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Thread: Prosecutor in Alden

  1. #1
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    Prosecutor in Alden

    Does anyone have any info on why the prosecutor in Alden always "pleas" down the assaults against Correction Officers by inmates at the Erie County Correctional Facility? It always seems that the prosecutors want to drop any felony proceedings down to misdemeanors. If an inmate assaults a CO then they should face the toughest sanction possible. We're talking about CO's who are injured and some are out of work due to their injuries. I'd like to see the Town of Alden take a tough stance and go for the gusto, or hand the cases off to Erie County so they can press felony charges.
    Alden seems to be a great community, but maybe no one is aware that they handle assault cases for the county penn. Many times those crims are let out and are given a token or bail gets posted and they attempt to walk home.
    Does the Town Supervisor pick the prosecutors? Are the Judges likely to hand leaner or harsher sentences?

  2. #2
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    Have you asked the prosecutor? Or asked one of your coworkers who has been assaulted by a criminal as to why the case was pleaded down?

  3. #3
    Tony Fracasso - Admin
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    What are the acutal rules with issues like this? Are there attacks on officers at the Erie County Correctional Facility happening a lot?

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    Member raoul duke's Avatar
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    My guess: It's probably just like traffic infractions. Up to a certain threshold, the town keeps the fine and/or fees. Over the threshold and it goes to the state. Like I said, that's my guess.
    One beautiful thing about having a government of the corporations, by the corporations, and for the corporations is that every disaster is measured in terms of economic loss. It's sort of like getting your arm sheared off in a car accident and thinking, "Damn, now it'll take longer to fold the laundry" as blood spurts from your arteries. - The Rude Pundit

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    Not like traffic tickets

    I know what you mean by traffic tickets, but this is an assault against peace officers. Officers and Deputies in the Jail Management Division of the Office of Erie County Sheriff are peace officers. There are penal codes on the books where it is a felony to assault a peace officer. (I do not have that info as to the correct number, such as 120.08 of the penal code, but it does have a sentence of 1 - 2 years in state prison. What the inmates know is that if they fight with the security staff they will not get any additional time. Alden should level a fine, court costs and let it be known that they will not put up with assaults in Alden. I'm sure there is some statistic in some federal office, realtor's office or police data bank that these assaults come up. If you are buying a house in Alden and you looked that information up, it may (probably far fetched) show up. Remember Wende and Buffalo Correctional facilities are in Alden also. I know Alden has limited funds, then it should transfer these type of cases to Erie County.

    When someone gets in a fight at ECCF (Erie County Correctional Facility), our escorts respond and have to get involved and break the fight up. We all go up against all sizes of crims - strong, small, fat, kung fu, etc. Unless the crim complies with verbal orders, that means you have to decide in seconds if pepper spray needs to be used (then suffer the wrath of an administration that believe inmates over officers - it's easier to blame officers so they can weasel out of baseless lawsuits. Remember Ralph Phillips? He filed a grievance because he was missing a slice of cheese. Answer to that is go and work in the kitchen). After you decide you will need to fight with the inmate, you have to worry that you will get injured. Remember the county although has workman's comp for when you get hurt in the line of duty they harass you everyday you are on it. There are people who abuse it and should be terminated. Those that are legit should be encouraged to return to work (For the record, I never went off of work when I got injured). So when an inmate fights us and we get injured, they are fighting a form of law enforcement. Should they serve "Time Served" or be "Released on their on Recognizance". They should go to court and be tried on an assault charge. If that were to happen, then more inmates would apprehensive to assault another CO or Deputy at the jail.
    The prosecute at Alden should try a few of them and make the person serve some extra jail time after they complete the time they are currently serving, make it a consecutive sentence. This complaint I have is that we are too lenient on criminals.

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    So again, Have you asked the town prosecutor why he/she pleads the cases down? Posting on here will allow you to vent your frustrations but if you really want an answer call him or her and ask.

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    Yes I have. On one it was a male and it seemed to be more of a problem (this was one year or so ago. Five officers were hurt, one was out for a few weeks and one was sent to the ER and returned that day. Three of us returned to work that day. His answer was "Well if we go to a grand jury, that means he'll have to come back to your facility when his state time is up." After arguing with him, me and my partner left after telling him the inmates and officers at the facility think you guys are nothing but pussies. I was wrong to say that, but it's true. We just had a female officer get assaulted. She went to court (female prosecutor this time) and she released the guy on his own recognizance. He won't see anymore jail time when he returns to court 2/6/08. The female officer has a broken wrist, fractured rib?, and she fell on the metal hinge of a jail door with her head. This is the classic case of an assault. The inmate left the pat frisk position (hands on wall, feet separated) and knocked her down to punch the other inmate he was fighting with.
    Do I plan on talking directly with the prosecutor? No. I plan on using our union to go and talk to the Town Supervisor, prosecutor and judges to see what can be done to limit this.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by CO ECCF
    Yes I have. On one it was a male and it seemed to be more of a problem (this was one year or so ago. Five officers were hurt, one was out for a few weeks and one was sent to the ER and returned that day. Three of us returned to work that day. His answer was "Well if we go to a grand jury, that means he'll have to come back to your facility when his state time is up." After arguing with him, me and my partner left after telling him the inmates and officers at the facility think you guys are nothing but pussies. I was wrong to say that, but it's true. We just had a female officer get assaulted. She went to court (female prosecutor this time) and she released the guy on his own recognizance. He won't see anymore jail time when he returns to court 2/6/08. The female officer has a broken wrist, fractured rib?, and she fell on the metal hinge of a jail door with her head. This is the classic case of an assault. The inmate left the pat frisk position (hands on wall, feet separated) and knocked her down to punch the other inmate he was fighting with.
    Do I plan on talking directly with the prosecutor? No. I plan on using our union to go and talk to the Town Supervisor, prosecutor and judges to see what can be done to limit this.

    CO you should well know that the prosecutor for these cases is supplied by the Erie County District Attorney's Office. They are criminal matters and are handled by the DA. The Town does have an independent prosecutor that handles traffic and non criminal cases. So it seems like you should take your gripe to Frank Clark {if you have a video camera with you, he certainly will entertain}. Ask Mr. Clark why he won't prosecute these cases.

  9. #9
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    That's great to know. My apologies to the prosecutor in Alden. I thought they handled the assaults. I agree with you that Frank Clark will do nothing.

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