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| N.Y. Officials Order Lock Down After Bullets Found |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 10/14/2002 |
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State officials ordered a maximum-security prison locked down Thursday after three .22-caliber bullets were found hidden inside an aluminum mop handle. It was the third lockdown in a month in state prisons. Inmates at Sullivan Correctional Facility were ordered to remain in their cells while officers search the prison for weapons. The lock down was expected to last a couple days, said James Flateau, spokesman for the Department of Correctional Services. 'Besides looking for what else is around, we're investigating how rounds entered the facility,' Flateau said. During a routine search about 3:45 a.m., an officer found the bullets and mop in a closet near the officers' office. Corrections Commissioner Glenn Goord then ordered the prison in Fallsburg locked down. Inmates have not left their cells, except for medical, legal and family visits, since 11 p.m. Wednesday, Flateau said. 'Finding weapons on inmates is normal, but finding live rounds is abnormal,' said Larry Flanagan, a vice president with the union that represents prison officers statewide. 'Inmates can make guns, but they can't make live rounds.' On Sept. 20, officers at Fishkill Correctional Facility discovered an inmate with a .380-caliber bullet and tubing for a 'zip' gun. In that case, Goord did not grant officers' request for a lock down at the medium-security facility in Beacon. The union complained this was evidence of 'corner cutting' compromising officer safety, which Flateau denied. 'At Fishkill, we founds rounds and a zip gun. Today, we found rounds. Is there a zip gun? We don't know. Ergo the lock down,' Flateau said. Also, he said, lock downs are fairly routine at Sullivan, due to its maximum-security status. Fewer than 20 percent of Fishkill's inmates are serving up-to-life sentences, compared to 65 percent at Sullivan, Flateau said. 'The population at Sullivan is more violent-prone. You can't draw a comparison,' he said. |
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