African-Americans are about 5% of the county population; they are about 30% of the Broome County Jail’s population. Inquiring minds wondered: does the correctional staff of the jail relate? Do the stories we hear of white nationalism run rampant in the jail, as in testimony before the State House of Assembly, have any substance?
Looking for the most basic facts we asked the county: what is the racial and ethnic character of the Sheriff’s correlational officers? The response on February 2017 to a freedom of information request was: we don’t know, we don’t keep those records. This is nothing new: as the local press keeps reporting, it is widely known the State and County refuse to release the most basic information especially about the jail.
As it turns out, the Sheriff does have to compile and file a report with these figures to the national census of jails. Tracked down through the Department of Justice (another FOIA request) here are the results for the 2013 filing by the BC Sheriff, who apparently “lost” his filing: the correctional staff is 97.5% white.
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