Assemblyman David DiPietro (R,C-East Aurora) expressed pleasure at the news that the state is hiring over 100 new correction officers for New York’s prisons. With prison violence on the rise, DiPietro viewed the decision as necessary to combat a growing culture of violence within the prison system. He held a tour of the Attica Correctional Facility last year in an effort to make many of the issues facing the correction officers more prevalent to state legislators.

“These 100 new officers will help to quell the culture of violence in our prisons,” DiPietro said. “Ensuring the safety of the existing officers and these new officers must be a focus of the last few weeks of our legislative session. We must strengthen laws protecting the people who walk the toughest beat in our state, in addition to providing the financial support they need to conduct their work. This is something that was deeply needed, and I’m glad the state is doing the right thing and bringing in more officers.”

DiPietro is a sponsor of Assembly Bill 1105, which seeks to criminalize the degrading actions of an inmate who intentionally spits on a correction officer, and Assembly Bill 1762, which requires legislative approval to close any correctional facility or institution.