Fewer than 1 in 5 New York City correction officers took a mandated course on preventing suicide in the last year, according to data obtained by Gothamist through a freedom of information request, even as the rate of such deaths among incarcerated people on Rikers Island and other city jails accelerated to historic highs. 

Eleven people held in custody by the city’s Department of Correction have died by suicide since last year, compared to just five in the preceding six years combined. During the 4 ½ years prior to November 2020, zero suicides were reported. 

Despite the skyrocketing suicide rate, from Sept. 1, 2021, to Sept. 20, 2022, just 1,241 of the city’s nearly 7,000 uniformed correction staff members completed a required suicide prevention refresher course, according to correction department data.

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