Multiple officers were injured in several attacks on staff to end the year at Five Points Correctional Facility, setting a one-year record of 2,072 assaults on staff in 2024. According to the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, inmate-on-inmate assaults also set a one-year record of 2,983 assaults, including an apparent inmate homicide on December 23 at the maximum-security correctional facility.
NYSCOPBA released some new information on the death of Adam Lafferty, the Wayne County man whose death is under investigation by New York State Police and the Seneca County District Attorney’s Office.
According to NYSCOPBA, “On Tuesday, December 23, an officer conducting rounds observed an inmate lying face down on his bed unresponsive. The officer called for a medical response and staff opened the cell door and ordered the other inmate inside the cell to exit. Officers approached the unresponsive inmate and observed a string around his neck tied into a knot. The inmate was moved to the floor of the cell and had no pulse. Officers cut the string from around the inmate’s neck and began CPR immediately. Medical staff arrived at the cell and continued CPR and administered seven doses of Narcan with no effect. After several attempts to revive the inmate, he was pronounced dead at the scene. State police were notified of the incident and responded to the facility. The preliminary results have not determined the cause of death. The other inmate in the cell made incriminating statements to staff and was removed from the cell block and placed in a Special Housing Unit pending further investigation.”
The New York State Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigation is conducting a preliminary assessment into the death of Lafferty.
NYSCOPBA added that in a five-year period ending in 2024, assaults on staff have doubled since 2020 and inmate-on-inmate assaults have almost tripled, continuing a trend of rising violence inside state prisons amidst staffing shortages and mandatory overtime forcing officers to work long shifts with little notice or relief in sight
Have all the Finger Lakes news from Finger Lakes News Radio delivered to your email every morning for FREE! Sign up by clicking here
