{"id":340159,"date":"2021-09-16T03:58:32","date_gmt":"2021-09-16T00:58:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/liberal-reforms-turned-rikers-island-into-a-violent-hell\/"},"modified":"2021-09-16T03:58:32","modified_gmt":"2021-09-16T00:58:32","slug":"liberal-reforms-turned-rikers-island-into-a-violent-hell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/liberal-reforms-turned-rikers-island-into-a-violent-hell\/","title":{"rendered":"#Liberal &#8216;reforms&#8217; turned Rikers Island into a violent hell"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;<strong>#Liberal &#8216;reforms&#8217; turned Rikers Island into a violent hell<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n        <\/aside>\n<p>A group of Democratic state and city officials touring Rikers Island this week described horrific and inhumane conditions. That prompted outgoing Mayor de Blasio to outline a five-point plan to address the renewed concerns about the island jails\u2019 residents. Yet Hizzoner\u2019s plan is too little, too late, its priorities misplaced.<\/p>\n<p>De Blasio is homing in on inmate suicides and unsanitary conditions. Receiving less attention, however, is jail violence, a problem that has only worsened under de Blasio. This, despite his early commitment to improving \u201cjail conditions and inmate outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve been told for the last seven years that the way to improve life on Rikers Island (and in the city, more broadly) is to \u201cfocus on equity.\u201d That <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>roach has been tried, it has been measured \u2014and it has been found wanting.<\/p>\n<p>At the turn of the millennium, the average daily inmate population in Gotham jails was more than 15,500. In fiscal year 2000, there were 5,722 fight\/assault infractions and 70 stabbings or slashings. In 2020, however, there were more than twice as many fight\/assault infractions (11,191, to be exact), and 75 percent more stabbings\/slashings (123). This, despite a more than 60 percent <em>reduction<\/em> in the average daily population, down to 5,841.<\/p>\n<p>Much in the same way Gotham lost so much of the ground it gained on the public-safety front on city streets, the spike in jail violence is probably significantly driven by misguided, hastily crafted \u201creforms.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-nypost-medium-post\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"322\" height=\"483\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/Correctionofficer.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=322\" alt=\"A correctional officer\u2019s skull was fractured after a brutal attack from a mentally disturbed inmate at Rikers Island.&#10;\" class=\"wp-image-19471213\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/Correctionofficer.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=644 644w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/Correctionofficer.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=483 483w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/Correctionofficer.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=322 322w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/Correctionofficer.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=161 161w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/Correctionofficer.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 322px) 100vw, 322px\"\/><figcaption>A correctional officer\u2019s skull was fractured after a brutal attack from a mentally disturbed inmate at Rikers Island.<br \/>\n<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Correction Officers&#8217; Benevolent Association, Inc<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>The rise in jail violence wasn\u2019t particularly gradual. Much of it happened under de Blasio, with the monthly rate of violent inmate-on-inmate incidents jumping nearly 70 percent from 2014 to 2020. And much of <em>that <\/em>spike happened from 2016 on.<\/p>\n<p>What happened in 2016? That was the year the Department of Correction ended punitive segregation a k a solitary confinement for inmates 18 and under and scaled back use of the practice for those aged 19 to 21. By 2017, the policy would be expanded to all inmates under 22.<\/p>\n<p>This reform took an important tool out of the belts of the city\u2019s correction officers, and an important deterrent out of the calculus of the city\u2019s jail inmates. The city essentially admitted as much in a 2017 report, noting that the rate of violence in the detention center, used at the time to house younger inmates, rose \u201cin part as a result of reducing and eventually eliminating punitive segregation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In late 2015, the city placed other restrictions on the ability of DOC officers to control violent inmates, banning kicks, neck restraints and strikes to the groin, neck, kidneys, spine, face and head. What followed was a doubling of the monthly rate of inmate assaults against staff, which jumped from 7.9 per 1,000 average daily population in 2016 to 15.8 in FY 2020.<\/p>\n<p>Little wonder the city\u2019s jail system is in in the throes of an alarming staffing shortage.<\/p>\n<p>The de Blasio administration has tried to explain away these horrendous performance indicators by arguing that its successful de-carceration efforts left officials with a more dangerous population, comprised of higher-risk inmates. But the data belie this excuse: The average number of inmates that fell into the security-risk group \u2014 the most violent \u2014 on a given day dropped from about 1,200 in 2015 to 1,080 in 2020.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n    <\/aside>\n<p>Since 2015, Big Apple jails are housing more than 100 <em>fewer<\/em> high-risk inmates and 43 percent fewer inmates overall. This population should be <em>easier<\/em> to manage, not harder.<\/p>\n<p>Another problem on Rikers Island is overcrowding. This one may seem curious in light of the sharp decline in the city\u2019s jail population over the last 20 years \u2014 that is, until you learn that the city has cut its capacity by 30 percent over that same time span. This not only helped spread COVID-19 among inmates, but also likely contributed to violence, which is more common in overcrowded facilities.<\/p>\n<p>As de Blasio packs up his desk, his failures on the corrections front highlight three policy levers his successor \u2014 probably Eric Adams \u2014 should consider pulling as soon as possible: First, lift the ban on punitive segregation (solitary). Second, build out the city\u2019s jail capacity. And third, invest in hiring more high-quality correction officers.<\/p>\n<p><em>Rafael A. Mangual is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and head of research for its policing &amp; public-safety initiative.<\/em>\n                        <\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/09\/15\/liberal-reforms-turned-rikers-island-into-a-violent-hell\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#Liberal &#8216;reforms&#8217; turned Rikers Island into a violent hell&#8221; A group of Democratic state and city officials touring Rikers Island this week described horrific and inhumane conditions. That prompted outgoing Mayor de Blasio to outline a five-point plan to address the renewed concerns about the island jails\u2019 residents. Yet Hizzoner\u2019s plan is too little, too&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":340160,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/09\/NYC_Jails_Arrests.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[115982,5042,71049,72202,70946,73110,75324,25542],"class_list":["post-340159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-9-15-21","tag-bill-de-blasio","tag-corrections-officers","tag-criminal-justice-reforms","tag-department-of-corrections","tag-inmates","tag-nyc-corrections","tag-prisons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=340159"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340159\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/340160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=340159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=340159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=340159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}