Sign at FCI Ray Brook. (Enterprise file photo — Andy Flynn)

RAY BROOK — FCI Ray Brook has been on lockdown for the past week after two simultaneous fights broke out on April 30.

Jennifer Rockhill, president of AFGE Local 3882, the union representing FCI Ray Brook’s corrections officers, said both fights were “targeted” and gang related, that there were no serious injuries and that the lockdown is ongoing for an investigation into the incident.

“Anytime any gang-related situations happen in the prison it’s standard that we lock them down so we can do interviews and find out the reasoning behind it and if we’re safe to open back up,” Rockhill said.

“It was a calculated fight. They planned to have it,” she added.

A few inmates suffered minor injuries from the fights, Rockhill said, nothing life-threatening. And no staff were injured.

Though they were mostly fistfights, she said some blunt weapons were used.

While on lockdown, visitations at the medium security prison are suspended, inmates are kept in their cells for most of the day and their access to phone calls and email is revoked. Inmates can still send paper mail.

Rockhill said she wasn’t sure exactly how much longer this lockdown is supposed to last for, but anticipated it will last throughout the week.

Updates on the status of the prison can be found at tinyurl.com/4t2ujdrw.

Rockhill said the prison will probably open up a little bit at a time, but that visitations are usually one of the first things to return.

“Because it’s important for families to come in a visit inmates,” Rockhill said.

This is at least the third lockdown at FCI Ray Brook since the start of the year, and the fourth since September. The prison was on lockdown for around three weeks in January after the discovery of a drone-delivered package of drugs, phones and chisels. In February, a similar case of two simultaneous fistfights put the facility on lockdown two weeks after the previous one ended. Last September, a gang-related stabbing put the prison on lockdown for several weeks.

“It’s very common,” Rockhill said of gang-related violence.

It tends to come in waves, she added, and this year has seen more violence than normal.

During lockdowns, she said all staff — correctional and non-correctional — take on the work roles inmates usually do, like cooking and laundry, and are also responsible for increased monitoring of inmate movement. This results in a lot of double shifts and a lot of overtime.

“Lockdowns are just as hard on the staff as it is on the inmates,” Rockhill said. “We would rather them be up and running.”

The prison has a fluctuating population of beteween 600 and 700 inmates, Rockhill said, and 60 to 70 COs — meaning there is one officer for every 10 inmates.

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Union

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Rockhill said the union is still fighting for the things it has been fighting for for years — retention bonuses, pay raises reflecting the work they do, and for their overtime to count toward their retirement. Currently, they work a “substantial amount” of overtime that does not count toward retirement.

If they got these requests met, Rockhill said it would be “such a blessing” and she believes the facility would be “flooded” with people wanting to work there.

She’s reached out to local senators and congresspeople and said she got a face-to-face interview with North Country Rep. Elise Stefanik, who also visited the prison, spoke with staff and heard their requests.

She said the federal Bureau of Prisons is 28% behind other law enforcement in terms of pay.

The union has been asking for 25% retention bonus for people who stick around on the job. She said the BOP approved a retention bonus months ago, but they have yet to see it actually take hold. And these bonuses are in limbo because of BOP budget cuts, she added.

Rockhill said the federal BOP is being ordered to cut $400 million from its budgets.

The union is also proposing a bill to increase the benefits for family if a CO dies in prison, she said. Currently, Rockhill said the amount given to families is “really sad” and not enough to take care of the family — around $10,000.

FCI Ray Brook is also specifically asking for increased locality pay since the majority of their staff drive an hour each way to work.

“Because the housing market in Lake Placid or Saranac Lake is not feasible for our income,” Rockhill said.

BOP spokesperson Randilee Giamusso said the warden is continuing to monitor the situation during the current lockdown and that “the institution will return to normal operations status as soon as possible.”

“With respect to the day-to-day operations of the facility during modified operations, all incarcerated individuals at FCI Ray Brook have access to unit team, medical care, food, water and other programs,” Giamusso said in an email.