NY City Council Committee on Criminal Justice Oversight Hearing on Conditions at Rikers

Read the testimony in its original format here.

Good morning. My name is Wendell Walters and I am a Senior Policy Associate at the Osborne Association. Osborne is one of the oldest and largest criminal justice organizations in the city and state. Our headquarters are in the Bronx and we have satellite offices in Brooklyn, Harlem, Newburgh and in Buffalo. We serve 12,000 participants each year covering the full spectrum of the criminal legal system from arrest to reentry. We are looking forward to the opening of the Fulton Reentry Center next spring, our new transitional housing facility in the Bronx that will house 135 men returning from incarceration. We have worked in DOC facilities, providing discharge planning, workforce development, therapeutic services and visiting support for more than 25 continuous years. We have staff on Rikers Island providing services in housing areas and visiting areas 5 days per week.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak today about the state of the City jail system and specifically the conditions at Rikers Island. As you have heard, there is an alarm sounding and it will take all of us to respond. It is fitting that we are here today just days after the 50th anniversary of the Attica uprising and massacre. Attica began with incarcerated men asking to be treated humanely, seeking basic necessities and respect. It ended in state-sanctioned murder and loss of lives, both incarcerated and staff. Rikers has now reached a crisis point and it is all of our responsibilities to act so that both those incarcerated and those who work on Rikers are safe, and treated humanely and with respect.

Although our staff was unable to work in the jails for several months due ot Covid, we continued to communicate with DOC officials, staff and incarcerated people and their families. The crisis that has now exploded into public view has been building for a few years, and while it is easy to attribute it to Covid-19, it has been fomenting for a long time. No new commissioner could expect to turn this ship around in 3 months, but any effort will make waves. A lot has transpired in the last few days to call attention to and address the crisis,, from Dr. Ross MacDonald’s brave and important letter to this Committee, and the Mayor’s Emergency Actions announced yesterday. While these actions may address some of our concerns, there is still more to be done, and the takeaway for all of us is: DOC cannot remedy this crisis alone. While current DOC leadership is acting with expediency, bureaucracy, divisiveness and a lack of urgency are barriers they alone cannot overcome. Monitors and advocates have long complained about broken locks; it was a near miracle that Commissioner Schiraldi, finally paying attention, had “gotten the wait time down” for fixing locks on gates from 9 months to 7. Making sure a gate locks in a jail cannot wait 7 months!

There are so many stakeholders involved and historically, each has blamed the other or framed the problem adversarially. Now is the time to stop doing this as people are literally dying in custody and the officers who are showing up to work are suffering as well: ten incarcerated people (that we know of) have died in Rikers this year so far, including 5 who have taken their own lives through suicide. It’s not fair to blame an officer who has been working 20 hours straight and left their post exhausted, for a death that occurred 15 hours later. Blaming individuals will not lead to the deep multi-pronged change that is needed to keep everyone involved safe.

While my testimony could detail and document alarming scenarios that our staff have encountered, that our clients have desperately reported, that elected officials who toured Rikers this past Monday importantly spoke about, that the Chief Medical Officer’s letter detailed, and that others will testify about today, I want to highlight some immediate solutions grounded in our current and past experiences providing services on Rikers, including programming for young people, discharge planning through ICAN, court advocacy services with pre-trial clients and those incarcerated on parole violation warrants, and video visiting and parenting support programs to prepare and support incarcerated women and men for successful reintegration back into the community.

1. Reduce the number of people sent to Rikers.

This solution should begin immediately and relies on the collaborative efforts of those outside of DOC. Police, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and Judges should explore all alternatives to detention and diversion possible, and advance court dates. The bail law provides multiple options to safely release people -- and should require that the decision take into account the costs and risks of the currently unsafe, life-threatening, and overwhelmed nature of detention in DOC custody. It is simply not safe to house the current number of detainees with complex legal, medical, and mental health needs.

1. Decarcerate immediately.

Greater decarceration efforts are needed and we know this can be done. The decision-making that led to a census of 3,800 people detained on Rikers during the height of the pandemic one year ago should be reinvigorated. The census is now almost double this, at around 6,800. Many factors have contributed to this startling increase including the slowdown and adjournment of court cases, continued jailing of parole violators, and unreasonable bail.

