A sign for FCI Ray Brook is seen here in January 2024. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

RAY BROOK — FCI Ray Brook has been on lockdown since before Thanksgiving after staff discovered an internal security device had been deliberately damaged.

Federal Bureau of Prisons spokesperson Randilee Giamusso said the medium security prison started its modified operations and suspended visitations on Nov. 26. Giamusso said the prison will return to normal operations “as soon as possible,” but could not say when that will be.

Giamusso could not divulge what was damaged, “for safety and security reasons.”

The lockdown comes with reduced services, programs and movement for inmates.

During this time, visitations are suspended, inmates are kept in their cells for most of the day and their access to phone calls and email is revoked. Inmates can still send paper mail. Giamusso said they still have access to unit teams, medical care, food, water and other programs.

The incident is being investigated and the lockdown is meant to ensure safety of the staff and inmates, according to Giamusso, who added that the warden is monitoring the events and will decide when to return the prison to normal operations.

Updates on visitations can be found at the FCI Ray Brook website at tinyurl.com/bdhkpu9h.

The prison has been on lockdown, on and off, over the past year for several reasons — mostly inmate fights and one drone delivery.

Union leaders for corrections officers have been saying low staffing levels at the prison leads to stress for staff and inmates, especially during lockdowns like this one. Lockdowns mean overtime and augmentation — which can lead to corrections officers working double shifts four or five days in a row and non-correctional staff getting pulled away from their jobs to do custodial supervision.

FCI Ray Brook currently has 771 inmates and is staffed at 86%, according to Giamusso.

In October, the prison had a two-week lockdown after an inmate shoved a staff member.

In August, the prison was on back-to-back lockdowns amid a string of fights and contraband deliveries. The fights did not involve weapons. One, was described as an emotion-driven attack on a staff member who was not injured. Another was described as targeted and allegedly gang-related and one inmate suffered “significant injuries” after being assaulted by several inmates in the recreation area.

In May, two simultaneous, targeted and potentially gang-related fights caused no serious injuries and put the prison on lockdown.

In February, a similar case of two simultaneous fistfights put the facility on lockdown two weeks after the previous one ended.

The prison was on lockdown for around three weeks in January after the discovery of a drone-delivered package of drugs, phones and chisels.

In September 2023, a gang-related stabbing put the prison on lockdown for several weeks.