providing oversight over the monitoring team and asking them what have they really accomplished in eight years to make our jails safer? It’s time for the Monitoring team to go!’

Benny Boscio
COBA President