ALBANY – During the two recent deaths
of inmates at state prisons – Sullivan Correctional and Fishkill
Correctional – corrections officers were injured, according to their
union, the New York State Corrections Officers and PBA Association. To
date, the state Department of Corrections will not confirm any prison
guard injuries.
That has infuriated the union leadership. Vice President for Law Enforcement John Harmon charged the state doesn’t care about the corrections officers.
“The mentality today is – it’s a very liberal way of thinking – is we don’t care about those who are protecting you, we only care about those being protected, which means we keep these inmates and these patient-inmates safe from themselves, safe from other staff, safe from other inmates or patients, and when they act out and we get assaulted, it’s amazing how the agencies don’t put any credence into what has happened to us,” he said.
Harmon also pointed to the injury of three corrections officers at Sing Sing prison in Ossining last month when an inmate grabbed and choked one officer and injured two others as they subdued him.
