Officers assaulted at Five Points Correctional Facility: “Enough is Enough!”
Southern Tier State Assemblyman continues the call to REPEAL the HALT Act
From the office of Assemblyman Palmesano,
Assemblyman Phil Palmesano (R,C-Corning) is reacting with continued outrage to news that a sergeant and four additional correctional officers were injured over the past four weeks at the Five Points Correctional Facility. This includes the sergeant being attacked with a makeshift shank, a correctional officer having urine and feces thrown at them and others being punched in the face and chest. This comes in the wake of a nurse and other staff being assaulted at Elmira Correctional Facility just a few weeks ago.
“Enough is enough! How many more staff members and correctional officers need to be injured before something is done? What is it going to take for the governor and Legislature to take action to protect our dedicated correctional staff? These are people who simply want to go to work, protect their community and go home to their families. Yet Albany Democrats continue to refuse to give them the tools to protect themselves and other inmates from the most dangerous and violent inside the walls,” said Palmesano.
Palmesano is continuing his calls to repeal the HALT Act, or at the very least amend it. The HALT Act limits correctional officers’ ability to segregate the most dangerous and violent inmates from the rest of the general population. During the first three years of HALT, inmate-on-inmate assaults rose by 169%, assaults on staff rose by 76% and the amount of contraband entering prisons rose by 32%.
“Our brave correctional officers deserve a state government that has their backs and looks out for them. Instead, Albany Democrats have decided to make their lives more difficult and unsafe in order to coddle violent inmates. We will continue to see stories like this until HALT is repealed. To accomplish this, I have supported multiple proposals to repeal or modify HALT (A.3217 and A.10430), which I urge my colleagues and the governor to make a priority,” concluded Palmesano.
Assemblyman Palmesano represents the 132nd District, which includes Schuyler County, Yates County and parts of Chemung County, Seneca County and Steuben County. For more information about Assemblyman Palmesano, please follow him on Facebook.
