KINGSTON – State Senator Michelle Hinchey (D, Saugerties) has sponsored legislation that would offer disability benefits to probation officers injured in the line of duty.
On Tuesday, Hinchey, along with CSEA members, urged Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign this legislation, which is optional for counties and has already passed in the state Senate and Assembly to help probation officers when injured in the line of duty.
“We have to support our probation officers, who are primarily a women force,” said Hinchey. “Every other law enforcement sector has the ability to collectively bargain for disability coverage with the counties, but not probation officers. And so, there’s inherent inequity there.”
The bill, said Hinchey, will not cost the state anything because individual county taxpayers will fund it. Similar legislation was passed in 2018, but was vetoed at the time by the governor’s office with other legislation en-mass.
Stacey Deyo is a probation supervisor in Greene County. Dangerous encounters are inherent to her profession, and her thoughts were similar to other stories told during Hinchey’s news conference.
“We go in and deal with offenders,” she said. “Not only do we deal with them on the street, we’re going into their homes, their cars, their personal space. We put ourselves at risk every single day, and I don’t think people realize how much probation deals with high risk offenders.”
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