Terni, magistrate attacked in prison with a fork

Yet another attack has occurred in Umbrian prisons. This time it was a magistrate who paid the price, the victim, during an interrogation, of an attempted assault by an Italian citizen detained inside the Terni penitentiary institute. The immediate intervention of the Penitentiary Police staff avoided the worst consequences that could have resulted from the violent attack carried out using the handle of a plastic fork, sharpened and hidden by the prisoner between his fingers.
In recent years, incidents of violence within Umbrian prisons have increased.
The critical events that have occurred in Umbrian prisons in recent years have seen an increasing trend. During 2022, 99 cases of assaults between prisoners were reported, 28 against prison police staff and 1 against prison workers. In 2023, these attacks increased sharply: attacks between prisoners rose to 124, 69 against prison police staff and 3 against prison workers. The data for 2024 are even more impressive as in the first quarter there have already been 45 attacks between prisoners, 28 against prison police staff.
To these numbers must be added the 25 suicide attempts and 3 suicides of prisoners within the Umbrian penitentiaries, in the year 2022, which increased in the following 2023 to 36 cases of attempted suicide and 3 suicides. In the first quarter of this year there have already been 23 suicide attempts and one suicide.
Promiscuity between prisoners with mental problems and others represents a further element of difficulty in forced coexistence within the prison.
On the other hand, the REMS has not yet been established in the Umbria Region, i.e. the specific healthcare facility intended to accommodate convicts suffering from mental disorders and being socially dangerous.
In addition to this situation, which gives rise to extreme concern and which could worsen with the imminent arrival of the summer season, which notoriously favors situations of conflict within penitentiary institutions, we must underline the often reported lack of staff, to the extent of approximately 200 units of Penitentiary Police personnel in the Umbrian territory, both medical and treatment area personnel, equipped with specific skills for the care of the inmate population subject to mental disorders.