Dear Parole Officers,

According to the Public Employees Federation (PEF), the “HALT” and “Less is More” laws are well-intentioned, but some of the changes have had unintended consequences that impact the safety of the public, state employees and incarcerated individuals.

Furthermore, according to PEF, the “Less is More” law, as passed, needs to be amended to better serve parolees, parole officers, and the community.

While PEF supports portions of the law, like providing earned time credits for adhering to a parole plan and ensuring parolees have expedited proceedings, the law falls short in other ways. 

The mere fact that PEF supports portions of “Less is More” is a clear indicator that the union has abandoned its Parole Officer members. 

Unlike PEF, the New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association (NYSCOPBA) does not leave members behind and is not afraid to tell the media when the communities we vow to protect are being exploited and are more unsafe than ever. 

“Less is More” should be repealed based off the fact that it was written by a convicted murderer, Derek Singletary. Also, earned time credits should not be provided to parolees as there are mechanisms in place for early discharge like merit termination release. 

In regard to parolees having expedited proceedings, this has made it harder for Parole Revocation Specialists to be successful at revocation hearings due to time constraints.

It’s clear that PEF only cares about your union dues so that it could continue funding anti-law enforcement politicians and their policies.

Fortunately, the 2018 U.S. Supreme Court case, Janus v. AFSCME gave public employees the right to choose whether to pay union dues.   

If you decide to stop paying PEF union dues, it will not have any effect on seniority, pay, or benefits such as health insurance or a retirement plan. 

That’s because, for better or worse, everyone under a collective bargaining agreement has the same benefits and contract terms, regardless of whether they are a union member or not.

If you agree that Parole Officers should fragment from PEF and join NYSCOPBA, please opt out using the following link: https://newchoiceny.com/opt-out-today/.

In solidarity,

New York State Parole Officers