Six New Jersey correctional officers are facing assault and tampering charges from a 2020 interaction with an inmate in the state’s minimum custody youth prison, the state attorney general said
An attorney for one of the defendants and the head of the union representing prison guards in New Jersey dispute the charges.
State Department of Corrections policy permits the use of force when it's “objectively necessary and reasonable” and requires inmates be given an opportunity to comply before a forced cell extraction, the attorney general's office said.“Correctional police officers are entrusted with great authority over the inmates in their custody, and when they abuse that power, they must be held accountable,” Platkin said in a statement.
Stuart Alterman, an attorney for Sadlowski and counsel to the union that represents correctional officers, said in a phone call his client as well as the others are not guilty. William Sullivan, the president of the labor union representing the correctional officers, said in a text message the officers acted professionally and did “exactly what was required of them per policy.”