This week marks the 45th anniversary of the Attica Prison riot, a tragic and bloody incident that claimed the lives of more than 40 people, including corrections officers.
As we commemorate the lives that were lost, and reflect on the progress that has been made to improve our corrections system since that time, it is important that we continue to look to the future because far more needs to be done to protect our members against the grave and increasing dangers they face on a daily basis.
We don’t have to look any further than Attica itself to see that problems with violence are still consistently plaguing our prisons.
And as we all know, the rise in violence isn’t unique to Attica.
From assaults on staff and inmates to increasing levels of drugs, weapons and gang violence, we are seeing these offenses reach an all-time high all across our state. Assaults on prison staff have increased nearly 60 percent over the last five years, hitting a record high of 895 incidents last year alone, and inmate-on-inmate assaults, another indicator of the violence in our prisons, has increased just as rapidly, reaching roughly 900 incidents in 2015.
Despite the best efforts and quick actions of officers, who have stopped one incident after another, we have also seen the discovery of contraband skyrocket by 50 percent, with over 3,600 incidents last year. That means more and more dangerous drugs and weapons are pouring into our prisons on a daily basis, and putting our members at risk.
Additionally, according to DOCCS, chemical agents have had to be employed more times in the first eight months of 2016 than in all of last year, showing just how perilous the rise in violence is in our prisons. At this rate, security staff will have to rely on chemical agents nearly 55% more frequently to stop dangerous incidents in our correctional facilities.
Most days, our officers wake up when it’s still dark outside and return home when it’s dark, and the hours in between are filled with some of the most dangerous work conditions imaginable. That’s why, as we think about the history of this anniversary, it’s the present and future dangers our corrections officers face that must also be recognized and addressed.
Whether it’s getting the real increases in staffing at the appropriate positions to meet the needs of each facility, or more resources for training to better prepare our members to handle the increasing threats they face, or tapping into the newest technological resources to stave off violence before it starts, the roadmap to a more safe and secure prison system is clear. What has been less than clear, unfortunately, has been the state’s commitment to support our members with the tools they need to stay safe and succeed at their important and dangerous jobs.
We will continue to push for real investments from the state and better management from DOCCS to ensure each facility is properly staffed, and each of our members are adequately trained and equipped to attack the epidemic of violence that has infected our prisons for far too long.
As we take this day to commemorate the past, rest assured that your leaders at NYSCOPBA are fighting to improve your working conditions now and into the future in order to ensure that incidents like what happened at Attica remain a thing of the past.