NEW YORK – Blacks in Law Enforcement of America (BLEA) is calling for immediate criminal prosecution and systemic reform following the death of Robert Brooks at Marcy Correctional Facility in New York. The organization points to body camera footage that reportedly shows a brutal assault on Brooks.
In a strongly worded statement issued December 28, BLEA demanded that New York Attorney General Letitia James take “swift and aggressive legal action” against all officers involved in the incident, as well as supervisory staff who, according to the organization, enabled a “toxic culture of brutality” within the facility.
The organization’s demands come amid ongoing criticism of the Attorney General’s office. BLEA had previously expressed low confidence in AG James’s office following its decision not to indict the New Rochelle police officer involved in the 2023 shooting death of Jarrel Garris, an unarmed Black man who was experiencing a mental health crisis when police killed him.
“This is not just a failure of individual officers—it is an indictment of a corrupt and broken system,” said Damon K. Jones, a representative of BLEA. The organization emphasized that accountability must extend beyond the officers directly involved to include supervisors, wardens, and commissioners.
BLEA warned that anything less than full criminal charges for all levels of involvement would represent a “dereliction of duty” by the Attorney General’s office and would signal that “the lives of incarcerated individuals do not matter.”
This case has drawn national attention to conditions within New York’s correctional system. BLEA’s statement highlighted broader concerns about systemic failures in the state’s justice system and called for comprehensive reform beyond this specific case.
The organization’s criticism of the AG’s office appears to be mounting, with the Brooks case representing what they see as part of a pattern of inadequate response to cases involving the deaths of Black individuals in custody or during encounters with law enforcement.
“We remind the Attorney General that the eyes of the nation are watching,” the statement emphasized, suggesting that the office’s handling of the Brooks case could further erode its credibility with the public and law enforcement reform advocates.
Black Law Enforcement Group Demands Action in Death of New York Inmate, Citing Pattern of Inaction by Damon K Jones on Scribd
