New York Governor Kathy Hochul visited Marcy Correctional Facility near Utica Monday.
The facility under is national scrutiny after an inmate died December 10th, a day after being beaten there. Hochul says she demanded answers from the facility’s interim leadership about the death of 43-year-old Robert Brooks.
Hochul previously moved to fire more than a dozen staffers involved in the incident, harrowing body camera footage of which was released last week by state Attorney General Tish James.
“We are investigating this case thoroughly,” James said Friday.
Hochul says she is implementing several new policies at the facility and within the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision at large. Hochul named Shawangunk Correctional Facility Superintendent Bennie Thorpe as the new permanent superintendent at Marcy.
She is also expediting $400 million to install fixed cameras and body cameras at all DOCCS facilities, adding DOCCS staff to the Office of Special Investigations, and launching an outside review of all DOCCS practices, among other actions.
