Three dorms at Collins Correctional Facility in Erie County were taken over by inmates, according to NYSCOPBA, the New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association.

The Auburn and Attica CERT teams– like SWAT teams– were activated.

Union leaders say they have been asking for changes to the HALT Act, which puts restrictions on solitary confinement, to bring back disciplinary sanctions for the safety of both the officers and the inmates.

“Without that, they’re just going and doing whatever they want and nothing happens to them,” said NYSCOPBA President Chris Summers. “If you get into a fight on the dorm in the morning, they leave them there, and in the afternoon they’re doing the same thing all over again.”

An inmate advocacy group called HALT Solitary Campaign said, “Collins is a medium security prison with a population expecting to return home soon. For people to engage in this kind of revolt and jeopardize their freedom, it’s likely they felt truly backed into a corner, and even that their lives were at risk.”

Summers said closing facilities makes staffing worse.

“They are working doubles four or five days in a row,” he said. “They are now implementing a triple shift. Imagine going to work at seven in the morning and not be able to go home until seven the next day.”

Summers says a memo went out about reducing staff by 30% statewide.

“That needs to get rolled right back and reevaluated because if not, next time it’s going to get a lot worse,” he said.

DOCCS said Collins has been locked down and that everyone is accounted for and safe, with no further comment.