COXSACKIE, N.Y. - Four Correction Officers and two Sergeants were left injured after a violent incident at the Coxsackie Correctional Facility on Sunday.
The incident
happened at approximately around 12:30 a.m. when an inmate started to set fire to his cell. When staff responded and opened the inmate's cell door, the inmate attacked one
Correction Officer by punching him in the face twice.
Several other officers restrained the inmate, who was violently struggling with them.
The inmate was then transported to Albany Medical Center for treatment where he again became
violent and struck another Officer in the face with his elbow. Several staff
members had to restrain the combative inmate while medical staff at the hospital
sedated him.
The New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association, or NYSCOPBA, says this incident is the latest example of a corrections system that is becoming overcrowded and less
secure for the men and women who work there.
"We are fighting for our
lives every day that we go to work," said Michael
Mazzella, NYSCOPBA's Mid-Hudson Region Vice President. "An already dangerous job has become even
more dangerous with the overcrowding of maximum security facilities and the
shortage of Security staff in our prisons. It's time to stop balancing the State
Budget on the backs of the men and women serving the public inside 'The
Walls."
According to NYSCOPBA President Donn Rowe, New York
State's maximum security
prisons are currently over capacity at 122 percent.
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