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| NY prisons data - more assaults in 2010 |
| By wsj.com |
| Published: 02/24/2011 |
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ALBANY, N.Y. — More prisoners were assaulted and committed suicide last year even as the inmate population declined, according to state corrections data confirmed Tuesday by The Associated Press. To help balance the state's budget, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has proposed closing some of the state's 67 correctional facilities — a move that the prison guards' union says could lead to more violence in cramped quarters. The Department of Correctional Services reported 677 inmate assaults on other prisoners in 2010, up from 603 a year earlier, and 576 assaults on staff, an increase of nine over the previous year. The state closed five smaller facilities as the population dropped by 16,000 over the past decade, down almost 3,000 in the past 16 months after changes in drug laws took effect. The number of suicides doubled from 10 to 20 over the past year, the corrections data showed. The union representing 20,000 guards said the data argue against further downsizing, saying the system is at full capacity. "More cuts will mean more inmates jammed in tighter quarters and ultimately it will mean more violence between inmates, more suicides, more violent acts on our officers," said Donn Rowe, president of the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association. Corrections spokeswoman Linda Foglia countered that the closures won't affect maximum-security prisons, where most of the assaults and suicides occurred. She said assault totals in 2010 were virtually identical to 2007, 2008 and 2009. "There's a large amount of violent offenders under custody. A slight increase doesn't mean the system is about to tip over," she said. The union set up a model of an Attica prison double-bunked cell last week in the corridor of a legislative building. Rowe said some 10,000 inmates, pairs of violent felons, are in similar situations. However, most are in dormitory-type rooms with several bunkbeds, where Foglia said there were only 32 assaults on staff last year, and 33 a year earlier, and virtually all resulted in either no injury or a minor injury. Read More. |
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