UNION OBJECTS

The New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association has criticized the consolidation plan.

"Their plan is to overcrowd already crowded prisons in New York state," NYSCOPBA President Donn Rowe said in a statement.

Kriss said the guard-to-inmate ratio would remain well within accepted standards.

"Right now, we have dorms that have vacancies, which means that the security staff that are in those dorms supervising those inmates are supervising fewer than the standard number of inmates per dorm."

State and local NYSCOPBA representatives did not return calls seeking comment.

Sayward said it would be critical to keep dialogue open with the men and women who work inside the prisons.

"We've got some huge budget deficits, and we're going to have to talk to the people that work on the ground to make sure that they're a part of any of the changes that we make, so that we don't do things that are going to compromise safety."

Duprey said she's heartened by the fact that no one is talking about closing facilities.

"There are less prisoners, but I think there isn't any thought about closing anything."

DOCS announced last year that a statewide drop in prisoners required it to close several minimum-security prisons, including Camp Gabriels.

But after intense lobbying, the plan was later withdrawn.