Rikers Island has long been a dysfunctional, violent place, but 2021 has been particularly bloody. schwartzapfel spoke with detainees, correction officers, and government about the jail's new state of emergency, in collaboration with MarshallProj
As part of the settlement of Nuñez v. City of New York, a 2011 class-action lawsuit filed by Rikers Island detainees, federal monitors periodically report on use of force across the jail complex. This image from the 11th report shows at least 12 officers in a recreational area responding to two detainees who refused to be handcuffed.
But the so-called Nuñez monitors, who track use of force by Rikers staff, and city officials, including Mayor Bill de Blasio, point to widespread absences by correction officers, who have unlimited sick leave. Monitors report that over the past five months, thousands of officers have been calling in sick or not reporting to work at all. Those who do come in are often forced to work multiple shifts in a row, leading to fatigue, violence, burnout, and more absences.
This is a safety issue for me: I may have an enemy that I can’t see until he’s up in my face. And I can barely see the food I’m eating, a problem since there was once a cooked mouse in the food they served us. I’ve seen somebody get hit in the head with a fire extinguisher; I thought the guy was dead. How did an inmate get a fire extinguisher? There was another guy that got stabbed in his chest with a kitchen knife. It took security ten minutes to come in here and get him out, and then an additional 15 to remove the guy who stabbed him. The kitchen knife is still here; I’ve seen it. That’s for the next guy that’s going to get stabbed.
Most of my prior convictions came from being homeless. I ended up in Rikers because my parole officer tried to force me to go to a men’s shelter and I refused. I was going from Airbnbs to hotels, and she said I needed a steady address. Eventually, I stopped showing up to my appointments with her. They picked me up at a women’s shelter. I pleaded guilty to absconding, but I don’t feel like I belonged on Rikers Island. Right now, nobody needs to be in Rikers.
When I went in April, I saw people sleeping in receiving rooms for days at a time. They were not getting fed or their intake medical examinations. That’s very dangerous. You don’t want people to come into jail if they’re too sick. Certainly during COVID, that’s critical. Union leaders and officers say the problem is that officers are working 72 hours a day and that we got rid of solitary confinement. But the story of Rikers is this: Over the last five years, the Nuñez reports show increasing rates of violence by officers against incarcerated people. Not until the 11th report did they finally say that facility leadership is responsible for the chaos.
When you do have an officer that defends himself, we’re in the media, like, Oh my God, you beat up an inmate! The inmates know our power has been removed. These guys can jump up in your face and yell, “I’ll fuck you up!” You can’t touch them. I think a bunch of things escalated all of this current nonsense: First of all, de Blasio took away punishment options for the inmates. Then they put all the cameras everywhere. Now, if an inmate beats one of us up, and we defend ourselves, we’re getting suspended without pay because we “assaulted” an inmate.
There is no programming if there’s not enough staff. You can’t get your visit. We won’t have religious services today. We won’t have haircuts. Commissary doesn’t come in time. All that stuff piles on top of itself and results in a very frustrating, tense, and sometimes violent environment. We’re also going to physically transform the space. I did this before in juvie in D.C. It will be much more humane, much more decent. We’ll put in a lending library. We brought in 50 ministers to paint and clean in those young adult units. We hung up pictures of the furniture we’re going to buy for the unit, and the young people and the staff got to vote on what kind of chairs and couches they wanted. They’ll have bedspreads, not army blankets.
Malaysia Latest News, Malaysia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Survivors of 2013 shipwreck honor dead on Italian islandSurvivors of a 2013 capsizing have joined residents of a tiny Italian isle to honor 368 migrants who perished on the anniversary of the offshore tragedy.
Read more »
PM vows to rebuild Spanish island hit by volcanic eruptionSpain’s prime minister has vowed to rebuild the island of La Palma, where a volcano eruption has spewed molten lava and a thick cloud of pyroclastic ash for two weeks.
Read more »
Ozy Media CEO calls co-founder's impersonation of YouTube executive 'heartbreaking''Look—it's heartbreaking, it's wrong, it's not good, it's not OK,' CEO Carlos Watson said of the company's co-founder impersonating a YouTube executive.
Read more »
Look for Less: How to Style Amazing Lace for Autumn 2021This is one of our favorite fall 2021 trends for women over 40. Get the look for less! fallfashion lace over40 over40style freepeople express amazonfashion
Read more »
Everything You Need to Know About the 2021 Boston MarathonThe race will look different from years past, and not just because it’s being held in October.
Read more »