Several correction officers were injured in three separate incidents in Connecticut’s prisons on Labor Day, union officials said.
“For our officers, there are no holidays from danger,” the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 4 said in a statement. “This Labor Day made that reality brutally clear. Instead of enjoying a well-earned day of recognition, our officers faced chaos and violence behind prison walls.”
According to the union, the first incident was reported just after 2 p.m. at the York Correctional Institution in East Lyme where an officer intervened in an “ongoing melee” involving four inmates. The inmates had to be physically separated after allegedly ignoring repeated orders from officers to stop fighting, union officials said.
“While restraining these inmates, one officer sustained a severe injury to his left leg and ankle,” the union wrote in a statement, adding that an evaluation at a hospital found the officer suffered multiple fractures to his tibia, fibula and ankle.
“This officer now faces an arduous recovery marked by pain, surgeries and extensive rehabilitation,” union officials wrote.
Just after 4 p.m., an incident was reported at the MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution, a maximum-security prison in Suffield, where an inmate allegedly charged at an officer, according to the union. The officer suffered a head injury while attempting to secure the inmate. Staff had to use a chemical agent to help subdue the inmate, union officials said.
Following the altercation, two correction officers had to be taken to a medical facility for evaluation and treatment of injuries they suffered, according to union officials. A third officer sought outside medical assistance for a mental health evaluation “due to the stress and trauma” caused by responding to the “violent incident,” according to the union.
The DOC’s Critical Incident Stress Response Team also responded to MacDougall after the altercation.
Just before 8:30 p.m., another incident unfolded at the Cheshire Correctional Institution. According to the union, an officer intervened after one inmate began to choke another. As the two inmates were being separated, one of them allegedly “turned violently” on an officer, union officials said.
Four officers suffered injuries, including one who suffered a head injury that was diagnosed as a concussion, the union said. The other officers suffered injuries to their neck, back and knees. Three of the four injured officers had to seek care at an outside medical facility, according to union officials.
“The leadership of the Department of Correction recognizes the significant sacrifices the agency’s dedicated professionals make every day to ensure the safety of their fellow staff members, as well as the incarcerated population,” a spokesperson for the DOC said in a statement. “These incidents emphasize the inherent potential for danger all correctional staff face on a daily basis. It cannot be overstated that the safety and security of the staff and the incarcerated population is the DOC’s top priority.”
“The assaults that took place on Labor Day are a stark reminder of the dangers that correctional officers face every day on the job, inside Connecticut’s prisons,” union officials wrote in a statement. “They are contending with rising violence, an influx of contraband — including weapons and dangerous drugs — and a severe staffing shortage that forces them to face these dangers without the backup needed to ensure their safety.”
The incidents on Labor Day came a week after union officials said three correction officers were injured at the Cheshire Correctional Institution when an inmate allegedly threw hot coffee at one of them and tried to slash their face.
According to the union, the number of staff assaults in state prisons has doubled in the past six years despite the inmate population dropping by 3,000 and the state closing two prisons.
“That should never happen,” CSEA SEIU Local 2001 Corrections Supervisors Council president and DOC Lt. Thomas Titus said in a statement. “Fewer inmates should not mean more violence. Every assault takes a toll — not just on the physical safety of correctional staff, but on their mental health as well. We’re seeing more of our members forced out on workers’ compensation because of these attacks, and the strain on morale is overwhelming.”
Union officials said the situation in state prisons has gotten worse over the last decade and was exacerbated when the State Legislature passed the Protect Act, which officials said made “a bad situation much, much worse” by increasing out-of-cell time and reducing accountability for inmates who violate facility codes of conduct. The act has led to correction officers having to “shoulder impossible burdens,” union officials allege.
In response to the comments made by the union, a DOC spokesperson said the department’s administration “continually reviews and revises its policies and procedures in order to improve the safety level and working conditions for its dedicated staff.”
“It has also worked to procure equipment that will help to significantly reduce the amount of contraband entering the facilities,” a DOC spokesperson said. “Lastly, the agency will pursue charges — to the fullest extent possible — against anyone guilty of assaulting a correctional professional.”
