By Suzanne Moore
Press-Republican
DANNEMORA — After two large-scale fights in the prison yard since Thursday, Clinton Correctional has been locked down and a facility-wide frisk has turned up weapons and drugs, a union official says.
No staff was hurt in Friday night’s incident, according to Chris Hansen, vice president of Northeastern Region of the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, though a few officers were treated for eye exposure to the teargas used to subdue the battling inmates.
Several prisoners were injured, however, by other inmates, Hansen said.
Shots were fired to end the fight that took place Thursday, he said, with six inmates apprehended, though numerous others were involved.
He cited “drug activity and inmate group on inmate group” as the incitement for the riots.
The State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision offered no details about the situation except to say it “took proactive steps to lock down the facility to ensure the safety of staff and others,” Assistant Public Information Officer Taylor Vogt said in a statement.
“The facility is expected to return to normal operations sometime next week.”
‘4TH MAJOR FIGHT’
Friday’s was the fourth such incident since late May that required use of weapons and/or teargas, Hansen said, with both of the May riots taking place shortly before the June 6 breakout of convicted killers Richard Matt and David Sweat.
As the manhunt ensued for the fugitives, correction officers told the Press-Republican that the State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision had denied a request from Clinton leadership to lock down the facility and conduct cell-to-cell searches.
Had that been allowed, they have said, the holes cut in the backs of Matt’s and Sweat’s cells in A Block would have been found and the escape foiled.
AUBURN ON LOCKDOWN
Elsewhere in the state, Hansen noted, Auburn Correctional Facility is locked down as well.
According to a statement from NYSCOPBA, it was ordered due to inmate unrest and a series of assaults on staff.