ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — The State Commission of Correction has reported 337 assaults in New York's four youth prisons last year, triple the total in any of the previous four years.
Commission data show 226 assaults against other juveniles and 111 attacks on staff in 2012, compared with 112 total violent incidents reported in 2011.
Citing the "alarming increase" through the first half of last year, the commission chairman in August requested an explanation and measures planned by the Office of Children and Family Services.
OCFS operates four "secure" facilities. The agency says assaults have slowed in the past six months, while attributing the 2012 spike partly to installing more video cameras and a new reporting system.
(c) 2012 Associated Press
