By Brad Brooks
(Reuters) – New York’s governor on Monday ordered jail reforms and started the method of firing corrections officers who earlier this month beat a restrained black inmate who died hours later.
Kathy Hochul’s workplace stated in a written assertion that she visited the Marcy Correctional Middle in central New York, the place the beating of inmate Robert Brooks was captured on body-worn cameras.
Video of the violence was launched final week by the state legal professional normal, who’s investigating Brooks’ demise. Hochul met with just a few inmates on the facility.
“At present, as I stood within the room the place Robert Brooks was killed, I used to be as soon as once more heartbroken by this pointless lack of life and was much more sickened to think about the actions of wicked people with no respect for human life,” Governor Hochul stated in an announcement. assertion.
Hochul added: “The system has failed, Mr. Brooks, and I can’t be glad till there’s a important tradition change.”
Elizabeth Mazur, an legal professional representing the Brooks household, stated by e-mail that the ordered modifications had been “too little, too late for Mr. Brooks and his household.”
“This stuff ought to have been completed a very long time in the past,” Mazur stated.
Brooks died early on December 10, hours after being crushed the night time earlier than. A video launched final week by New York Legal professional Common Letitia James confirmed Brooks, together with his fingers and ft tied, being punched and kicked by a number of corrections officers, most of whom seemed to be whites.
The movies do not need sound, and it isn’t clear from what was posted what led to Brooks’ beating. James stated prices are potential for these concerned.
An post-mortem is being carried out by the Onondaga County Medical Examiner’s Workplace.
Brooks had been imprisoned since 2017 and was serving a 12-year sentence for assault.
Amongst different measures, Hochul on Monday named a brand new everlasting director for the power and accelerated $400 million in funding to put in mounted cameras in all state prisons and distribute extra physique cameras to corrections officers.
Hochul additionally commissioned an outdoor agency to conduct a evaluation of the tradition, patterns and practices of all state prisons and is presently growing an nameless tip line for state prisons. It additionally will increase funding for a gaggle that gives unbiased monitoring and oversight of prisons.
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