Dear PEF President Spence & Council Leader Lopez:

As you may already know, New York State Parole is dead due to "Less is More." Morale is at an all-time low and it’s sad that this happened under the watch of a Public Employees Federation (PEF) president who is also a Parole Officer. 

Parole Officers can no longer do their job. “Less is More” makes it virtually impossible to re-incarcerate parolees who violate the terms of their parole which in turn jeopardizes public safety. 

Another major issue is that parolees are being discharged off parole not based off their merits but due to “earned time credit” that reduces their post-release supervision sentence.

As a result, the parolee population has decreased by approximately 40%. This decrease in population will more than likely resort to possible Parole Officer layoffs.    

In order to prevent layoffs, we suggest that a 25 and out retirement plan be implemented so that Parole Officers could retire early. In 2023, we are renewing our push to join the New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association (NYSCOPBA). 

Joining NYSCOPBA would give Parole Officers more leverage to obtain a 25 and out retirement incentive since all NYSCOPBA members already enjoy this retirement benefit.    

In closing, we’re asking all of our petition supporters to email this update to both you (PEF President Spence) at WSpence@pef.org and (PEF Division 236 Council Leader Lopez) at GLopez@pef.org.

Happy New Year,

New York State Parole Officers