Attack on corrections officer should be ‘wake-up’ call, union says
COXSACKIE, N.Y. » The union representing corrections officers at the Coxsackie Correctional Facility said a recent attack on one of its members should be “a wake-up call” to state officials regarding housing for violent prisoners, according to a press release.
The press release from the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, said an officer at the facility was “viciously attacked” by a 22-year-old inmate on Monday, June 29, and suffered a serious head injury. The union said the inmate is serving a three-year sentence for weapons possession.
In an emailed statement Thursday, a spokesperson for the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision said Monday’s incident would be “referred for outside prosecution” and that “a new felony conviction would lead to an additional term of imprisonment.
“The safety and well-being of staff and incarcerated individuals is our top priority,” the DOCCS spokesperson wrote in an email. “The Department has zero tolerance for violence within our facilities and anyone engaged in misconduct will be disciplined.”
The DOCCS spokesperson said the incident is under investigation and declined further comment.
According to the benevolent association, the assault happened at about 3:30 p.m. Monday as the officer was escorting the inmate to the showers and after the inmate’s mechanical restraints were removed.
“The inmate immediately spun around and punched the officer in the face and tackled him to the shower floor. The inmate landed on top of the officer,” according to the union press release. It said the officer struck the floor with the back of his head.
The officer was taken to the Albany Medical Center, where he was diagnosed with a fractured skull and sternum, the union said.
According to the union, the inmate, who has a past disciplinary history of attacking staff at the prison, was then placed in a “special
housing unit.”
“This absolutely horrific attack on one of my members needs to be a wakeup call to DOCCS and Governor (Andrew) Cuomo as advocates continue to lobby for additional reform to special housing units,” Michael Mazzella, the benevolent association’s Mid-Hudson Region vice president, said in a prepared statement.
“The day before the attack, a fellow NYSCOPBA member sent a memo to supervisors at Coxsackie expressing concerns about staffing levels not being adequate to run the inmate showers safely,” Mazzella wrote. “The following day his concerns came to fruition in this vicious attack. If this isn’t a prime example of why there needs to be measures to restrict violent inmates through special housing units I am not sure what is. Any additional reforms will further put officers in jeopardy.”