By Erin Durkin & Reven Blau
NY Daily News
NEW YORK — The union representing correction officers called for the removal of department head Joseph Ponte and filed a petition in court to block his new use of force policy four days after an officer was repeatedly slashed in the face by inmates.
“This administration is tone deaf when it comes to running jails in New York City,” Correction Officers Benevolent Association President Norman Seabrook said during a press conference on the steps of City Hall. “Joe Ponte has got to go!” he yelled to the cheers of more than 100 officers in attendance.
During the impassioned rally, the officers held signs with pictures of their colleague Raymond Calderon, 31, who needed 26 stitches to close wounds he suffered after a Thursday afternoon attack by two teen inmates. Calderon slammed the department’s plan to eliminate solitary confinement for inmates who are under 21 on Jan. 1. “Whoever thought getting rid of solitary confinement was a good idea needs to go,” he said speaking for the first time publicly since the attack. “I could have easily been killed. I almost died.”