New York is set to lower the minimum hiring age for prison guards from 21 to 18, a move to boost the ranks of corrections officers during a shortage that was exacerbated after the state fired more than 2,000 guards after a weekslong strike that crippled the state’s prison system.

State lawmakers approved the measure on Wednesday and Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, is expected to sign it into law.

The bill establishes some rules for the younger guards, including policies that they cannot obtain or use firearms or transport inmates outside of prisons. They also must be supervised when performing “contact roles” with inmates during the first year-and-a-half on the job.

The push to lower the age for correction officers came after guards walked off the job in February while striking to protest poor working conditions. Hochul was forced to deploy the state National Guard to prisons to maintain operations during the strike.

  • blattrules@lemmy.worldEnglish
    5·
    1 day ago

    I’d rather be a cop in rural America. 58k is not much in New York and everyone you deal with wants to kill you.

    • Dagwood222@lemm.ee
      4·
      1 day ago

      Someone said that if you work in corrections for 20 years it’s like spending 7 years behind bars.

      • ToastedRavioli@midwest.social
        2·
        1 day ago

        I feel like whoever said that only considered that they were inside the prison, and not which side of the bars they were on

        I work in a 5* hotel, but I dont feel like Im a pampered guest 1/3rd of my day

        • Dagwood222@lemm.ee
          3·
          1 day ago

          You spend all day waiting for someone to stick a knife in your back and everyone you talk to is trying to play you.