A state-commissioned outside probe of New York’s prison system found a culture of fear, poor oversight and outdated training as incarcerated people and correction officers alike told investigators they no longer feel safe behind prison walls.
The highly anticipated 277-page review by the nationally prominent law firm WilmerHale was launched last year, after state corrections officers beat to death two different inmates, Robert Brooks and Messiah Nantwi, in the course of three months.
The “top to bottom” review of the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DCCS), which cost taxpayers nearly $10 million, concludes that chronic understaffing, weak accountability and an “us versus them” mentality between officers and incarcerated people have fueled a cycle of violence that undermines rehabilitation.
Investigators found a culture in which some officers openly mocked colleagues who treated incarcerated people with dignity.
“If a correction officer said good morning to an incarcerated individual in max, they’d call the correction officer an ‘inmate lover,’ ” one officer told investigators working with the law firm.
The report was released late Thursday, on the eve of the July Fourth holiday weekend and roughly a year after state officials initially expected. Its findings echo concerns prison advocates, correction experts and formerly incarcerated people have raised for years.
The report also found that DOCCS struggles to discipline officers accused of serious misconduct because arbitration frequently overturns or reduces penalties.
Between 2023 and 2024, most inmate abuse cases in which DOCCS sought discipline against rogue officers ended with reduced penalties or no discipline at all.
In eight abuse cases where DCCCS sought to fire officers, the report found “the arbitrators did not uphold any of the terminations.” Four officers were hit with lesser punishment while the other four were found not guilty, according to the report.
The report also noted a massive spike in the use of pepper spray.
Statewide use “rose from 124 instances in 2015 to 4,758 in 2024,” which the report calls “quite stark.” Some of those incidents involved officers spraying “as many as six [bursts] in a row without assessing compliance,” according to the report.
Investigators also found that Black people locked up are treated worse by the mostly white correction officer workforce.
Former officers told investigators about colleagues using slurs against Black incarcerated people, with one saying openly racist officers “didn’t like Blacks. They had hate.”
A former mid-state officer said of racist colleagues: “I knew which ones were racist. They would refer to the Black inmates as pieces of shit. They didn’t like Blacks. They had hate.”
Investigators also found that the department’s correction officer academy relies on an outdated paramilitary model that leaves recruits poorly prepared for today’s prisons. The report recommends replacing much of the classroom instruction with scenario-based training emphasizing de-escalation, communication and intervention.
In a joint statement, Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages and state Sen. Julia Salazar said the report “confirms what many of us have feared since the killings of Robert Brooks and Messiah Nantwi:” that their deaths “were not isolated acts by a few bad actors” but the result of “insufficient training, weak accountability, and staffing levels that have collapsed.”
The lawmakers also pointed to statistics highlighted in the report, noting that DOCCS received nearly 1,200 excessive-force complaints in 2025 but substantiated fewer than 50.
Thousands of state correction officers went on strike last February following an Albany Times-Union report that some officers involved in Brooks’ fatal assault would face criminal charges.
A Killing, a Walkout, and the Fallout
While the strike lasted around three weeks, the state prison system is still reeling from a staffing shortage after New York fired guards involved in the wildcat walkout, with some programs and visit hours eliminated or cut short.
Shortly after the video of Brooks’ fatal beating became public, Gov. Kathy Hochul hired WilmerHale, a firm known for its corporate clients and work on high-profile government investigations, to evaluate the department’s policies around use of force, staff accountability and internal oversight.
The consulting contract was awarded in a no-bid deal. WimerHale’s report concludes that meaningful reform would require years of sustained investment, legislative changes and a commitment by state leaders to transform a prison system that has become reactive rather than proactive.
Advocates said the report underscores long-standing concerns about conditions inside New York prisons.
“DOCCS ignored reports like these for decades before they tortured and murdered Robert Brooks,” said Anisah Sabur, a member of the HALT Solitary Campaign who survived solitary confinement in a New York prison.
“Rather than more reports, we need urgent action to expand fair and safe pathways to release from these racist and deadly prisons, and an immediate end to all abuses inside.”
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