By C1 Staff
FREELAND, Mich. — In the wake of a brutal attack on a Saginaw Correctional Facility officer, union officials are preparing a demonstration outside the facility on Thursday.
MLive reports that the union is blaming the state for the attack, saying it could have been avoided if the state had not cut staffing levels at the facility two years previously.
“The main purpose of this demonstration is to alert the public that these cuts jeopardize the safety of corrections staff,” said union president Tom Tylutki.
The union wrote a letter in 2012 expressing concerns about staffing levels in the prison. Tylutki said it’s typical to have three officers stationed inside a medium security housing block; these days, it’s now down to two.
Union officials have also offered potential millages or other means of raising funds to keep extra officers on payroll, though those recommendations were ultimately disregarded, according to Tylutki.
A spokesman for the Department of Corrections said that they were thoroughly examining the assault, but that the CO-to-prisoner ratio within the facility is in line with the national average.
He also said that prison facilities statewide have seen a significant reduction in attacks against staff members in recent years; between 2009 and 2013, there was a 38 percent reduction.
A prisoner requiring transportation to another wing of the Saginaw Correctional Facility ambushed CO Kevin Ott with a lock in a sock, striking him five times in the head. Ott was also stabbed several times.
Two officers were on duty in the cell block during the attack, with a third floating between areas.
At any given point, the particular section of housing where Ott was attacked holds 240 medium-security prisoners.