DOC casts doubt on city closing Rikers by 2027
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Commissioner Louis Molina (right) said that he was uncertain of the agency’s ability to get the Rikers Island population low enough to close by 2027 during a City Council hearing on Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2022. Screenshot via livestream
By Rachel Vick
Appearing before the City Council’s Committee on Criminal Justice on Tuesday, Department of Correction Commissioner Louis Molina said that he was unsure if the city would be able to close Rikers Island by 2027 as required by city law.
Citing the jail’s high population – and his expectation that it will continue to rise in the coming years – Molina suggested that moving to borough-based jails with lower capacities is unlikely.
“I don't see [population estimates] being at 3,300 in less than four years, if nothing else changes with the administration and adjudication of the administration of justice at the court levels,” Molina told the committee on Tuesday. "I think if Rikers has to close we have to think about where does the balance of that people go.”
“In 2027 we will not be at 3,300," Molina added after noting that the DOC expects the population to be over 7,000 people by 2024.
More than 5,000 detainees are being held pre-trial, and about 500 pretrial detainees have been in custody for over two years, according to Molina.
City Councilmember Carlina Rivera, who chairs the Criminal Justice Committee, introduced two bills Tuesday, both aimed at lowering the city’s jail population.
One of the bills would require the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice to establish borough-based teams to identify people in custody whose cases could be resolved or who could be safely released into the community. Both bills were supported by members of the committee.
“This is an area where we should be able to work together — we want to use our bully pulpit to bring together stakeholders in the criminal justice system to work more effectively to get people out of jail,” said Councilmember Lincoln Restler.
“We want to speed up case processing, we want to see population review teams take place,” he added. “We want to work with all of the stakeholders… to push and if there are resources that we can bring to the table, talk to us, we want to work together to drive down the population of Rikers Island as expeditiously and safely as we possibly can.”
In part, Molina blamed the rise in the jail’s population on the courts, and the speed at which they process cases.
Molina criticized what he said was persistent mismanagement from 2015 to 2021 as a factor in the attrition of court officers and said they would be setting up a meeting with the Office of Court Administration and the next chief judge to discuss the congestion due to the population awaiting trial.
The DOC boss also touted changes he has made to the leadership of the agency.
“Under this administration, we have done in the Department of Corrections something that a monitor has sought for a very, very long time, which is to infuse the systems, senior leadership, over uniform operations with individuals that come with a set of experiences and talents to be able to lead us out of these very, very complex problems that quite frankly, have happened over the years because of mismanagement,” he said.
The hearing comes one month after a federal judge ruled that the DOC could have more time to implement changes to avoid a federal receivership, and one day after the 19th death in custody this year.
Though DOC leadership took the opportunity to highlight efforts to address concerns outlined in the Nunez Report, officials and advocates were largely unconvinced.
“What I've seen with my own eyes… and what we hear from [inside], there is no reason to feel satisfied with where things stand today,” Rivera said.
“While the most recent monitor's report suggests that there have been some progress made including improvements to the staff disciplinary process, the pace of change must increase dramatically to aid all who continue to languish at RNDC... or elsewhere in DOC facilities,” she added.
Molina celebrated the “dramatic” results of the agency’s violence reduction plan and efforts by the DOC to improve conditions through improved staffing. Additional deputy commissioners and wardens have been hired, with supervisors making sure everyone is at their post and to provide turning to external management sources as per Judge Laura Taylor Swain’s recommendations in the monitor case.
In addition to the rising death toll and high rates of violence committed by both detainees and corrections officers, the DOC has continued to struggle to get detainees to their scheduled court appearances and medical appointments.
On Tuesday, Molina blamed the issues on detainees refusing to be escorted by officers.
Swain will revisit the argument for receivership in April, but justice reform advocates and lawmakers like Restler and a number of other City Councilmembers have continued to advocate in favor of a federal takeover of the jails.
