Mayor’s jail fail
Guards’ suit: Blaz reforms put us in danger
THE UNION representing city correction officers sued the de Blasio administration Friday, alleging reforms at the troubled jail system, especially decreased use of solitary confinement, are unconstitutional because they add workplace dangers.
“The situation has become so dire that correction officers have, with greater frequency than ever before, been punched, kicked, slashed, splashed with urine, feces or saliva, stabbed, head-butted, held hostage ... or sexually assaulted by inmates,” the Manhattan federal court suit charges.
The Correction Officers Benevolent Association says the attacks are a direct result of the stoppage of solitary confinement for adolescent inmates and a major reduction for other prisoners.
The union also blamed the department’s “cumbersome” new Use of Force policy, which restricts blows to the head.
Staff injuries are increasing, with 1,337 correction officers hurt between November 2015 and December 2016, according to a federal monitor overseeing the department.
Three officers were assaulted over the past 10 days, records show. One officer suffered a broken nose and another sustained a deep cut on his lip.
The suit alleges department brass has also tried to cover up the spike in violence, a charge the Daily News first reported in August.
In one example, Tiffani Dublin, 41, says she was trying to break up a fight when inmate Jose Hernandez punched her in the face six times in the Eric M. Taylor Center on Oct. 13, 2016.
“The first initial punch went to the left side,” she told The News. “It had knocked my sight out completely, so I had no clue what was going on.”
Several inmates came to her aid, followed by an emergency “probe team” of correction officers. Dublin was taken to the hospital, where doctors had to wait until the swelling in her eyes went down before taking X-rays.
She sustained a concussion and permanent injuries to her cervical and thoracic spine, medical records show.
Despite the violent attack, the incident was labeled as a routine “log book entry,” according to the lawsuit. It should have been labeled as a serious assault on staff, the suit contends.
Similarly, there were 374 instances of inmates spitting on officers since 2015, records show. Each case was “misleadingly” labeled “log book entries,” the suit says.
The Law Department is reviewing the case.
A Correction Department representative declined to comment, citing the pending litigation.