The federal monitor called 2021 “the most dangerous“ year since it assumed supervision-only to see 2022 prove more deadly and the stream of deaths continueĭespite the city’s existing commitment to reduce the jail population and close Rikers by 2027, the jail population has grown by 11 percent since the start of 2022, with 87 percent of those in custody held pretrial-and presumed innocent-as they await their days in court. Medical care, forced to wait in dangerously crowded That year, hellish conditions driven by staff absenteeism and overreliance on incarceration saw people held in shower stalls smeared with feces, suffering from negligent These mounting deaths reveal a continued failure by the DOC to grapple with the conditions that have killed jailed New Yorkers at alarming rates since 2021. A report from the summer of 2023 found evidence that DOC has only reported to the public or press 68 of the at least 120 deaths that have occurred on its watch since 2014. Both New York City Comptroller Brad Lander and the federal monitor have speculated that there may be even more in-custody deaths than DOC has reported. Those 29 deaths likely only tell a partial story. That hope for meaningful change within DOC has significantly diminished and that “the jails remain dangerous and unsafe, characterized by a pervasive, imminent risk of harm to both people in custody and staff.” Beyond the 29 deaths, the federal monitor notes that Rikers correctional officers (COs) use violence at alarming rates compared to other jurisdictions, and DOC officials under Adams operate with a lack of transparency and cooperation. The agreement requires the agency to implement a series of reforms to address its culture of violence and neglect. Since 2015, DOC has operated under a consent decree issued because of its systemic dysfunction. The move following a series of grim and frustrated reports from the federal monitor overseeing the city’s Department of Correction (DOC). The federal government agrees with that assessment: in November 2023, Manhattan’s top federal prosecutor asked a judge to strip the Adams administration of control of Rikers Island. The steady stream of deaths underlines the city’s failure to provide basic safety in its jails. Since Eric Adams assumed office on January 1, 2022. He is the first person to die during their incarceration in, or immediately following their release from, New York City’s dangerous jails this year, and the 29 th After going into cardiac arrest, he was given an anti-overdose drug and CPR but could not be revived. After playing basketball on New York City’s Rikers Island during the morning of January 4.
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