‘Wasn’t an Isolated Incident’: Black Prison Workers Associations Speak Out on Killing
Associations representing New York prison and parole officers are publicly denouncing the killing of Robert Brooks, the 43-year-old incarcerated man who died last month after prison guards beat him.
In a public statement and an interview with New York Focus, leaders of the state prison and parole branches of the Grand Council of Guardians, a fraternal organization representing Black law enforcement officers in New York, argued that what happened to Brooks is emblematic of violence rife within the prison system.
“The incident wasn’t an isolated incident,” said Rodney Young, a recently retired parole officer and second vice president of the New York State Parole Guardians. (In New York, the prison and parole systems operate under one state agency.) “This is just an incident that was caught on camera.”
“There needs to be a change in the cultural acceptance of violence,” he said of the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, or DOCCS.
The killing sparked national outrage after the state Office of the Attorney General released body camera footage showing 14 workers surrounding a handcuffed Brooks, some pinning him to a medical examination table at Marcy Correctional Facility, near Utica. Three guards then repeatedly punched him in the face and groin. Brooks died the following morning.
It’s uncommon for law enforcement officers to speak out publicly against one another. A “blue wall of silence” among New York’s prison guards allows officers to escape discipline after using excessive force, even when they severely injure an incarcerated person, as The Marshall Project reported in 2023.
The Guardians are trying to puncture that blue wall. They’ve complained to DOCCS about officer violence before, they said.
“But I think now we have something that will make them take a second look,” said Marsha Lee-Watson, a retired DOCCS corrections officer and president of the Corrections Guardians.
The Parole and Corrections Guardians have issued a statement condemning Brooks’s killing. “We, the Guardians, are living witnesses to the ills of the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision,” it said.
They also penned a letter to Brooks’s family: “His memory will not be forgotten, and we are committed to ensuring that his story brings about meaningful change.”
Young and Lee-Watson signed the letters; as retired members, they’re free to speak out without fear of retaliation, they said.
In a statement, DOCCS said that it welcomes the Guardians’ input. “As we continue to engage in a review of the Department’s culture, and rebuild from the atrocious killing of Robert Brooks, DOCCS leadership welcomes the opportunity to continue talks with the Corrections and Parole Guardians,” a spokesperson said. “We invite them to be a part of the discussions, so that we can learn from their perspectives and experiences. They can be a part of the changes in DOCCS.”
The Guardians join a chorus of advocates and experts arguing that the violence inflicted on Brooks wasn’t an aberration.
“What we’re talking about here is a culture of violence and impunity that is rampant in DOCCS facilities,” said state Senator Julia Salazar, head of the Senate committee that oversees prison issues.
The Correctional Association of New York, a nonprofit organization tasked by state law with monitoring prison conditions, argued in a statement that the abuse Brooks endured is commonplace among certain prisons, including at Marcy.
—Chris Gelardi, [email protected]
