Lawmakers react to disturbing prison video from Marcy Correctional Facility

Rochester, N.Y. (WHAM) — As calls for accountability grow, state delegates from Rochester are weighing in on the graphic body-worn camera footage from inside a state prison.

BACKGROUND: AG releases video showing inmate from Rochester beaten before death at NY state prison

“I think anybody with any sort of rational thought would look at that and be horrified,” said Assembly member Josh Jensen of the 134th district.

“I think what we saw on that video was an absolutely depraved act,” said State Senator Jeremy Cooney of the 56th district.

Robert Brooks, who is from Rochester, was serving a 12-year sentence for assault after a 2017 conviction in Monroe County. Cooney and Jensen both watched the videos released Friday from the state-run Marcy Correctional Facility.

The videos showed a violent encounter between several corrections officers, and Brooks, who was pronounced dead a day later at a Utica hospital.

“That kind of violence should never take place against another human being and it was very difficult to watch,” said Cooney.

“Nobody should be treated like that or taken advantage of to a degree and treated less than, less than human,” said Jensen.

The Greater Rochester Area Majority Delegation, including Cooney, assembly members Harry Bronson, Jen Lunsford, Sarah Clark, Demond Meeks, and Senator Brouk, also released a statement, calling the incident inhumane.

“We are deeply disturbed and heartbroken by the revelations surrounding the death of Mr. Robert Brooks at Marcy Correctional Facility. The details emerging from this horrific incident, including the reports and videos of a brutal assault by correctional officers, are nothing short of terrifying and tell us the officers lack humanity, empathy, and compassion,” read the statement, in part.

Cooney expressed a desire for policy changes surrounding the use of body-worn cameras to ensure accountability. The Attorney General said the body-worn cameras were in standby mode; capturing video, but not audio.

Earlier Friday, the State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision announced an immediate expansion of it’s body-worn camera policy; all corrections officers must now have their body-worn cameras activated whenever they engage directly with incarcerated people.

“That audio is very important for context,” said Cooney. “Those body-worn cameras… Those are for the protection not only for the people who are incarcerated but for the corrections officers who put themselves in a very difficult position every single day.”

“I think across the law enforcement field, there’s been discussions about body worn cameras: when they should be worn, when they should be turned on… It wouldn’t be a shock to me if we continue having those questions as a legislative body,” added Jensen.

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