GOUVERNEUR, New York (WWNY) – Three corrections officers at the prison in Gouverneur were injured by an inmate earlier this month. That’s according to the New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association.
NYSCOPBA said two officers were escorting the inmate on May 4 when, without provocation, the inmate punched one of the officers in the head.
According to the union, the inmate then attacked the second officer, elbowing him in the head and punching him in the chest. That officer fell and hit his head.
Two nearby officers helped get the inmate under control.
The union said the officer who hit his head was later diagnosed with a severe concussion and taken off duty.
Two other officers were taken to Gouverneur Hospital for treatment of bruising and pain but remained on duty.
The union said the inmate was evaluated at the prison’s medical unit and denied suffering from any pain.
The inmate, who completed a 20-year rape sentence in 2019, recently violated his parole. He’s currently serving a 5-year sentence.
“These types of assaults on staff are becoming the norm in our prisons. Inmates with no regard for others feel like they can do anything they want, and sometimes without provocation, and there will be no consequences for their actions. The supporters of the HALT Act are solely to blame for this. Conditions in prisons have never been worse and nothing is going to change unless the Democratic Legislators in Albany come to their senses and restore some semblance of discipline in the prison system. Without it, there is nothing to deter inmates from attacking staff like this,” said NYSCOPBA Central Region Vice President Bryan Hluska in a news release.
The HALT Act sets limits on how long inmates spend in solitary confinement in jails and prisons.
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