Obituary: Charity E. Blake

By Doug LaRocque

NYVT Media

The reaction to the release of a video of the beating death of 43-year-old state prison inmate Robert Brooks at the hands of prison guards and personnel was both fast and predictable.

From Gov. Kathy Hochul, Attorney General Letitia James, the New York State Sheriff’s Association, the union representing corrections officers and police, the New York Civil Liberties Union and prisoner advocate groups, all have spoken about what they viewed on the video tape as reprehensible, inhumane and beyond belief.

Brooks, of Rochester, was serving a 12-year sentence for assault at the Marcy Correctional Facility, between the Oneida County cities of Utica and Rome, when the incident occurred on Dec. 9. He was taken to a Utica hospital where he died early the next morning.

In the video, it shows Brooks to have been handcuffed at the time.

Gov. Hochul has called for all 14 individuals involved – corrections officers, sergeants and a nurse – to be fired. Attorney General James’ office is looking into possible criminal proceedings and the union that represents those involved is labeling the incident “incomprehensible to say the least.”

The press release issued by the New York State Corrections Officers and Police Benevolent Association, better known by the acronym NYSCOPBA, goes on to say the incident is “certainly not reflective of the great work that the vast majority of our membership conducts every day.”

The statement adds: “Every single day NYSCOPBA members working in correctional facilities face daunting odds and the very real possibility of encountering violence. This is a harsh day to day reality that few other professions experience.”

NYSCOPBA’s statement is echoed by the New York State Sheriff’s Association. County sheriffs operate jails in all the state’s 62 counties. In their response to the Brooks’ death, association president Craig Dumond of Delaware County said “no human being should be treated that way by another human being. And it is made even worse by the fact that the extreme cruelty was inflicted by those entrusted by the power of government, against those they were entrusted to guard and protect.”

Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple Sr. spoke with WNYT television and said he is not only upset with the attack but that out of a group of 14 people, nobody did anything to stop this. Sheriff Apple indicated that force is sometimes used on a regular basis in prisons. He added that unfortunately inmates become unruly. Apple is chair of the associations legislative committee. He is joined on that panel by Washington County Sheriff Jeff Murphy.

The Corrections Association of New York (CANY), an agency charged by state law with visiting and examining the state’s correctional institutions to identify and report on prison conditions, has joined the NYS Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) Commissioner Daniel Martuscello III labeling Brook’s death as a “killing.”

CANY claims there are systemic issues inside state prisons that “allow such brutality to flourish.”

There is a different viewpoint on prison violence, however, brought up by NYSCOPBA, the Sheriff’s Association and several area lawmakers. They speak of the state’s implementation of the HALT act in 2022, which opponents say severely limits or eliminates most forms of prison punishment for inmates who become involved in sometimes violent altercations.

It was a point hammered home by North Country Sen. Dan Stec, when he and other area lawmakers rallied against the recent closure of Great Meadow Correctional Facility in Comstock in Washington County.

Stec claimed HALT all but totally eliminated solitary confinement as both a punishment and deterrent against violent behavior. He also cited statistics he says were gathered by DOCCS that showed inmate on staff and inmate on inmate attacks have increased dramatically since HALT’s inception. Stec has been joined by area Assembly members Matt Simpson, Scott Bendett and Chris Tague in his criticism.

While Great Meadow, a maximum-security facility, closed in November, Washington Correctional, also in Comstock, remains open, as does the Coxsackie and Greene Correctional Facilities in Greene County. According to NYSCOPBA and the Sheriff’s Association, these prisons as well as those on the county level are all understaffed and working their officers on sometime mandatory overtime, a condition they contend makes things even worse inside prison walls, not only for the staff but inmates as well.

To view the video, which was provided by the New York State Attorney General’s Office, please visit https://ag.ny.gov/osi/footage/robert-brooks.