No BackSpace: Shackling Inmates Will Only Make Rikers Violence Worse
|
A veteran DOC officer writes: ‘We simply must develop the will to expend the money for services and staff, rather than on restraint chairs and solitary cells.’
CITY WIRE: THE BLOG
Video: Violence in the City Jails and the Push to Close Rikers
|
A reform advocate, a former inmate and the head of the correction officers union discussed where the reforms of Rikers stand, whether they go far enough and what’s driving the surge in violence.
abuse
Open Letter to the Mayor: NIMBY Needn’t Block Plans to Replace Rikers with Jails that Work
|
A former corrections captain maps out a planning process that to create the community detention facilities New York needs.
Homepage Featured
Still Waiting for Rules to Prevent Rape on Rikers
|
Nearly a year ago, the city’s Board of Correction voted to enact revised guidelines to address high rates of sexual abuse in the city’s correctional facilities. The final rule has encountered a chain a delays.
CITY VIEWS: OPINIONS and ANALYSIS
CityViews: Is Rikers Island Exporting Knife Violence?
|
Is the uptick in knife violence on the streets a reflection of the increase in conflict inside the city’s jails?
CITY WIRE: THE BLOG
Sharpton, Seabrook & Bronx DA Weigh In on Closing Rikers
|
Count Rev. Al Sharpton with Mayor de Blasio among the skeptics about the notion of closing Rikers Island.
CITY VIEWS: OPINIONS and ANALYSIS
CityViews:
Dem Lawmaker Proposes Major Rikers Change
|
Some want Rikers to close altogether. The mayor says that’s not a realistic goal. But a Manhattan Assemblyman says the de Blasio administration should at least move pre-trail detainees off the island.
CITY VIEWS: OPINIONS and ANALYSIS
CityViews:
Shut Down Rikers, and Then What?
|
What’s really behind the push to close Rikers—whether it’s moral clarity or fiscal concern—will determine whether mothballing the island actually makes New York a more humane place.
CITY WIRE: THE BLOG
Is Council Speaker Opening the Door to Closing Rikers?
|
Melissa Mark-Viverito is launching a commission to look at alternatives. The rationale for—and complexities in—shuttering the island of jails was the focus of a November City & State/City Limits series.
CITY VIEWS: OPINIONS and ANALYSIS
CityViews:
NYC Must Allow Rikers Inmates Alleging Sex Abuse to Remain Anonymous
|
Two women allege they were subjected to regular sexual abuse on the island. Naming them would punish the women for coming forward with complaints that have spurred a broader discussion about rape, power and incarceration.
CITY VIEWS: OPINIONS and ANALYSIS
Op-ed: City Needs a Real Plan to Close Rikers, Lest One Failure Replace Another
|
“Closing Rikers Island is a great idea – but we must have fully operational alternatives in place first, not just some half-baked notions that are destined to fail.”
Closing Rikers
The Perils and Potential of Closing Rikers Island
|
City Limits contacted all 51 members of the City Council, the five borough presidents and the three citywide officials to ask whether they support closing Rikers.
Closing Rikers
Can NYC Reform Rikers Island Without Replacing it?
|
The jury is still out on whether reforms – segregating the most violent inmates, a crackdown on smuggling, faster use-of-force investigations – will be effective.
Justice
Jailing New York: A Photo Essay
|
Read the City & State/ City Limitsseries on “Closing Rikers.”
Closing Rikers
How NYC got Rikers Island and Why it Doesn’t Work
|
Rikers’ physical reality, many agree, is a crucial part of its problem.
Closing Rikers
Behind the Growing Calls to Close Rikers Island
|
The key question might not be whether the city should live without Rikers, or how it would do so, but whether it has the political will to finish the transformation that has already started.
CITY WIRE: THE BLOG
Correction Dept. Slows Bid to Restrict Rikers Visits
|
Citing rising violence, the city’s Department of Correction wants more ability to block visits or curtail physical contact. Opponents say the proposed changes are based on bad data and could do more harm than good.
CITY WIRE: THE BLOG
Beyond Rikers: Stats on Violence in State Prisons
|
On a per capita basis, state inmates are less likely than city prisoners to be perpetrators or victims of violence. But the numbers point to a persistent suicide problem and a rising use of force.
CITY VIEWS: OPINIONS and ANALYSIS
Rikers Scandal: Key Leaders Are Between Policymakers, Prisoners
|
The revelations about systemic brutality in the city’s jails point to the critical role that captains—the first layer of leadership over correction officers—play.