The Hochul administration is being accused of covering up crimes in prisons by downgrading attacks committed by inmates against guards as “harassment” or “disruptive behavior” instead of assaults.
A bombshell Dec. 31, 2025 memo issued by the state Corrections Department’s deputy commissioner Michael D’Amore lays out examples of what constitutes an assault and what’s considered the lower classification of harassment or disruptive behavior.
“The Department has redefined the Unusual Incident (UI) category, and created harassment as a reportable UI,” D’Amore said in the memo sent to all prison superintendents and watch commanders.
For example, an inmate who rips off the shirt pocket of a guard delivering food should be charged with disruptive behavior or harassment — not assault, D’Amore said.
The inmate would only be charged with assault if he smashes the guard’s face into the security fence while ripping his shirt, D’Amore said, citing a hypothetical case.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman slammed the memo as soft on felons and accused his election opponent Gov. Kathy Hochul’s team of covering up crimes inmates commit against officers.
“Let’s be clear: when an inmate grabs an officer, throws objects at an officer, or drags an officer into a cell, that is assault,” Blakeman said.
“You don’t make prisons safer by playing word games. You make them safer by backing correction officers and holding violent offenders accountable. When Albany downplays violence against officers, it emboldens bad behavior and tells the men and women protecting our prisons that their safety comes second to political optics. That is unacceptable.”
Corrections officers view the change as retribution from the Hochul admin after a devastating illegal strike last year led her to fire 2,000 officers, leaving the already precarious system even more dangerously understaffed.
“They’re going to use that against all of us. They’re doing everything they can to harass the employees and punish us and make life easier for the inmates,” one corrections officer told The Post.
The memo cited other reclassifications or downgrades. For instance, throwing an empty milk carton at the back of a guard would be written up as disruptive behavior or harassment — and only constitute an assault if the inmate hurled a frozen milk carton at the guard.
In another hypothetical case cited by D’Amore, an inmate abruptly runs to the back of the cell while an officer is trying to remove the mechanical restraints from him — pulling the officer’s arms into the cell. The action would be classified as harassment or disruptive behavior, not an assault.
The inmate would be charged with assault if he swings the restraints and hits an officer in the shoulder and thigh, D’Amore said.
The union representing correctional officers in prisons slammed the reclassification.
“Mark our words: A year from now, DOCCS [Department of Corrections and Community Supervision] will be touting that the number of assaults has dropped and prisons are much safer when, in reality, it’s because they refuse to acknowledge the harsh reality that our members are facing dangerous situations every day.,” the Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association said in a statement Tuesday.
“Those dangerous situations won’t be fully tracked under DOCCS’ new definition,” the union said. “Lowering assault numbers without further defining other dangerous situations runs the risk of making it look like the failed policies of the NYS Legislature are working.”
The union advocated strongly for additional definitions for inmate offenses to include menacing and reckless endangerment.
“NYSCOPBA refused to consent to the assault definition changes without these critical expansions, as narrowing the assault definition alone fails to capture the full realities of the risks our officers encounter daily. Despite our position, DOCCS has proceeded unilaterally to implement the revised definitions,” the union said.
Over 2,000 national guard troops remain deployed in the prisons as DOCCS hasn’t come anywhere near to rebuilding its workforce pre-strike.
The strike was precipitated in-part by a different memo sent around by DOCCS about reducing staffing levels for facilities.
Blakeman also said the New York HALT Act limiting solitary confinement has led to more inmate attacks on corrections officers.
Since Hochul signed the HALT Act in 2022, violence inside New York’s correctional facilities has skyrocketed, he said.
Inmate-on-staff assaults surged to 2,072 in 2024, a 39% increase from the 1,490 recorded in 2022, the year HALT was enacted.
Inmate-on-inmate assaults reached a whopping 2,984 in 2024, more than double the 1,474 tallied two years prior.
“These numbers expose the truth Hochul wants to hide,” Blakeman said. “Her policies made prisons more dangerous, and now her administration is reclassifying assaults to make the statistics look better. This isn’t reform — it’s a cover-up.”
D’Amore, in the memo, defended the reclassification as fair, and not going soft on inmate violence.
“Fundamental to the determination that an assault has occurred is the intent to injure another person, whether or not an injury has occurred,” the deputy commissioner for correctional facilities said.
An inmate will be charged with assault if he throws bodily fluid or excrement at a corrections officer, as would fondling the buttocks of a staffer, added D’Amore.
DOCCS said that “Any claim that the definition of ‘assault’ has been watered down is patently false.”
“The safety of everyone in our facilities is our top priority, which is why, pursuant to the memorandum of agreement (MOA) with NYSCOPBA that ended the illegal job action, we agreed to meet and review the current definition of assault used to track violence,” the department said in a statement.
“The new definition was developed with NYSCOPBA leadership, who have been fully involved and included in these discussions on behalf of their members. These changes allow us to hold incarcerated individuals who assault and harass our staff accountable to the fullest extent of the law and allow us to better identify instances of physical harm so we can intervene sooner and better protect our staff.”
Hochul’s office had no immediate comment.
The head of the union representing officers patrolling Nassau County jails was horrified by the state’s reclassification, saying that it won’t help address a staffing shortage in correctional facilities.
“The memo is telling supervisors to manipulate the classification of assaults,” said Peter Lilli, president of the Nassau County Correction Officers Benevolent Association. “Violence is leading to a statewide recruitment issue.”
Saritha Komatireddy, a Republican candidate for state attorney general and former federal prosecutor said, “Minimizing assaults on law enforcement is unacceptable and unjust. Everyone in New York deserves to be safe, including correctional officers who put themselves at risk every day.
“As a federal prosecutor, I went after those who attacked prison guards, to the fullest the fullest extent of the law. As Attorney General, I will have the back of ALL our law enforcement, including COs.”
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