NEW YORK (AP) — New York’s governor has ordered the firing of greater than a dozen jail staffers over the deadly beating of an inmate earlier this month.
Gov. Kathy Hochul stated in an announcement Saturday that she had directed the commissioner of the state Department of Corrections to start the method of firing 14 staff concerned within the deadly assault on the Marcy Correctional Facility.
Robert Brooks died on December 10 after an encounter with officers the day earlier than on the jail positioned in Oneida County.
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Hochul’s workplace supplied no particulars in regards to the circumstances main as much as the demise, however stated his determination got here after an inner assessment.
“The overwhelming majority of correctional officers do a rare job beneath tough circumstances, and we’re all grateful for his or her service,” the Democrat stated in an announcement. “But we’ve got no tolerance for people who cross the road, break the regulation and have interaction in pointless violence or focused abuse.”
The Department of Corrections on Saturday supplied a listing of 13 workers, together with correctional officers, sergeants and a nurse, who have been suspended with out pay, in addition to one other correctional officer who resigned.
But the company declined to supply additional particulars in regards to the incident past saying that Brooks was pronounced lifeless at a Utica hospital within the early morning hours of Dec. 10.
The 43-year-old had been serving a 12-year jail sentence for first-degree assault since 2017, in response to the division.
State Department of Corrections Commissioner Daniel Martuscello III additionally denounced the employees’s actions and stated the suspensions have been “in the most effective pursuits of the company and the communities we serve.”
“There is not any place for brutality in our division and we are going to vigorously pursue justice towards the individuals who dedicated this mindless act,” he stated in an emailed assertion. “This investigation is ongoing and extra suspensions could also be issued.”
The union representing jail officers didn’t instantly remark.
Brooks’ household stated in an announcement from their legal professional that they have been “extremely shocked and saddened” by the demise. The Times-Union in Albanywho first reported his demise.
“We are grateful that Governor Hochul is performing shortly to carry the officers accountable, however we can not perceive how this might occur,” the household stated in its assertion, in response to the newspaper. “No one ought to lose a member of the family like this.”
State Attorney General Letitia James stated her workplace can also be investigating using power by correctional officers that led to the demise.
The Democrat stated her employees obtained video of the incident and can make it public after Brooks’ household sees it.
“Law enforcement professionals should be held to the very best requirements of accountability, and I’m dedicated to offering New Yorkers with the transparency they deserve,” James stated in an announcement.
