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| Seven Officers Attacked In New N.M. Jail |
| By KOAT |
| Published: 07/18/2003 |
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Seven officers have been assaulted in 10 days at the new Bernalillo County Detention Center, according to the officers' union. Union leaders said inmates are attacking the officers because of unsafe conditions in the jail. KOAT Action 7 News reporter Nancy Laflin said union representatives told her the officers know their job is dangerous, but they never expected it would get this bad. She said the officers are afraid someone could get killed. Laflin said that the new Bernalillo County Jail -- a multi-million-dollar facility -- looks great from the outside. But the people who work inside, for the Department of Corrections, told her it's the new jail itself that could use some correcting. Their main concern, according to Laflin, is that the inmates know how to open the cell doors. 'They're feeling a little bit more uncertain because all the technology that's supposed to be in place for our safety is not working the way it was designed,' said union president Stephen Perkins. 'We know the dangers of the job. We know we're subject to attack at any time. We know that.' But corrections officers told Laflin they didn't expect this many problems -- including the seven recent attacks -- when they moved into the new facility. Laflin said that Monday night, two sergeants and an officer were trying to stop a brawl when one of the inmates got hold of one of the sergeant's Mace spray. 'The inmates got the can of Mace and hit one sergeant with it, and Maced everyone else in the vicinity,' Perkins said. Laflin said one of the officers who was sprayed had just had eye surgery. Saturday, police filed additional charges against inmate Macario Garcia. According to court records, Garcia assaulted an officer in a processing area, pushing him over a chair and injuring the officer's tailbone. Union leaders also claimed that this past week, another officer was assaulted in a holding area, another in a hallway and another in a living area. Laflin said she was told that all the officers who were assaulted are now recovering. |
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