By Natasha Holdridge
The Post-Star, Glens Falls, N.Y.
ALBANY — The New York State Sheriffs’ Association sent a letter to Gov. Kathy Hochul urging her to reconsider the decision to close two correctional facilities: Great Meadow in Washington County and Sullivan Correctional in Sullivan County.
The Sheriffs’ Association letter dated Aug. 2, highlights the association’s safety concerns surrounding the closures which are scheduled to take place in early November.
“Both facilities are an integral part of New York’s inter-dependent state and local criminal justice system,” NYSSA President, Sheriff Craig DuMond stated in his letter. “When one part of that system is adversely affected, it adversely affects the rest of the system.”
The letter explains that while the closures are due in part because of the current staffing crisis being experienced by DOCCS, the association feels that the closures would provide only short-term relief for the issue.
“We predict it will actually exacerbate the problem in the future,” DuMond stated in his letter. “Not only for DOCCS but also for our local correctional facilities, many of which are currently experiencing similar staffing and recruiting problems. It has been hard enough for Sheriffs and DOCCS officials to attract candidates for careers in corrections when the prospect has been for a stable career in a local community, where the correctional officer could put down roots, buy a home, raise a family, and serve as a respected and integral part of the State’s criminal justice system.”
The officers affected by the decision to close two facilities feel they have been disrespected and that their years of service are undervalued by their employer, the letter states.
“When that becomes the perception of a career in corrections, both DOCCS and our Sheriffs will have an even more difficult time attracting good people to that career,” DuMond stated in his letter.
Local jails have been experiencing a rise in population since COVID, and the letter states that the association predicts that the trend will continue, which will mean populations in the prisons as well.
“We think it would be premature to close these two well-performing, well-maintained prisons, and disrupt so many lives and communities, when faced with the real likelihood that prison populations will begin to climb in the relatively near future,” DuMond stated in his letter.
The letter sent to Hochul from the New York State Sheriffs’ Association last week is one among many which have been sent to the governor to ask for reconsideration.
Numerous state and local politicians have spoke out against the decision to close the two facilities. A rally held to try and keep Great Meadow open last week had about 1,000 attendees and a Change.org petition working to save Great Meadow has been signed by nearly 5,000 people since it was created July 23.
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