Platkin announces charges against Garden State Youth Correctional officers

Acting Attorney General Matt Platkin announced today that six correctional officers at the Garden State Youth Correctional Facility have been criminally charged for a violent cell extraction they performed on an inmate in April 2020, as well as for false reports on the incident they filed afterwards.

According to Platkin’s release, Correctional Police Sergeant Michael Emmert sprayed the victim with pepper spray in his cell, following which Emmert and five other guards forcibly removed the victim. The victim reportedly arrived at the prison infirmary in need of oxygen and with his face covered in lacerations.

“Correctional police officers are entrusted with great authority over the inmates in their custody, and when they abuse that power, they must be held accountable,” Platkin said. “I want to thank the Office of Public Integrity & Accountability and Department of Corrections’ Special Investigations Division for investigating and bringing charges in this matter.”

Emmert has been charged with aggravated assault and tampering with public records or information, while the other five officers have only been charged with tampering.