By Corrections1 Staff
MALONE, N.Y. — Officials have raised concerns about prison standards after a struggle over a gun between an inmate and correctional officers took place at a hospital in New York.
The Press-Republican reports that on Thursday, an inmate at a hospital for a medical procedure “attempted to gain control of a correction officer’s weapon.” John Roberts, northern region vice president for the New York State Correction Officers and Police Benevolent Association, said two officers used body holds to gain control of the inmate and get him to release the weapon.
Two other officers from a different correctional facility heard the commotion and assisted in apprehending the inmate. Roberts praised the officers’ actions and said the inmate’s actions show that some prisoners “have no regard for human life.”
But state officials said the incident shows that prison standards need to be changed and that there needs to be an emphasis on officer safety.
Franklin County Legislator Andrea Dumas said prisons in the state “are short-staffed, and inmates get more privileges than working individuals.”
Dumas also she knows many people who work in the prison system who have expressed fear for what’s going to happen every time incidents, such as the one at the hospital, will escalate.
“We need to stand up and fight for the safety of the staff. Inmates’ needs and rights are met; what about the safety and protection of the staff?,” she said.
Roberts said the inmate’s behavior is a reason why there needs to be restrictive special-housing units in New York’s prison system. He cited a 2015 change, prompted by a settlement between the state and the New York Civil Liberties Union, that overhauled solitary confinement in the state is “making a very dangerous environment for the prison system as well as the general public.”
In a statement, the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision said assaults on staff are down about 11 percent, from 895 in 2015 to 798 in 2017, as a result of the changes from the NYCLU settlement. The department also said it “takes all assaults on staff seriously” and that anyone guilty of harming a staff member will be “prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
The DOCCS said the incident involving the gun is under investigation.