Union: Female CO nearly raped in Coxsackie

[Omaha Steve]

X post in Labor

http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Union-Female-CO-nearly-raped-in-Coxsackie-5858698.php

By Robert Gavin
Published 1:57 pm, Thursday, October 30, 2014

ALBANY — The union that represents state correction officers wants prison officials to address a rise in inmate attacks on staff — including an Oct. 21 assault on a first-year female officer at Greene Correctional Facility that could have turned into a rape.

The New York State Correctional Officers Police Benevolent Association contends reclassification of inmates during the recent closure of prisons has resulted in a "more violent workplace for our officers," Michael Mazzella, the union's Mid Hudson Region's vice president, said in a statement released Thursday.

State prison officials acknowledge an uptick in assaults on staff but say it has nothing to do with the closure of prisons.

The union's statement highlighted the 3 p.m. alleged attack on the female officer by Omar Richardson, 32, who is serving a 20-year sentence for attempted murder, robbery and weapon possession in Manhattan in 2001.

FULL story at link.