(The Center Square) — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has unveiled reforms at the state’s Department of Corrections and Community Supervision following the alleged beating death of an inmate by correctional officers at a state-run prison.
Video released last week by Attorney General Letitia James’ office, which is investigating the incident, appears to show correctional officers at the Marcy Correctional Facility “repeatedly pummeling” inmate Robert Brooks as others stood by watching the violence. Brooks was later pronounced dead at the hospital, authorities said.
Thirteen corrections department employees were suspended last month pending the outcome of investigations after Brooks died following the encounter. Hochul has directed NY state DOCCS Commissioner Daniel Martuscello to begin the process of terminating the employment of any correctional officer directly involved in the beating.
But Hochul has also tapped a new superintendent for the facility and fast-tracked $400 million in funding to install fixed cameras in all state prisons and distribute more body-worn cameras for corrections officers.
Hochul said she is also boosting staff at the correction department’s Office of Special Investigations, which investigates complaints from incarcerated people.
The Hochul administration said it will also hire an outside consulting firm to conduct a system-wide review of the prison system’s practices and partner with advocates to expand a whistleblower hotline.
In a statement, Hochul said she was “heartbroken” by the “unnecessary loss of life” and was “further sickened to think of the actions of depraved individuals with no regard for human life.”
“The system failed Mr. Brooks and I will not be satisfied until there has been significant culture change,” she said.
Brooks, who had been imprisoned since 2017, was serving a 12-year sentence for assault and battery, according to the Hochul administration.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Albany Field Office is also reviewing the circumstances surrounding Brooks’s death.
The American Civil Liberties Union of New York said Brooks’ beating was “not an isolated incident” and “highlights a culture of violence and a lack of accountability for wrongdoing by corrections officers that puts the lives of incarcerated New Yorkers at risk.”
“No one should die in custody at the hands of corrections officers, who are charged with the safety and security of individuals in DOCCS’s facilities,” the ACLU said in a statement. “Mr Brooks’s family and all New Yorkers deserve transparency and accountability.”
