KEISHA WILLIAMS

About KEISHA WILLIAMS

Keisha Williams, a twenty-two year veteran of the New York City Department of Correction (DOC) began her career in June of 2000. Upon completing the Correction Academy, she was assigned to the Eric M.Taylor Center (EMTC). For 14 years, Keisha worked in a housing area post, which included supervising inmates classified with mental health issues.

After serving 18 years as a Correction Officer, Keisha's passion for advocating and defending the rights of her fellow officers inspired her to run for a leadership position within her union, the Correction Officers' Benevolent Association (COBA).

In 2018, she was elected as a Delegate at EMTC, where she specialized in filing grievances against the Department of Correction in order to compel the Department to address various health and safety issues impacting her fellow officers. Upon EMTC's closure, Keisha was then assigned to the Queens Detention Center.

Two years later in 2020, Keisha recognized that the union could do more to assist her fellow oficers, so she joined forces with other like minded candidates and ran for the position of 3rd Vice President on a slate for the COBA Executive Board. Keisha's slate won by an overhelming margin of victory, giving them a clear mandate to lead Correction Officers in a positive new direction.

As COBA's 3rd Vice President, Keisha is one of the highest-ranking African-American women in law enforcment in the State of New York. Her commitment and tireless dedication to her fellow officers has had a tremendous impact in just a short period of time. She has assisted officers in resolving payroll discrepencies; she has fought to ensure assignment posts were posted in the facilities in a timely manner, enabling officers to have more stability when confronting child care issues; and she has mediated in situations where officers were facing potential disciplinary charges to prevent the Department from taking punitive disciplainary action.

One of her most impactful accomplishments as COBA’s 3rd Vice President was an advocacy campaign she co-lead to change the criminal code in the State of New York to make the forcible touching of a New York City Correction Officer a Felony and to make the sexual harrassment of a Correction Officer a Misdemeanor. This effort has led to a Resolution that was recently introduced in the New York City Council, calling on Albany lawmakers to pass legislation that would hold sexual predators in New York City's jails accoutable for their sexual crimes committed against Correction Officers.

Keisha is a wife and a mother of two children, one with special needs. She understands the plight of officers who require special accommodations in order to do their jobs. As COBA's 3rd Vice President, she is proud to lend her voice on behalf of the thousands of men and women who comprise New York City's Boldest.