By Andy Gardner
The Malone Telegram
NEW YORK — The state Commission of Corrections approved $2.8 million worth of renovations to cell doors at Upstate Correctional Facility in Malone on March 19.
The project, as part of a statewide initiative, will replace 702 cell doors by June 2014. The existing doors contain a 9-by-7-inch solid Plexiglas window; the new doors will have a larger 23-by-11-inch checkered crossbar window screen accompanied by an exterior staff-operated sliding window shield made of solid Plexiglas. The larger opening is designed to improve the inmate’s ability to communicate with others while at the same time allowing staff greater ease to perform visual inspections, according to the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (NYSDOCCS).
But the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association (NYSCOPBA), the union representing correctional officers, is critical of the project, believing that the new entry ports will compromise officers’ safety. Donn Rowe, NYSCOPBA president, wrote a letter pleading with the Commission of Corrections to vote the door renovation down for reasons including the cost plus increased risk of assaults of staff using bodily fluids.
"[Inmates] will ... also have an enlarged area for throwing bodily fluids and for attempts to assault staff, situations that are very familiar to our members working in special housing units,” Rowe’s letter reads. NYSCOPBA had reported in November that an Upstate inmate threw a cup of urine at a corrections officer, which hit her in the eyes and mouth.
The project will not be the first time Upstate has seen cell door replacement - 48 received new doors in 2008 as part of a settlement with Disability Advocates, Inc. The group had sued NYSDOCCS to get better care for prisoners suffering from mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. NYSDOCCS spokesperson Linda Foglia stated last week that David Rock, superintendent at Upstate, is reporting no assaults on staff using the larger openings in 3½ years.
Rowe’s letter also opposes the project for financial reasons.
“The present doors are functional and operational and do not compromise security,” he writes. “The considerable fiscal resources required to replace them can be more usefully applied within DOCCS’ budget to measures designed to enhance and increase the safety and security of the men and women who work inside these facilities.”
Upstate Correctional Facility is a maximum-security prison that primarily houses inmates for disciplinary confinement. Its capacity is 1,500 inmates. The cells are designed as double occupancy, but in cases of inmates with mental health treatment needs, they are single occupancy, according to NYSDOCCS.
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