More serious assaults on Ohio prison staff

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - The state corrections department reports that serious assaults on prison staffers are up, even though overall violence as declined.

Incidents resulting in serious injuries to prison staff members doubled from Jan. 1, 2007, to last Sept. 30. The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction released the report.

It also showed that serious inmate-on-inmate assaults were down.

The number of assaults on prison staffers overall was 2,675 during the period, with 207 resulting in serious injury.

The Columbus Dispatch reports that the union representing prison staff called the report disturbing. It says the number of corrections officers has declined, and believes that has led to increased serious violence against staffers.

Other forms of assaults such as spitting and throwing bodily fluids at prison staffers also increased during the study period.