Discipline problems with the New York prison guards and the death of Robert Brooks

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Videos show brutal attack: In December, New York prison officers beat, kicked and choked handcuffed 43-year-old Robert Brooks in the medical unit at Marcy Correctional Facility near Syracuse. Authorities said he died of his injuries several hours later.

New York State Attorney General Letitia James quickly released the officers body camera recordingsthat went viral – and more in the USA Governor Kathy Hochul ordered to dismiss several employees.

But firing New York prison guards is neither quick nor easy. A 2023 investigation by The Marshall Project found that between 2010 and spring 2022, the corrections department tried to fire guards for abusing or covering up inmate abuse in nearly 300 cases, but the officer was only successful in firing him 10% of the time. Our report shows that officers accused of harassment can keep their jobs in two main ways. First, the department resolved many cases for lesser sentences or dismissed charges. Second, under prison officers’ union contract with the state, they can appeal their firing to an outside arbitrator. Of the nearly 140 appeals we reviewed, arbitrators reinstated 75% of officers.

In a rare public reprimandGov. Kathy Hochul and Corrections Commissioner have called for the firing of employees accused of involvement in Brooks’ death. However, none of the officials has the right to fire them. The guards’ union contract gives the final say to arbitrators former prison directors and lawmakers say it harms accountability.

Unlike many prison assaults where evidence is scant or hidden, body cameras captured Brooks’ final moments on December 9, allowing people to see the world rarely observed by outsiders. Civil rights advocates and law enforcement experts around the world he condemned the beatingon which it was played network television and throw rare national spotlight to the brutal penitentiary system in New York. Details about why Brooks was handcuffed and beaten are not publicly known. Several officers were involved in the case defendant in the past by prisoners accusing them of similar attacks, and these officers denied any wrongdoing in previous cases.

The services were notified about this violence and other problems in Marcy. However, public release of video footage from New York prisons is extremely rare. If the beating comes to light, then yes usually years later. When James released the video less than three weeks after Brooks’ death, there was no denying the urgency and gravity of the situation. James used her powers to investigate deaths in custody, which were granted in 2021 publishes recordings showing the deaths of officers to increase transparency. The Brooks case was the 46th case in which James released video, and the first involving prison guards.

Three weeks after Brooks’ death and three days after the video surfaced, Hochul visited Marcy’s prison announce a new warden, stricter body camera policies and an acceleration in the acquisition of body cameras. She also appealed to prosecutors to quickly file charges and arrest the officers. Brooks, who was black, was handcuffed; all the guards appear to be white. No one was charged.

Some criminal justice reform advocates see this as most important opening for changes in the system where previous efforts have failed. This week, a group of lawmakers signed a letter calling on other lawmakers and Hochul to close the Marcy Prison and support systemic prison reform.

So far, one officer named in connection with Brooks’ beating has resigned; the department suspended 15 other guards and two nurses without pay and issued them formal notices of termination.

If employees appeal their layoffs, arbitration hearings will be like a trial. The state and the union present evidence and witnesses, and the arbitrator decides the guard’s guilt or innocence and possible disciplinary sanctions. As a result of our investigationwe found that the average time from the department’s attempt to fire a guard for misconduct to the completion of arbitration was more than eight months.

This disciplinary system heavily favors guards and remains unchanged despite repeated efforts to change it. Citing our reporting, New York State Sen. Julia Salazar introduced a bill last year to give the corrections commissioner the final say over fire officials in serious misconduct cases that include the use of force, smuggling of contraband and sexual abuse of inmates. Legislation stalled; it was very similar to the changes that Governor Andrew Cuomo unsuccessfully implemented pushed in 2018

Meanwhile, the corrections department has not yet used a new tool enabling a more thorough investigation of serious allegations. Supplement to trade union mandates for 2019 a three-person panel — an arbitrator and state and union representatives — to resolve cases of serious misconduct. The change was intended to make it easier to fire bad officers. Last year, Hochul’s office renegotiated a new union contract under which the panels were tasked with the work. A spokesman for the state Department of Civil Service said it was still working with the union to create them.

It is unclear how officers explained their actions in Marcy the night of Brooks’ beating. Medical examiner preliminary arrangements indicate that Brooks died of asphyxiation; the final autopsy report is not complete. Guards must file official reports after each use of force against an inmate. Reports on this matter have not been published. But our previous reports found that guards often work in groups to cover up brutal attacks by lying to investigators and official reports. Some officers then press charges against their victims and send them to solitary confinement.

At least three officers involved in Brooks’ death have been sued by inmates, accusing them of similar attacks. In one case Adam Bauer accused a group of guards, including one defendant in the Brooks case, defeat him bloody in a bathroom at the Marcy Jail in 2020 and then lied about Bauer’s injuries. The corrections department found the use of force necessary and did not discipline the officers, Bauer’s lawyer told us.

This pattern fits our review of more than 160 excessive force lawsuits in which the state was ordered or agreed to pay monetary damages. We found that officials attempted to discipline the officer in only 20 of these cases.

The state has paid out more than $1 million to families in three wrongful death lawsuits, but has never disciplined the accused officers. Family Charles Taylorinmate at Sullivan Correctional Facility, filed a lawsuit alleging that guards beat him to death in 2015. Stan agreed to 5 million dollars and agreed to install cameras in the prison. Corrections officials never took disciplinary action against any of the officers involved in this case. A grand jury declined to bring criminal charges against the guards in the case.

The investigation into Brooks’ death is currently in the hands of the Onondaga County District Attorney.

Earlier this month Hochul expressed frustration that no arrests have been made. “The video of this horrific attack clearly shows that a crime occurred,” Hochul said in a statement. “Mr. Brooks’ family does not deserve further delays.”