An obvious step is to return to Article 6-A that authorizes DOC to allow sentenced individuals to serve the remainder of their time at home. We call on our District Attorneys in each borough to once again instruct their offices to use, to the greatest extent of their power, the many diversion and ATI programs available to them. We also call for the signing of the Less is More bill by our new Governor to reduce jail time for parole violations, and to increase use of supervised release for those currently detained on bail. And lastly, DOC must prioritize its resources to make sure defendants are made available to attend court hearings (most of which are by video) to avoid case delays as the pre-trial average length of stay has skyrocketed. Esias Johnson, age 24, who died at Rikers last week, missed three consecutive hearings because he was not brought to his video hearing where a Judge could have heard his case for $1.00 bail.

1. Implement an immediate plan - abiding by Covid precautions and protocols- to move people out of the Intake Unit within 24 hours (this is now part of the Emergency Relief Actions the Mayor outlined yesterday).

The Intake unit now poses a danger to both those being admitted and to staff. Admissions are taking far longer than they should due to increased admissions and staff shortages. Usually to be completed within 48 hours it is now by some reports taking up to 12 days or more. This overcrowded area is now causing sickness and risk of COVID spread. The incoming people are not able to shower or get proper medical attention. Only emergency medical care is being provided, and even access to water and food is limited. While awaiting admission these individuals have no access to telephones either, since they do not have PIN numbers needed for phone calls.

A solution to this crisis will not emerge from Mayoral decree; it requires changing how intake and assessments are done, where they happen, and by whom. CHS, advocates, defenders, and COs should all be involved in developing a new process to ensure that no one remains in these temporary units for more than 24 hours. This may require emergency contracts for additional medical or other staffing, if needed, to expedite the necessary screenings.

While the Intake unit is a distinct health issue on its own, the inability to provide adequate medical care to the whole of Rikers is such that the Chief Medical Officer at CHS was compelled to publicly raise this issue in a recent letter to the committee chair. His comments are alarming as he states that Rikers is experiencing a “collapse of basic jail operations” because of insufficient staffing that has caused increased risk to the medical staff and calls for the state or the federal government to step in and provide assistance. The timing of this “collapse” could not be worse as the COVID infection rate in Rikers is now above the rate for New York City. A commitment to masking, COVID testing, exposure protocols, and vaccinations must remain a priority even during this current state of affairs. Over the past few days, we have heard from several of our clients in custody that they have been unable to get timely COVID tests or medical attention when they are ill. Staffing shortages affect the provision of care in multiple settings: we were told of a recent medical emergency that required EMS intervention; EMS was delayed for a half hour after they arrived because there was no one to open the gate.

1. Take care of the staff who are coming in, and hold those accountable who are AWOL.

We are concerned about the well-being of Officers just as we are concerned about the well-being of those incarcerated. Everyone on Rikers needs to be safe and to return home to their loved ones, whether at the end of an 8 hour shift or after 8 weeks or 8 months or longer.. The current staffing shortage perpetuates and worsens itself: now Officers who want to come in and perform their job worry they will have to stay double or triple shifts if they do. Prior to Covid, concerns about Officer well-being led to the creation of the DOC Staff Wellness Center and a recognition that PTSD levels were high among retired COs. With Covid, the stress has only increased and the need to provide confidential and universal support is critical. Seeking out mental health services is highly stigmatized in paramilitary agencies so a universal approach is needed: every Officer should see a mental health professional (however often is decided) as a check in and in recognition that the job is stressful. The onus should not be on Officers to seek out this support. This universal approach could also prevent or flag concerns about any staff who may be or become overly aggressive or hostile; it could reduce the number of DOC staff currently in categories that preclude them from interacting with those incarcerated (also a cause of the staffing shortage on housing units, for escorts, visits, and more).

Creating opportunities for COs to weigh in on decisions related to jail operations is also a form of validation and support. There are many correctional officers who perform their jobs admirably, and take their jobs seriously. We have consistently heard from these officers that they want to have a say in planning and decision making, but they are not asked or involved.

Additionally, staff who want to speak up about abuses or unlawful behavior need whistleblower protection. They have much to say but it is not safe for them to do so.

While greater support is needed for those doing their jobs, greater accountability is needed for those who are not. Managing the resources and staff at Rikers is a significant challenge. While the ratio of correction officers to those in custody is among the highest in the nation with more than one officer for each incarcerated individual, there have been reports that one-third of corrections officers fail to show up to work each day due to Sick Leave or being AWOL causing undue burdens on those who do come to work. Double and triple shifts are now common and inadequate coverage is inevitable. Short staffing has an impact on morale, medical care, safety and programming.

