It was a day of madness today at the Bancali prison in Sassari. Three prison officers were injured in the prison, almost simultaneously, by inmates in the "common" and "high security" sections. The SAPPE (Italian Penitentiary Service) announced the news, denouncing today's violence as yet another alarm bell that, it wrote in a statement, "can no longer be ignored by the prison administration." The first incident occurred around 1:30 PM in the SAI section, where an inmate, already known to have been involved in critical incidents, attacked a police officer with a punch to the right eye.

After the radio alarm was raised and reinforcements arrived, attempting to contain the attacker, a second officer was also injured. A few minutes later, in High Security Section 2, two inmates got into an altercation while one was returning from exercise. The fact that one inmate was already in the cell, with the gate closed, was not enough to prevent objects from being thrown, making the situation even more dangerous. The officer who intervened to stop the fight was grabbed around the neck, suffering abrasions. All officers involved in the incident were taken to the emergency room for medical checks.

"What happened to Bancali is unacceptable and cannot be considered business as usual," denounced Donato Capce, secretary general of the Autonomous Union of Penitentiary Police. "Two emergencies in a matter of minutes, in different departments, with officers attacked and injured: this is the daily reality of the Penitentiary Police, forced too often to deal with violence with insufficient staff and without adequate self-defense tools." "The time for pats on the back and thank-you notes is over," the SAPPE leader attacked. "Prison officers don't need medals after being attacked: they need tools to avoid being attacked and to be able to defend themselves. The Administration must fully assume responsibility for the conditions in which it sends its staff to work."

"Bancali," adds Antonio Cannas, national delegate of the SAPPE for Sardinia, "is once again the symbol of a situation that can no longer be tolerated. Few officers on the wards, emergencies that follow one another, and inmates who can transform an ordinary situation into a serious security problem in a matter of seconds. Officers cannot be left alone and sent into the fray."

Immediate action is called for. " We need effective reinforcements, a different approach to managing the most problematic inmates, and above all, the urgent provision of adequate self-defense tools so that staff can intervene without having to risk their physical safety. It is unacceptable for a police officer to face an attack without having the necessary tools to protect himself." "The Government and the Department of Penitentiary Administration must decide whether they truly want to defend those who defend the State," Capece concludes. "Because today, the Penitentiary Police are once again being attacked while carrying out their duties. And it is no longer acceptable for the response to come only afterwards. We need men, organization, and defense tools now, not after the next attack, and especially not after the next serious injury."

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