Dear Brother/Sister Officer:
 
In writing this president’s message to you I pose the question, “Who are you?”  I know what we are supposed to be, yet some of us feel that they ought not be a part of this family.
 
We are New York City Correction Officers—the best Correction Officers in the world—maintaining the care, custody, and control of some of the most violent individuals in society, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 

Yet sometimes some of us surrender or just give up.  We surrender our integrity, our professionalism, and our brothers and sisters in blue.  On a daily basis, 99% of us do whatever is required of us, no questions asked.  Yet, there is that 1% of us and you’ll know who they are because after they read this, they will still be complaining about protecting and serving the public.
 
Senior officers, junior officers, probationary Correction Officers are just that, Correction Officers.  However, we continue to allow ourselves to be placed in harm’s way by yet another person who shares our uniform.  It is very difficult for me as the president of this union to write this letter, but it is a letter that needs to be written.  We work in a very, very dangerous environment.  Things that we take for granted like freedom, are not considered freedom to others—the people who we are paid to supervise and detain.
Who are you?  Are you a New York City Correction Officer, proudly wearing your uniform, proudly protecting and serving the public?  Or are you just willing to surrender all that you’ve worked for and all that your family is proud of just because of some individual who lives down the street from you and you want to be a part of some acceptable click?
 
I can’t tell you how heart-wrenching it is when I get a telephone call in the middle of the night, informing me that a Correction Officer has been involved in a use of force incident, protecting the life of a comrade or the life of an inmate.  I can’t describe to you the disgusting feeling that goes through my body when I hear that an officer has responded to an incident after one of your brother/sister officers has been assaulted and that the incident was caused by the carelessness of that 1%—the 1% who thinks it’s ok to give an inmate a cigarette, a cell phone, or Top tobacco.
 
I’m not going to sugar coat this.  It’s that 1% who attempt to corrupt the minds and the integrity of the 99% who do a great job everyday.  It’s that 1% who say it’s ok to bring in that cell phone or that contraband for an inmate, because they are “friends”.  Yet, a friend wouldn’t ask you to jeopardize your livelihood, or your life, for something so insignificant and illegal.  Today it’s a cell phone; tomorrow it’s a 9 millimeter.
 
The Executive Board and I have been to over 100 funerals for Correction Officers and thank God we did not have to attend one funeral for an officer who lost his/her life because of an inmate who was given contraband by a Correction Officer that was used to kill a fellow officer.             

Let us not let that 1% continue to corrupt our minds, steal our souls, trash our integrity or tarnish our credibility.  Let us not let that 1% who do not want to be a part of New York City’s Boldest destroy everything for the rest of us.
 
Who are you?  This union, the Executive Board and I, will represent you to the fullest extent of the law. We support you 100% and you don’t have to be fearful if you inform us about someone you know who is jeopardizing the safety and security of your fellow officers.
 
However, if it’s your fault that one of our brother/sister officers gets hurt, then you should be the one who knocks on that officer’s mother’s, father’s, husband’s, or wife’s door and explains to them that you’re there to inform them that Correction Officer XYZ has been killed in the line of duty, protecting and serving this great city all because that inmate was one of your boys.
 
I know that this is the first and hopefully the last time I write this type of message.  But 99% of us are sick and tired of that 1%.
 
99% of you go and come to work every day and work very long hours.  You miss holidays like Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanza, etc. to diligently perform your duties.   You over-looked the disrespectful behavior of some of your managers, you’ve swallowed the insults of false accusations, the bogus charges, and you’ve sucked up the pain and the threats, and yet you still came out on top as a proud New York City Correction Officer.  You’ve watched on television and seen praises for firefighters, cops, and teachers, yet you remain in the belly of the beast—in the confines of a jail system that is plagued with AIDS, Hepatitis, Tuberculosis, and inmates tossing urine and feces at you when they don’t get their way.  You are that 99% who didn’t take this job to become a hero, you took it to make a difference.  You took it to protect your families and your communities who pray that you return home the same way you left.  That’s the 99% who perform the job that’s required of you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Some of our managers have forgotten where they came from and rose through the ranks because they were able to take a multiple choice exam but they cannot make a multiple choice decision.  99% of our managers are in fact good managers.  They are understanding, caring, and compassionate.  But there’s that 1% within the supervisory ranks who go above and beyond to prove they are incompetent and irresponsible and they are just like that 1% we need to weed out. It’s not just that 1% of us who wear a blue uniform who violate the code of ethics of this department.  There are also those who wear white shirts and some who don’t even wear a uniform, who do the same.  You are that 99% who this Executive Board and I are so proud to represent.  You are that 99% who will eventually weed out that 1% who don’t care for you, themselves, or even for their own families.  You are that 99% that this Board and I wake up every morning striving to represent.  You may not always get what you want, but you’ll always get a fair shake.  This Executive Board and I go that extra 100% just for you and your family.

It's 100% of the 99% of you that need to be praised and need to be told "thank you."  Thank you for what you do in making this agency, which we run, a success.  They can talk about inmate violence reductions and weapons recoveries, but they always fail to say it's because of the 99% of Correction Officers who make this happen, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  We make this happen.  On behalf of the people in our communities, on behalf of our families, and on behalf of our brothers and sisters in blue, "thank you."
 
In the words of legendary football coach, Vince Lombardi, “Winning is not a sometime thing.  It’s an all the time thing.  You don’t win once in a while, you don’t do things right once in a while. You do them right all the time.  Winning is a habit.”  That’s our 99% of New York City’s Boldest—second to none.
 
May God bless you and your family and may you enjoy the Easter and Passover holidays.