ATTICA, N.Y. -- Corrections officers from Attica Correctional Facility held an informational picket on Wednesday to protest the rise in inmate violence over the past several years at the prison.
With prison populations down, it may be surprising to learn that inmate assaults on staff is up 55 percent since 2010.
"A while ago we had an amendment to the Rockefeller drug laws, pushing out drug offenders from the prison, and so now we have a more violent criminal offender in our system now." said Michael Powers, the president of New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association. "You have so many different modes of contraband coming into our facilities, with the reintroduction of heroin in today's society. Anything an addict can get on the street, they can get inside those walls."
And with Attica's history, it's important to stay a step ahead of the problem by using the most modern equipment available. For retired corrections officer Dave Woodsina, awareness and safety is most important.
"This part part of law enforcement is mostly hidden, most people, even on television see us as drinking coffee playing cards type thing, and it's not like that, you interact with these inmates everyday, every hour of the day, the inmates are out of their cells most of the day, and it's a tough place to be," Woodcena said.
Woodcena is also the curator of the Attica Prison Museum.