Union Officials Decry Sing Sing Violence 'Plague' After 3 Guards Hurt

OSSINING, NY – A labor union representing guards at Sing Sing prison said that recent moves by lawmakers have effectively put a target on prison guards' backs.

Two officers were injured when an inmate attacked them and a third officer was hurt helping to subdue the combative inmate at the maximum security correctional facility this week, according to the New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association.

"Violence continues to plague Sing Sing Correctional Facility," Dave Luther, NYSCOPBA Southern Region Vice President said. "In recent weeks, attacks on staff by inmates has escalated and it has made the work environment for our members extremely dangerous."

On Wednesday, an inmate left his cell to head to the mess hall for dinner. The inmate approached an officer in the cell block and confronted her. She ordered the inmate to return to his cell. He refused and became verbally abusive. The officer attempted to open the inmate’s cell door. He grabbed the door and violently slammed it into the officer’s shoulder, according to union officials.

The officer called for backup and when a second officer arrived, the inmate immediately attacked him, punching him in the left side of the face, officials said. The officer grabbed the inmate in a body hold and forced him to the ground. On the ground and still combative, the inmate kicked the female officer in the knee, according to the guards.

A third officer was eventually able to apply handcuffs to the inmate’s wrists. Once in handcuffs, the inmate became compliant. He was brought to his feet and taken to the infirmary for evaluation.

The 29-year-old inmate faces internal disciplinary charges and was locked in a diversion cell. He is serving a 15-year sentence after being convicted in New York County for felony assault and criminal possession of a weapon in 2017.

All three officers were treated by medical staff at the facility and remained on duty.

Union officials attribute the rise in violence to the passage of the so-called HALT or Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement Act. Guards say the new rules have, in some cases, emboldened violent inmates,

"The legislators who supported HALT need to be held accountable for turning their back on the officers who keep our communities safe across this state," Luther said. "They need to amend or repeal the HALT Act now before one of your members eventually gets killed in an attack. The inmates know there is no longer accountability for assaulting staff and they have become more emboldened in their attacks."

Lawmakers behind the legislation passed in 2021, say the new rules are intended to prevent abuse of prisoners through long-term solitary confinement punishments that have been compared to torture.

"We remember the names Layleen Polanco, Kalief Browder, and Benjamin van Zandt, and the countless others whose lives have either been taken or destroyed by solitary confinement,” Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said after the HALT Act passed the NYS Senate. "Prolonged segregated confinement can cause permanent harms and does not properly address the root causes that lead to the punishment. These reforms are morally right, fiscally responsible, and will improve outcomes at jails and prisons."