BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Collins Correctional Facility was placed on lockdown Wednesday following an incident at the prison earlier in the morning.
The New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) said that all staff and inmates are accounted for and safe, and everything is under control as of 5 p.m. Wednesday.
A union spokesperson told WIVB News 4’s Dillon Morello that some of those imprisoned barricaded themselves inside three separate dorms. No officers or staffers were inside at the time. The lockdown comes after a prisoner was found attempting to discard contraband. There was use of force, which resulted in the recovery of two cellphones. One officer suffered a minor injury and then returned to duty. No prisoners were hurt.
The lockdown is for “the safety and security of the staff and incarcerated population,” the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision said. Nearby prisons provided assistance to Collins Correctional Facility.
State Senator George Borrello said Wednesday in a statement that Acting DOCCS Commissioner Daniel Martuscello ordered prison superintendents to treat 70 percent staffing capacity as full capacity with the HALT Act, which sets limits on how long inmates spend in solitary confinement, putting workers in danger. The union agreed with Borrello’s statements.
Jerome Wright, a co-director of a prisoner rights group who was incarcerated for over 30 years, said New York prisons are a powder keg and called for better treatment of incarcerated people, including reduced use of solitary confinement.
During a lockdown, all inmates are confined to their cells and their movements are significantly restricted. It is not known when the lockdown will be lifted.
DOCCS said the prison will remain in lockdown while it does as full facility frisk.