Attica Correctional Facility
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The Attica Correctional Facility is a maximum security prison located in the town of Attica, New York,[1][2] operated by the New York State Department of Correctional Services. After it was constructed in the 1930s, it held many of the most dangerous criminals of the time. A tear gas system is installed in the mess hall and industry areas and has been used to quell conflicts in these areas. The prison now holds many inmates who are serving various types of sentences (short-term to life), and who are usually sent to the facility because of disciplinary problems in other facilities.[3]
Riots
Attica was the site of prison riot in 1971 which resulted in 39 deaths, of which 29 were convicts and ten were guards held hostage. One guard died by the hands of the rioting convicts in the early stages of the riot. The rest died by gunfire from state troopers and other retired guards.[4] One of the biggest reasons for the riot was the fact of overcrowding, but to this day Attica Correctional Facility is still over maximum capacity by double bunking a small portion of their population in the small cells which are designed to house only one inmate.[5]
Notable inmates
- David Berkowitz, better known as Son of Sam, a serial killer who confessed to killing six people and wounding several others in New York City in the late 1970s. Since becoming a Christian, he has stated he does not want to be paroled and should pay for the sins he has committed. He is now housed at Sullivan Correctional Facility in Woodbourne, New York.
- H. Rap Brown, Black Panther Party leader, served a sentence in Attica from 1971 to 1976.
- Mark David Chapman, who murdered John Lennon on December 8, 1980. He was sentenced to 20 years to life and remains imprisoned, having been denied parole six times amidst campaigns against his release. He was transferred to Wende Correctional Facility in Alden, NY on May 15, 2012.
- Edward Cummiskey, Westies hitman during the 1970s.
- Dean Faiello, unlicensed physician who was charged in the manslaughter of Filipina-American banker Maria Cruz in 2003.
- Jimmy Caci, a captain in the Los Angeles crime family spent eight years in Attica during the 1970s.
- Colin Ferguson, who murdered six people on the Long Island Rail Road (AAR: LIRR) in 1993. He is serving multiple life sentences.
- Kendall Francois, who murdered eight prostitutes and stored their bodies in his home in Poughkeepsie, New York. He is serving a life sentence without parole.
- Sam Melville, notorious as "mad bomber" in 1960s, a Weather Underground member killed by New York State Police troopers in an assault on September 13, 1971.[6]
- Willie Sutton, who robbed 100 banks from the late 1920s to 1952.
Notes
- ^ "Facility Listing." New York State Department of Correctional Services. Retrieved on July 2, 2010. "Attica Correctional Facility 639 Exchange St Attica, New York 14011-0149."
- ^ "Attica town, Wyoming county, New York." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on July 2, 2010.
- ^ See Attica Prison riot
- ^ See Attica Prison riot
- ^ http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/rockefellers/peopleevents/e_attica.html
- ^ See Attica, The Official Report of the NYS Special Commission on Attica,(1972); A time To Die, by Tom Wicker, New York Times editor, columist, actual riot observer