State corrections union reveals recent incidents at Gouverneur prison

GOUVERNEUR, N.Y. (WWTI) – NYS Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association (NYSCOPBA) recently released information about a string of incidents at the Gouverneur Correctional Facility.

According to a press release from the union, the incidents have started since mid-March and have continued through mid-May.

During one incident, an officer needed to be treated at a local hospital after experiencing severe
nausea, dizziness and disorientation after he came into contact with unknown drugs hidden in an inmates living cube inside of one of the facility dorms. That incident was one of three in which drugs were recovered at the facility, weapons recovered, an inmate assault on staff and an
inmate burned with hot oil by another inmate in recent months.

Here are some incidents that occurred at the prison:

• On Tuesday, March 19, officers conducting a search of inmates inside of a facility dorm
  recovered a bundle of marijuana from an inmate. A K9 initially indicated on the inmate
  and the inmate turned over the marijuana he had hidden in his mouth. The inmate was
  placed in a Special Housing Unit after the incident.
• On Saturday, April 27, a visitor was arrested after she turned over a balloon she had
  hidden in her shirt after a K9 alerted to her in the administration building. The balloon
  contained 20 grams of marijuana. The visitor, from Newburgh, was transported to the
  New York State Police Barracks and charged with Promoting Prison Contraband in the second degree
• On Tuesday, April 30, an officer recovered an ice pick type weapon from an inmate when
  the officer frisked the inmate for contraband inside the bathroom. The inmate was placed
  in a Special Housing Unit pending disciplinary charges.
• On Sunday, May 5, an officer was assaulted by an inmate inside of one of the dorms. Initially, the officer observed the inmate intoxicated and screaming. The officer approached the inmate, who grabbed the officer by the shirt and punched him in the face. The officer backed away from the inmate, who continued to advance. He administered OC spray, which had no effect. The officer grabbed the inmate in a body hold and forced the inmate to the floor. Additional officers arrived at the dorm and assisted in applying handcuffs to the inmate. Once in handcuffs, all forced ceased. The officer was treated by medical staff at the facility for back, shoulder and facial pain and remained on duty.
• On Monday, May 6, a K9 conducting searches for contraband inside one of the dorms
  alerted to one inmate’s cube. Staff searched the cube and located a sharpened ceramic tile hidden inside a jar of moisturizer. The inmate was placed in a Special Housing Unit pending disciplinary charges.
• On Monday, May 6, an officer entered the bathroom inside a dorm and observed an
  inmate laying on the bathroom floor not responding. The inmate had a severe burn on
  the back of his neck. He was taken to the infirmary where it was determined that another
  inmate threw hot oil on the back of the inmate’s neck.
• On Wednesday, May 8, staff conducting cube frisks in a facility dorm recovered a sharpened toothbrush hidden in an inmate’s locker. The inmate was placed in a Special Housing Unit pending disciplinary charges.
• On Friday, May 10, an officer had to be transported by ambulance to Gouverneur Hospital
  after he became nauseous, dizzy and disorientated after he came into contact with a piece
  of paper that had been saturated by an unknown liquid drug. The paper and bundle of
  marijuana, was recovered by the officer during a frisk of the inmate’s cube. The officer
  initially experienced symptoms when he returned to the officer’s station. The dorm was
  evacuated by staff and a State Police HAZMAT Team was called in to evaluate and
  ventilate the dorm.
• On Sunday, May 12, staff recovered a piece of sharpened metal from a frisk of an inmate’s
  cube. The inmate was placed in a Special Housing Unit pending disciplinary charges.

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