About 20 officers were injured during a mass brawl in the Horizon Juvenile Center in the Bronx, said the charity officers (Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association — COBA).
According to representatives of COBA, the fight started inside the school section around noon. The Union said that all 20 officers injured while trying to pacify children, were taken to local hospitals.
On Monday (October 1) Horizon Juvenile Center took its 16 — and 17-year-old boys from Rikers Island in accordance with the new state law Raise the Age. According to him, minors over the age of 16 will no longer be treated as adults when arrested.
BREAKING: 20 injured COs the following inmate melee at Horizon this am. COBA President Elias Husamudeen to hold presser in front of Horizon at 3pm today. pic.twitter.com/MF880I21BU
— COBA (@NYCCOBA1) October 3, 2018
COBA notes that the guards can use pepper spray in the juvenile facility, as they did in Rikers Island in such cases. So they had to use force to subdue prisoners.
The Department of corrections has not yet commented on the incident, but the administration of the child protective services of new York has released the following statement:
«We are in a transition period of historic reform, which was not done before. Indeed, there have been some incidents involving young men and officers who were quickly eliminated. None of the injuries were not dangerous, but we are serious about these and all incidents».
Sources told PIX11 that the officers were injured while trying to stop a fight between residents.
