The New York state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) is looking at early releases to address a staffing shortage following the recent three-week correction officer strike.

The state will look to release those with fewer than four months left on their sentence, and the directive does not apply to those convicted of sex crimes, violent felonies, terrorism or arson.

For the first time since before the prison strike, Capital Tonight's Jack Arpey was able to speak one-on-one with DOCCS Commissioner Daniel Martuscello about the new policy and more on Wednesday.

Martuscello called the early releases a balanced way to address staffing issues exacerbated by the strike. He defended the move, saying those being released were going to be released in the coming months anyway and already had to be in the process of going through procedures relating to release. He also noted that state law gives him the authority to go even further, up to a year.

"We crafted a very narrow segment of the population that were already being released to the community to release them slightly early," Martuscello said.

The commissioner said there is no plan to even consider bringing back fired correction officers who were fired for not returning to work after the strike, and DOCCS is looking to the future by recruiting and bringing in new officers. 

"They had every opportunity. We warned them through multiple avenues, whether it was news conferences, robocalls, and unfortunately, they did not heed that warning," Martuscello said.

He told Spectrum News 1 that despite the wall-to-wall negative publicity the strike created for the department and the role of correction officers, recruitment interest saw a bump in March over February. Martuscello said 66 recruits are taking part in the latest academy, and the hope is that the changes negotiated as part of the deal to end the strike will make their way to potential recruits. 

“We heard their concerns. We are aggressively addressing those concerns making sure people aren’t working 24-hour shifts, as well as dealing with legal mail,” he said, adding that a contract to screen mail for contraband promised as part of negotiations is in place with new technology kicking in as soon as April 11.  

Additionally, he revealed the HALT committee, also part of the package negotiated to end the strike, will convene starting Thursday and meet over the course of 60 days.

“To ensure that we’re hearing concerns directly to determine if we have agreeable, mutual grounds to go to the legislature to see if there are changes that can be made to drive safety,” he said.

Later, the commissioner added the meetings will not be open to the public, but given that the findings will be turned over to the legislature, the end result will eventually be public information.

In an afternoon news conference Wednesday, Republicans blasted the move as a threat to public safety despite the extensive criteria required, calling it a diversion from further addressing the conditions that created a staffing shortage. They also expressed concern that DOCCS could go further in their efforts to relieve the crisis.

“There’s already things in place where inmates don’t complete their sentences and now the commissioner is using his power to make that even less, and I have a feeling that if this staffing issue continues, it’s not going to end at 110 days,” said Assemblymember Michael Tannousis.

Despite the fact that these are individuals already in the process of being released, Assemblymember Josh Jensen expressed concern that the abrupt move could put a strain on local resources that deal with individuals reentering society.

“Already, our parole officers across the state are short-staffed and overburdened, and this is only going to add to that workload,” he said.

Martuscello also addressed the governor’s proposal in her 30-day amendments to authorize the closure of up to five prisons in the next year, dismissing concerns that such a move could make the situation worse.

“I have empty housing units which we have consolidated that we can utilize to absorb any prison closures without overcrowding any of our institutions,” he said.

Lawmakers have been absorbing budget proposals from Hochul this week to expand opportunities for people in prison to reduce long sentences with credits for good behavior or job training, which the governor included in this year's legislative agenda.

The commissioner backed the move as a way to make the process of opening up those opportunities more efficient.

“Leaving it to only a finite number of programs as we continue to add progressive programs and to then need legislation for them to qualify didn’t make sense, so I think the governor’s proposal is one I wholeheartedly support and we’ll see where it goes in this budget process,” he said.

The governor also wants to lower the minimum age for correction officers to 18, down from age 21, in an effort to jumpstart recruiment, but Martuscello declined to comment on that proposal as the details are being ironed out and debated as part of budget negotiations.