All security staff in state prisons will have body cameras by this summer in wake of the fatal beating of an incarcerated man in Oneida County in December, the head of the state Department of Corrections & Community Supervision said on Thursday.

Lawmakers at a budget hearing in Albany grilled DOCCS Commissioner Daniel Martuscello III as the Legislature plans to enact a series of prison reforms this session after recovered body camera footage shows multiple officers at Marcy Correctional Facility beat 43-year-old Robert Brooks before his death, which was ruled a homicide. 

"I am committed to ensuring that justice is served for the Brooks family and that we achieve meaningful reform," Martuscello said at the start of his testimony.

Several officers did not activate their cameras during the incident.

The commissioner said 11 prisons have stationary and body cameras and installation is in process at 13 other facilities. About $400 million in Gov. Kathy Hochul's budget proposal would fully equip the 17 remaining facilities, he said. 

"I anticipate by the end of June, we will be fully completed at every facility, fully deployed," Martuscello said.

No charges have been filed, but 16 staffers remain suspended without pay in connection to the incident

Senate Crime Victims, Crime & Correction Committee chair Julia Salazar wants to strengthen disciplinary process to hold staff accountable, and said it's common for prison officers and staff to not face consequences after violent misconduct or abuse.

"I could speak of numerous documented incidents in which DOCCS’ process for serious use of force complaints have failed victims of abuse by officers or staff," she said.

Martuscello said he's in talks with the state correction officers' union about changing the collective bargaining agreement that leaves disciplinary decisions to an independent arbiter.

"Anything that allows me to continue allow to hold staff accountable and run a safe system are things that we should be looking at," he told Salazar.

Martuscello said he has implemented several changes after seeing the footage of officers' violent encounter with Brooks, including mandating security staff to activate body cameras when they interact with incarcerated individuals. The department strengthened a whistleblower policy requiring staff to intervene and report misconduct without retaliation. Staff and incarcerated people can report violence or misconduct to DOCCS Office of Special Investigations, the state Inspector General or Attorney General’s offices or anonymously on a hotline.

The commissioner increased the number of OSI investigators in facilities since Brooks' death, he said.

Several lawmakers have called for Marcy to close, but Martuscello said additional prison closures are not expected in this year's budget after Hochul closed two upstate facilities — Great Meadow and Sullivan — last year.

The medium-security prison at Marcy Correctional in Oneida County has one of the largest mental health units in upstate, Martuscello added.

"We have good people, but we have to get to the root of how do people like that A, become employed with us," the commissioner said. "And B, how do we get rid of them and how do we make sure that we’re creating a culture where we focus on humanity, dignity and respect?"

Violent incidents between people in prison and staff is on the rise — made worse by a continuing staffing shortage. The commissioner this week sent a memo ordering all prison superintendents to treat 70% staffing capacity as "full staffing," or to submit plans to permanently operate with fewer employees.

Republican lawmakers blame recent law changes that limit the use of solitary confinement for the increase in violence at facilities, known as the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement Act. Martuscello on Thursday did not call for the policy to be changed and says additional recreational areas are being built in prisons across the state to be in compliance with the law.

The commissioner ran from reporters after giving testimony, and would not answer questions about Brooks' death.

Robert Brooks' father, Robert Ricks, later testified to lawmakers. Former state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who's advising the family, was in the hearing room.

After the commissioner's testimony, Ricks said he thinks Martuscello told lawmakers what he needed to, but that he wasn't always truthful.