By Leonard Greene
New York Daily News
ALBANY, N.Y. — Staff shortages, outdated training, low morale and a serious lack of accountability contributed to a dangerous culture of fear and violence responsible for the beating deaths of two NY state prison inmates, including Messiah Nantwi of Harlem, at the hands of correction officers, according to a new report.
According to the state-commissioned study — a 277-page document complete with 57 short- and long-term recommendations — a complete corrections overhaul is needed before officials can address systemic problems like leadership and oversight.
“It is important to recognize that meaningful change will require sustained leadership, additional financial, technological, and staff resources, and an executive and legislative commitment to achieving long-term safety, dignity, and accountability for both incarcerated individuals and staff,” the report’s authors said in a summary of their findings.
”The task ahead is substantial, but it is also an opportunity to build a correctional system defined not by its past failures, but by its commitment to safety, transparency, and human dignity.”
The highly anticipated review by the law firm WilmerHale, which cost taxpayers about $10 million, was launched last year after state corrections officers beat to death two prison inmates, Robert Brooks and Nantwi, in separate incidents over the course of three months between 2024 and 2025.
Brooks, 43, was beaten on Dec. 9, 2024, at the Marcy Correctional Facility in Oneida County. He died the next day.
The medical examiner reported the cause of death was compression of the neck and multiple blunt impact injuries sustained during the incident. Body camera footage of the incident was released by the New York Attorney General’s Office, showing. Brooks being beaten in the infirmary by officers while he was handcuffed.
On March 1, 2025. Nantwi, 22, of Harlem, was beaten to death at the Mid-State Correctional Facility. According to the medical examiner, Nantwi suffered lethal brain injuries from violent blows to his head and blunt force trauma to his body.
According to a criminal indictment, correction officers and sergeants conspired to cover up the killing. They mopped up the blood in Nantwi’s unit, planted a weapon there and met at a local diner to coordinate their stories.
Nantwi’s death occurred during an illegal wildcat strike launched after criminal charges were announced against officers involved in Brooks’ death.
The report, released last week, confirmed that correction officers, supervisors and medical staff systematically took steps to conceal their abuse of inmates, including falsifying official reports that downplayed key details while blaming inmates for their own injuries and death.
“The deaths of Robert Brooks and Messiah Nantwi were horrific, preventable tragedies that exposed profound failures of safety, accountability, and culture within New York’s prison system,” the Legal Aid Society said in a statement.
“This report makes clear that their deaths did not occur in a vacuum.”
The report also found Black inmates were treated worse by the mostly white correction officers and the training academy relies on an outdated paramilitary model.
Study authors said the facility needs to modernize records, prioritize mental health, ensure accountability, update training and strengthen oversight.
“’There is no quick fix here,” the report concluded. “Many of our recommendations will take years of dedicated effort, operational innovation and financial commitment, along with potential legislative action and updates to collective bargaining agreements.
These recommendations provide the foundation for the years of work required to effectuate meaningful and sustained reform.
Are today’s correctional officers receiving enough training to handle the realities of the job? If not, what’s missing?
Corrections1 readers respond:
- I served 17 years. Violent beatings by the officers were daily happenings. As the officers repeatedly pointed out how would anybody believe us. They were the officers.
The training is just fine. No training can prevent what happened in Marcy or MidState C/F’s. Line supervisors FAILED to do their job and keep their officers in line. The real problem is the Dept has a “Commissioner” who, although he came up through the ranks, has forgotten where he came from. He has evolved into the governor’s lackey. Convicts need and understand a firm hand, that is firm, fair and consistent, which follows the rules governing the treatment of inmates. This is a step in the right direction, but it remains problematic that the Democrats will ever even allow such a correction to this abomination, which endangers my brother and sister officers as well as the safety and security of the facilities.
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