There is no doubt that being a corrections officer on Rikers is a stressful job and an appropriate level of sick leave is warranted. The proposed plan by the Commissioner- to bring DOC’s sick policy in line with that of the NYPD and FDNY- and ensure that the system is not being abused is the right one and protects the officers who must cover for those engaged in such abuse. However, there must be accountability for those who are AWOL and simply do not come to work. It corrupts the system and leads to even more abuse. Unfortunately, the implementation of the Commissioner’s plan will take time. Given the current state of Rikers we are not sure the Commissioner can wait any longer to make the necessary changes. The Mayor’s Actions (announced yesterday) will hopefully reduce the practice of staff being AWOL.

1. Explore all options for interim “outside” staffing assistance

In addition to the staffing crisis in intake, there are tens of units without any staffing at all at any given time. We learned that this past Monday, there were 20 units at RNDC alone that had no staff present and that there were many more units like this in other facilities on the Island. This creates great risk of harm by violence, by unaddressed medical emergencies, and lack of access to medication, food, and water. While there needs to be a process to bring existing officers back to work and treat them with respect and care, there is also an immediate and urgent staffing emergency that amounts to a humanitarian and safety crisis. We implore DOC and the Mayor’s office to explore options for temporary staffing with corrections partners in other jurisdictions as well as any other potential partners - including OCFS, FDNY, federal and state officers and even National Guard medics or similarly trained professionals. There are certainly specialized positions like those in intake that may require corrections training and experience, but outside partners can be relied upon for needed food and water distribution, wellness checks, and transportation.

1. Conduct a detailed staffing analysis.

The allocation and assignment of staff is also a problem. Osborne does not profess to know all the civil service requirements or the details of the collective bargaining agreement with the corrections union but we receive frequent reports that certain officers are relegated to non-custodial areas and are forbidden to work outside their designated units even when there are notable and dangerous shortages. Osborne has been witness to the sight of many officers gathered at one location, while other units have virtually no one on duty.

Recognizing there are union issues to be addressed, jobs that would be better suited to non-Corrections staff or require a different skill set should be performed by non-uniformed staff. If the union disagrees, they should ensure that all COs without medical proof of illness are showing up to perform their jobs

1. Support meaningful programming and visiting.

On-site programming and visiting have also suffered because of inadequate staffing. While many service providers are back in facilities, it is not realistic to run an anger management group with 48 men in a housing unit. It is also not safe for programs to be run in dorms that later turn up on the “exposed list” meaning that someone tested positive for Covid just after a group occurred. Meaningful programming is a critical tool that can reduce violence and idle time, promote transformation, and assist with successful reentry. Programming must be a priority with proper space provided and steady Officers assigned in order for effective services to be delivered. This cannot happen until DOC has adequate coverage by COs across posts and locations.

After much delay, DOC has restarted in-person visiting on a limited basis to the relief of many families. However, scheduling via the online pre-registration process is still difficult and there is no weekend visiting which is not convenient for working families. DOC has stated that staffing shortages are the barrier to restarting weekend visits.

Amidst this gloomy picture, we want to point out a few positives:

1. At RMSC (where the First Lady’s funding has allowed for more social services staff), the social service staff are working very hard trying to get to all the units and attend to the women’s needs as best they can.
2. Regarding visiting: Covid restrictions for visitors seem solid and taken seriously; visitors must switch over their masks and are provided new masks, and at least at the women’s facility, visiting room officers are taking steps to ensure visitors get their full time to visit. These are steady officers, some of whom have worked the visiting room for 10+ years.
3. Video court officers have been very helpful and trying to troubleshoot. These are also steady officers.
4. DOC Programs staff have worked tirelessly for months to provide some services and get needs addressed for people in custody.

We echo those calling for immediate action. This urgent call is not a critique of the current DOC leadership who we believe are working around the clock to address as much of this as they can as quickly as they can. They need all of our help. We need an “all hands on deck” approach in order to ensure safety and well-being for all on Rikers as we work to shrink the population detained there, and close the jails on the island in favor of borough-based jails that are smaller and more humane.

Thank you.

Contact Information:

Wendell Walters

Senior Policy Associate

Osborne Center for Justice Across Generations

The Osborne Association

wwalters@osborneny.org