Several officers were injured at Auburn Correctional Facility last week.
According to NYSCOPBA, the first incident began at approximately 4:15p last Wednesday when a sergeant who was supervising the south yard went to speak to an inmate who was near a metal fence. When she approached the first inmate, a second struck her in the head from behind, causing her to fall forward onto the metal fence post and lose consciousness.
The inmate then ran across the yard where he was caught by five officers. He remained combative until he could be placed in handcuffs. He was then escorted out of the yard.
During the incident, another inmate began to walk toward the unconscious sergeant. After he failed to comply with orders to back away, chemical agents were used. The inmate was then handcuffed and brought to the infirmary for decontamination.
While in the infirmary, the inmate became combative and headbutted one officer in the head and spat blood at several others. A spit net was applied and officers forced him to the ground where he became compliant.
A metal rod was found inside his sock during a search.
The inmate was eventually placed in a special housing unit pending disciplinary charges.
After regaining consciousness, the sergeant was taken via ambulance to Upstate Hospital where she was diagnosed with a concussion and a fractured elbow.
Four officers were taken to Auburn Community Hospital for their injuries. One was found to have a fractured metacarpal bone in his hand. The three others sustained back, hip, and shoulder injuries.
Two officers were treated by medical staff at the facility for knee, head, and shoulder injuries but remained on duty.
The inmate who attacked the sergeant was transferred to Attica. He is serving a 15-18 year sentence after being convicted of Burglary and Sexual Abuse in 2019. He previously served time in 2016 for a robbery conviction.
“I want to commend staff who responded quickly to the attack on the female Sergeant and protected her from possibly sustaining further injuries at the hands of the two inmates involved in the south yard. The initial attack was vicious and unprovoked and could have been far worse. Thankfully the Sergeant regained consciousness and hopefully will recover from her injuries but certainly will be out of work for an unknown period of time at the hands of an inmate,” stated Kenny Gold, Western Region Vice President.
During the attack in the south yard, inmates in the main yard were ordered to place their hands against the wall. One inmate pulled away from the wall. He was placed in a body hold and handcuffed. During this time other inmates began to approach staff. OC spray was used to stop the inmates.
A sergeant and an officer were injured while subduing the inmate in the main yard. Both were taken to Auburn for treatment as both sustained shoulder injuries.
Gold claimed the incident highlights the need for reforms, blaming the attacks on the environment created in prison by the governor and state legislature.
“The attacks and serious injuries, especially on our female members, continue to grow with no end in sight. There is no deterrent anymore for bad behavior in our prison system and it cannot be any more evident than in unprovoked attacks like this. They attack themselves too, an inmate at Auburn tried stabbing and killing his own mother a few weeks back at Auburn, let that sink in, his own mother! Already faced with staffing shortages and mandatory overtime, to have seven staff members injured in one day who needed to be transferred to local hospitals because of the extent of their injuries, as many of those injured will be out of work for extended periods of time, further straining an already stressed Auburn Prison. What will it take for the State Legislature and the Governor to realize how dangerous an environment they have created for staff with their policies for them to take corrective actions to fix it once and for all? When will they put on the uniform and endure what our brothers and sisters face daily, both physically from the inmates and mentally because they know the lawmakers in this state could care less if they died inside the walls? The Governor has the ability, and more importantly the obligation to protect our members but apparently that isn’t high on her priority list as her silence is becoming deafening!” Gold continued.
Two corrections officers were injured last month at Five Points Correctional Facility in Romulus and June saw two officers injured at the Cayuga Correctional Facility in Moravia.
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