Stabbing, Beating At Essex County Jail Is Only Tip Of Iceberg, Union Says – Patch

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — As officials scramble to carry out a new review of the Essex County Correctional Facility in the wake of two violent attacks on inmates, a police union has a message for the administrators in charge of their safety: “We told you so.”

Earlier this week, authorities announced that an independent review of the Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark is being done in the wake of a vicious beating and the stabbing death of an inmate.

The recent resurgence in violence has caused officials to take yet another hard look at the prison, which is located in Newark and also houses inmates from Union County. Now – with advocates and family members demanding changes – investigators are planning to launch an “independent review” of the facility. Read More: Essex County Promises New Review Of Prison As Pressure Mounts

But according to the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 106, which represents sergeants, lieutenants, captains and investigators within the Essex County Department of Corrections, the recent violence at the prison shouldn’t come as a surprise.

In the first six months of 2021, at least 21 officers have been assaulted by inmates at the prison, sending 14 of them to a hospital emergency room. That trend continued in July, which saw at least six documented assaults. One of those officers required reconstructive surgery on his face, likely ending his career, union spokespeople said.

Over the same period, 81 staff members have reported being exposed or assaulted with a prisoner’s bodily fluids. And “Code Blue” responses at the prison doubled from 2019 to 2020.

Meanwhile, “use of force” incidents more than tripled from 2019 to 2020. That sobering statistic is only getting worse, with the first half of 2021 already “far exceeding” the entire 2020 calendar year, union spokespeople said.

The rise in violence is also shown in the number of EMS dispatches from University Hospital to the prison, where there has been a 70 percent increase in EMS call volume from January to June this year.

As prison staff become more worried about their own safety amid the spike in attacks, administrators have been warned – but haven’t acted, the union alleged.

“We have been alerting everyone from Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr., to the Essex County Board of Commissioners, and beyond for at least a year that there were serious issues with the current jail administration,” union spokespeople told Patch in a joint statement.

“These ranged from conflicts of interest to what we knew were – and are – imminent threats to the physical safety of prisoners and staff,” they continued. “All of our warnings went unheeded.”

According to the union, the first meeting where safety was “seriously discussed” took place just after video footage emerged of the vicious attack on Jayshawn Boyd, a 22-year-old inmate diagnosed with schizophrenia. During that incident, a group of inmates stomped on Boyd and beat him in the face with objects including a microwave, leaving him in a coma.

“The Boyd attack is not the isolated incident that the county portrays it to be,” the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 106 told Patch, playing down the upcoming review of the prison.

The union continued:

“The attorney general and prosecutor investigations are standard procedure when someone dies – from any cause – while in police custody. If anyone is at fault in this case, it is the county administration. The director cannot repeatedly cancel union-requested meetings to discuss safety issues. The wardens cannot ignore reports of concern for months, and then somehow want to blame rank-and-file staff for a death. Perhaps if Thursday’s meeting had occurred when the union first expressed concern, these and myriad other incidents would not have occurred.”

Union leaders have also questioned whether it’s “appropriate” that the county correction department’s warden, associate wardens and other command staff are also allowed to work at Delaney Hall, a privately owned detention facility located next door, which is operated by the GEO Group.

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