[caption id="attachment_37431" align="alignleft" width="500"] COs protest at the Coxsackie Correctional Facility protest the recent suspension of a corrections officer after a female officer. Photo from NYSCOPBA.[/caption]

Dozens of corrections officers protested outside the Coxsackie Correctional Facility Wed., Nov. 5 to protest the recent suspension of a corrections officer after a female officer was attacked by an inmate. From 6:30 to 9 a.m. the officers marched along Route 9W with hand-held picket signs that questioned DOCCS reasoning for suspending an officer after an inmate serving a 20-year sentence hid in a closet in a supply room and then attacked a female officer when she walked into the room. "The union’s contention is that the officer was suspended as a result of DOCCS effort to draw attention away from recent criticism levied against the administration by the union in a statewide press campaign that started last Tuesday in Elmira," the correctional union said in a press release. "The campaign is designed to draw public attention to the increase in staff assaults by inmates, inaccurate reporting of assaults by DOCCS, failure to fill budgeted positions, staff facilities adequately and provide a safe work environment." WGXC Galen Joseph-Hunter spoke with some of the protesting COs. Click here to hear that interview. PLAY AUDIO