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Two Officers Stabbed @ Salinas Valley State Prison
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July 15, 2005 - On Thursday, July 14th, two Correctional Officers were stabbed at Salinas Valley State Prison. CCPOA has spoken out publicly on this incident, directly blaming understaffing and overpopulation as contributors in this attack.
According to reports, one officer was stabbed in the face and the neck during breakfast service in "C" Facility at approximately 6:45am. The other officer was stabbed three times in his shoulders and arm. Both officers were treated by prison medical staff and were then transported outside of the facilities to public hospitals.
The inmate who stabbed the two officers was treated at the institution and was then transferred to another prison. The inmate is currently serving life without parole for a first-degree murder conviction in Kings County.
Salinas Valley remains on lockdown as investigators try to piece together what happened. The weapon was recovered. CCPOA quickly asserted, however, that chronic understaffing at the Salinas facility was partly to blame. According to press records from a Monterey County Civil Grand Jury, staff at this particular institution is more than double the state average.
CCPOA Executive VP Lance Corcoran told the press: "Some of the things we're seeing at Salinas Valley State Prison are startlingly the same conditions that led to Manny Gonzalez's death: understaffing, overpopulation, violent inmates in inappropriate house." He also told the press that he had been told that the officers who were involved in the incident were new officers - and were also new officers to the institution. If that was indeed the case, those officers should not have been in that housing facility situation on their own without other experienced officers.
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