Attica Correctional Facility
Encyclopedia
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Attica (town), New York
Attica is a town in Wyoming County, New York, United States. The population was 6,028 at the 2000 census .The town is named after a region in Greece....
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, operated by the New York State Department of Correctional Services
New York State Department of Correctional Services
The New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision or NYSDOCCS is the agency of New York State responsible for the care, confinement, and rehabilitation of approximately 63,000 inmates at 71 correctional facilities funded by the State of New York. The department employs...
. After it was constructed in the 1930s, it held many of the most dangerous criminals of the time. A tear gas system is installed in the mess hall and industry areas and has been used to quell conflicts in these areas. The prison now holds many inmates who are serving various types of sentences (short-term to life), and who are usually sent to the facility because of disciplinary problems in other facilities.
Riots
Attica was the site of prison riotAttica Prison riots
The Attica Prison riot occurred at the Attica Correctional Facility in Attica, New York, United States in 1971. The riot was based in part upon prisoners' demands for better living conditions...
in 1971 which resulted in 39 deaths, of which 29 were convicts and ten were guards held hostage. One guard died by the hands of the rioting convicts in the early stages of the riot. The rest died by gunfire from state troopers and other retired guards. One of the biggest reasons for the riot was the fact of over crowding, but to this day Attica Correctional Facility is still over maximum capacity by double bunking a small portion of their population in the small cells which are designed to house only one inmate.
Notable inmates
- David BerkowitzDavid BerkowitzDavid Richard Berkowitz , also known as Son of Sam and the .44 Caliber Killer, is an American serial killer and arsonist whose crimes terrorized New York City from July 1976 until his arrest in August 1977.Shortly after his arrest in August 1977, Berkowitz confessed to killing six people and...
, better known as Son of Sam, a serial killerSerial killerA serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
who confessed to killing six people and wounding several others in New York City in the late 1970s. Since becoming a Christian, he has stated he does not want to be paroled and should pay for the sins he has committed. He is now housed at Sullivan Correctional FacilitySullivan Correctional FacilitySullivan Correctional Facility is a New York State correctional facility located in Fallsburg, New York. It is operated by the New York State Department of Correctional Services...
in Woodbourne, New YorkWoodbourne, New YorkWoodbourne is a hamlet in the town of Fallsburg in Sullivan County, New York, United States.Woodbourne is bordered by the town of Neversink, the hamlet of Grahamsville, the hamlet of Loch Sheldrake, the hamlet of Old Falls, and the hamlet of Hasbrouck. The major thoroughfares of Woodbourne are New...
. - H. Rap BrownH. Rap BrownJamil Abdullah Al-Amin , also known as H. Rap Brown, was chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in the 1960s, and during a short lived alliance between SNCC , later the Justice Minister of the Black Panther Party...
, Black Panther PartyBlack Panther PartyThe Black Panther Party wasan African-American revolutionary leftist organization. It was active in the United States from 1966 until 1982....
leader, served a sentence in Attica from 1971 to 1976. - Mark David ChapmanMark David ChapmanMark David Chapman is an American prison inmate who murdered former Beatles member John Lennon on December 8, 1980. He committed the crime as Lennon and Yoko Ono were outside of The Dakota apartment building in New York City. Chapman aimed five shots at Lennon, hitting him four times in his back...
, who murdered John Lennon on December 8, 1980. He was sentenced to 20 years to life and is currently imprisoned, having been denied parole six times amidst campaigns against his release. - Edward CummiskeyEdward CummiskeyEdward "Eddie The Butcher" Cummiskey was a New York mobster who served as a mentor to Jimmy Coonan, leader of the Westies...
, WestiesWestiesThe Westies are a predominantly Irish American organized crime association operating from the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan's West Side in New York City. According to crime author T. J...
hitman during the 1970s. - Dean FaielloDean FaielloDean Faiello is an American criminal currently imprisoned at Attica Correctional Facility after being found responsible for the April 2003 death of Maria Cruz, whom he had represented himself to as a dermatologist...
, unlicensed physician who was charged in the manslaughter of Filipina-American banker Maria Cruz in 2003. - Jimmy CaciJimmy CaciVincent Dominic Caci, known by his peers as Jimmy, was a Los Angeles crime family member and a Caporegime in the family.Originally from the East Coast, was born August 1, 1925 in Westfield, New York to Alfonzo and Josephine Caci. Caci grew up around the Buffalo-Western New York area...
, a captain in the Los Angeles crime familyLos Angeles crime familyThe Los Angeles crime family is an Italian American criminal organization based in Los Angeles, as part of the American Mafia . Since its inception in the early 1900s, it has spread throughout Southern California. Like most Mafia families in the United States, the L.A. family gained power...
spent eight years in Attica during the 1970s. - Colin Ferguson, who murdered six people on the Long Island Rail RoadLong Island Rail RoadThe Long Island Rail Road or LIRR is a commuter rail system serving the length of Long Island, New York. It is the busiest commuter railroad in North America, serving about 81.5 million passengers each year. Established in 1834 and having operated continuously since then, it is the oldest US...
(AARAssociation of American RailroadsThe Association of American Railroads is an industry trade group representing primarily the major freight railroads of North America . Amtrak and some regional commuter railroads are also members...
: LIRR) in 1993. He is serving multiple life sentences. - Kendall FrancoisKendall FrancoisKendall Francois is a serial killer from Poughkeepsie, New York, convicted of killing eight women, from 1996 to 1998. He is currently serving life in prison for his crimes.-Life:...
, who murdered eight prostitutes and stored their bodies in his home in Poughkeepsie, New York. He is serving a life sentence without parole. - Sam MelvilleSam MelvilleSamuel Joseph Melville , was the principal conspirator and bomb setter in the 1969 bombings of eight government and commercial office buildings in New York City. Melville cited his opposition to the Vietnam War and U.S. imperialism as the motivation for the bombings...
, notorious as "mad bomber" in 1960s, a Weather Underground member killed by New York State PoliceNew York State PoliceThe New York State Police is the state police force of over 4,600 sworn Troopers for the state of New York. It was established on April 11, 1917 by the New York Legislature, in response to the 1913 murder of a construction foreman named Sam Howell in Westchester County, which at that time did not...
troopers in an assault on September 13, 1971. - Willie SuttonWillie SuttonWilliam "Willie" Sutton was a prolific U.S. bank robber. During his forty-year criminal career he stole an estimated $2 million, and eventually spent more than half of his adult life in prison...
, who robbed 100 banks from the late 1920s to 1952.