By C1 Staff
NEW YORK — The New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Union (NYSCOPBA) said the closing of four state prisons have contributed to overcrowding and understaffing inside correctional facilities.
The Star Gazette reports that the union, which represents nearly 20,000 correction officers, said assaults on officers in New York prisons are up 11 percent over last year.
The violence was attributed to increased gang activity, use of heroin and other drugs, double-bunking and restrictions on use of special housing units.
The union also called out a recent state prison agency report they say claimed there were zero serious assaults in 2014.
The president of NYSCOPBA, Michael Powers, delivered the remarks outside the Elmira Correctional Facility, where an inmate stabbed two corrections officers back in September. One of the officers was stabbed seven times.
There have been 23 assaults on staff at Elmira between September 2013 and August 2014.
Similar press conferences will be held Tuesday at the Attica and Marcy correctional facilities, and on Wednesday at the union’s Albany headquarters and the Otisville Correctional Facility.
The increase in assaults has coincided with the closure of 15 prisons during the term of the Cuomo Administration, according to the union.
The union criticized Cuomo, stating that he seemed to put inmate safety before that of officers.