Queens electeds, COBA call on state to address sexual violence against officers
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City Councilmember Adrienne Adams called on the state to increase the penalties for sexual assaults and harassment against corrections officers on Monday, Oct. 25, 2021. Eagle photo by Jacob Kaye
By Jacob Kaye
Several Queens electeds stood alongside correctional officers in East Elmhurst Monday to demand the city and state take action to end sexual harassment and assault against officers – a problem, the say, that has long been ignored.
City Councilmembers Adrienne Adams and I. Daneek Miller, and Assemblymember David Weprin, joined leaders of the Correctional Officers’ Benevolent Association at the foot of the bridge that leads to the jail facility this week, to both announce impending legislation in the City Council addressing the attacks and to draw attention to them.
“We're here today to shed light on yet another crisis happening inside of our city jails, which have developed into a state of emergency,” said Adams, who also chairs the council’s Committee on Public Safety. “These women have been completely traumatized by what happened to them. But they never received the services, the care or the compassion that they needed, still need and deserve. Instead, they were expected to show up for their next shifts as if nothing happened, as if their well being did not matter.”
Nineteen people have reported allegations of sexual assault by incarcerated people to the Department of Correction’s Intelligence Bureau dating back to Jan. 1, 2021, according to the DOC. Of those, 16 allegations were made by female correction officers, one was made a female correction assistant deputy warden, one was made by a female correction captain and one was made by a male correction officer, the DOC said.
Nine people have been charged in the alleged incidents, the department said.
Additionally, five female civilian staff have reported being sexually assaulted by incarcerated individuals – one arrest has been made in relation to those cases, DOC said.
Keisha Williams, who serves as COBA’s third vice president, said that she herself has been victim to sexual assault. Several years ago, Willams was groped by an incarcerated person when she was transporting a large group of detainees, she said.
“The lack of accountability for these horrific crimes committed behind bars is a stark reflection of how broken our criminal justice system is,” Williams said. “This culture of sexual assaults and sexual harassment has been going on for far too long, and it has to stop.”
Adams and Miller said they plan to introduce a resolution in the City Council that would call on the governor and State Legislature to amend the penal code to classify the forcible touching of a correction officer a felony. Currently, the crime is classified as a class A misdemeanor.
Additionally, the resolution will call for aggravated assault of a correction officer to be moved from a civil infraction to a Class A misdemeanor.
“These increased penalties will send a clear message that sexual assault and abuse of correction officers are unacceptable, and will have serious consequences,” Adams said.
The Southeast Queens duo also plans to introduce legislation that would require the DOC to track and make public allegations and instances of sexual harassment and assault against officers.
“We need to know how this happens, how often this happens and the status of these cases,” said Adams, whose mother was a correctional officer for nearly two decades.
A DOC spokesperson said that the agency began tracking sexual assault cases separately from other assault cases earlier this year in an effort to prioritize them. Additionally, the spokesperson said that the DOC supports efforts to amend the criminal code.
“Sexual violence against our dedicated personnel is absolutely unacceptable and we are working with the Bronx DA and labor unions to ensure that victims of these heinous assaults receive the justice and support they deserve,” the spokesperson said.
Assemblymember David Weprin, who chair’s the legislative body’s Committee on Corrections, said that he plans to follow in Adams and Miller’s footsteps and introduce statewide legislation to address the sexual violence.
“These survivors have courageously shared their painful stories and now we must take necessary action to hold the abusers accountable,” Weprin said. “No one should work under the threat of sexual harassment or sexual assault yet this is the reality that many women working at Rikers Island live with on a daily basis.”
Mayor Bill de Blasio commended the DOC Monday in the actions they’ve taken to try and address the reports of sexual violence.
“The Department of Correction has been aggressive – there's already been nine arrests in those cases of harassment, more are coming,” he said. “That sexual harassment is absolutely unacceptable and where it's found, there will be consequences, period. So, we're showing that.”
But Miller, who had toured the facilities earlier on Monday, said that the city has largely failed the officers and not taken appropriate action to bring perpetrators to justice.
“There's a workforce that serves here on Rikers Island, they should be able to serve with dignity and respect, and be able to uplift humanity in the job that they're doing and the services that they provide – it's so simple,” he said. “We have failed to support these women.”
