Rikers Reforms Aim to Curb Violence
The New York City Department of Correction has proposed a slate of reforms designed to reduce jail violence that includes 7,800 new security cameras and creating a separate housing unit for the most dangerous inmates.
The reforms follow a dramatic surge in violence against both inmates and staff at the jail complex in the East River. A report from U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara found a pervasive "culture of violence" in parts of the system. The changes are also supposed to help the department reduce its reliance on solitary confinement.
Commissioner Joseph Ponte said 16 percent of the jail’s inmates are responsible for 61 percent of violent incidents there. In the new housing unit, four officers would be assigned to 25 inmates each.
Ponte said Rikers will also unveil new, “intense clinical intervention” for mentally ill inmates, who make up about 40 percent of the jail’s population. He said he hopes to have the first new unit for mentally ill inmates open in six weeks.
“We think that will help part of the reduction of violence because these guys will be getting appropriate levels of treatment, and not be involved in misbehavior,” he said.
In this interview, Ponte talks with WNYC’s Amy Eddings about the reforms.
