A year of crisis on Rikers
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This past year was the deadliest year on Rikers Island since 2013. Photo by U.S. Geological Survey via Wikimedia Commons
By Rachel Vick
In 2021, New York City’s Queens-based jail faced unprecedented challenges, criticism and demand for reform from advocates.
As COVID-19 raged on, Rikers Island and the Department of Correction fell under increased scrutiny from both local and federal observers. Amid a rise in violence, a correctional officer staff shortage and the pandemic, 15 people died while in DOC custody, the highest number of deaths since 2013.
The year started with a push to vaccinate detainees, revamp a slowing intake processes that left detained individuals in unsafe, unacceptable conditions, and plans to address the staffing shortages that increased isolation for incarcerated people.
In May, Vincent Schiraldi took on the job of DOC commissioner following the resignation of former Commissioner Cynthia Brann, who stepped down as crises on the jail facility began to mount.
Steve J. Martin, the federal monitor appointed to oversee the jail’s conditions, issued a number of reports throughout the year; each criticized management and the treatment of incarcerated individuals.
Throughout the summer months, the intake process, which saw recently incarcerated people packed together in tight cells without beds or easy access to food and water, lasted upwards of a week for some detainees.
According to the reports from the first half of the year, commanding officers failed to control those under their supervision and use of force incidents increased.
In the most recent report, issued Dec. 2, acknowledged that there had been efforts to improve conditions in certain areas — like speeding up the intake process and addressing staff shortages.
At least seven of the 15 deaths were related to medical conditions, according to the Dec. 2 report.
“The dire conditions that emerged in the late summer and early fall 2021 are the culmination of decades of mismanagement — in particular, the department’s flawed security procedures, dysfunctional and convoluted staffing practices, and the department’s limited ability to timely hold staff accountable,” the report read.
The systemic dysfunction within the facilities, however, still leaves significant room for improvement, the monitor reported.
Correction officers’ pushback in response to the city’s vaccine mandate slowed the return of officers in full force, and the continued severity of pandemic conditions delayed the implementation of the Risk Management Accountability System slated to replace the traditional solitary confinement model.
There’s no word yet on the future of RMAS, as incoming Mayor Eric Adams has yet to take a clear stance on his plans on the practice.
The Eagle heard from incarcerated individuals who experienced isolation from both their family members and other people being held on Rikers, lapses in medical care and protection from COVID-19.
In the beginning of December, a Bronx judge ruled that the DOC failed to provide adequate medical attention and ordered the implementation of measures to ensure adequate care.
“Thousands of people are suffering because the Department of Correction consistently fails to meet basic human needs and ensure health and safety for people in its custody,” Brooke Menschel, the director of Civil Rights and Law Reform at Brooklyn Defender Services, said at the time. "This is not only inhumane and morally wrong, it is illegal and the court agreed.”
Efforts to improve conditions by reducing the jail population and eventually closing the facilities inched toward reality with the approval of the borough-based jails plan. The first phase of construction for the Kew Gardens Facility began in 2021, and contracts are moving forward for those slated to be built in other boroughs.
In the meantime, DOC has begun to transfer outdated facilities that are not currently used for detention to the Department of Citywide Administrative Services.
“We are committed to getting off of Rikers Island,” a DOC spokesperson said. “Each transfer means we are one step closer to having more modern, humane facilities that are climate controlled and far better than what exists today.”
