Since 1861, 28 New York state correction officers have died as a result of violence in the line of duty or a duty-related illness (e.g., tuberculosis). The last death by violence was in 1981. Eight others have died by accidents, heart attack or other cause while working. In the uprising at Attica in 1971, forty-three people were killed; eleven were state workers (eight guards and three civilian workers) and thirty-two incarcerated men. The majority of the deaths were caused by gunfire from law enforcement: ten state workers and twenty-nine incarcerated men were fatally shot.
