Union leader Michael B. Powers is calling on the Department of Corrections administration to address dysfunction within prisons following the release of a New York Times article that highlights problems with brutality and investigations.

Powers, of Ogdensburg, is president of the New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association, Inc. That's the union that represents corrections officers.

The article raises questions regarding the balance of power between the union and the administration and points out dysfunction within the system. But, Powers says the union shouldn't be taking the blame.

“At a time when violence in our prisons – from assaults on staff, inmate on inmate assaults and contraband - are at an all-time high, DOCCS should be making it a priority to make the prisons safer for everyone who works there as wells as those incarcerated instead of shifting the blame to the officers who put their lives on the line to keep New Yorkers safe," Powers said. “Instead of hiding from their responsibility, DOCCS should be leading an honest dialogue about how to actually solve the problems plaguing our prisons. That requires a much more robust investment in training, technology, and tools to keep up with the historic rise in violence and improve public safety and the protection of everyone at our facilities."

Powers said any dysfunction or inability to properly investigate falls at the feet of DOCCS Administration.

"It is not the role of the ‘powerful corrections union,’ as the New York Times put it, to make sure the Office of Special Investigations operates efficiently," he said. "If they didn’t train their investigators sufficiently to competently handle internal investigations, the responsibility lies with the supervisors of that office and those above them, the Acting Commissioner and his deputies. Let’s not also forget that the former Director of Operations of the Office of Special Investigations, who was in charge of those 100 plus internal affairs investigators, pled guilty to a misdemeanor this past January and abruptly retired."

Powers says the role of any union is to protect the interests of its members and advocate for them.

"Just because NYSCOPBA was able to protect the rights of its members through the collective bargaining process with New York State doesn’t mean that a newspaper, organization, government official or inmate advocate should have free reign to blame NYSCOPBA for the incompetency that exists at DOCCS," he said.

Powers also criticized the Times article for failing to point out the high number of use of force cases that are reported but found to be false.

“The New York Times, in a recent news story, pointed out the number of settlements the State has made with inmates over allegations of abuses. But they fail to mention that the overwhelmingly number of use of force investigations are unsubstantiated. There is certainly an appearance that the State is far too quick to settle a lawsuit and award a cash settlement rather than investigate the allegations properly.

St. Lawrence County is home to three prisons, with two located in Ogdensburg and one in Gouverneur.

The New York Times article can be read at this link.