(Bloomberg) -- The federal monitor overseeing reforms at Rikers Island, New York City's largest jail complex, asked a court to enforce greater compliance with efforts to overhaul the problem-plagued facility, saying they have been stymied by a lack of cooperation from Mayor Eric Adams's administration.
Steve Martin, who is tasked with implementing the changes, said New York City's Department of Corrections has refused to provide staffing data, interfered with communications with staff, and refused to provide briefings or consult on new city orders. Adams, who took office in January, appointed Louis Molina to lead the agency.
“The monitoring team is incredibly disappointed to report that it has lost confidence that it has access to all of the relevant and reliable information necessary to perform its duties,” the monitor said in a report filed in U.S. district court in New York. “Clear and direct orders from the court are necessary.”
The Rikers Island correctional facility has continued to contend with widespread staffing shortages and violent conditions, with sixteen people dying while in custody there last year, despite the stepped up oversight.
Jonah Allon, a spokesperson for Adams, declined to comment.
In a statement Wednesday, New York City's corrections department said it moving rapidly to address the long-running problems at Rikers Island. It said the staffing shortages have eased as some 1,300 employees returned to work and that stepped up patrols have resulted in the seizure of more than 100 weapons.
“Even before joining DOC in January, I was well aware of the history of problems facing the department,” Molina said in a statement. “We must do better, and we can do better. We are moving forward as swiftly as possible to fix longstanding issues.”
The federal monitor's report said that about 30% of the facility's workers remain unavailable, leaving the facility still woefully understaffed. The city has struggled to get a handle on the personnel shortage there and previously sued the correction officers' union, alleging it was engaging in an unauthorized work stoppage. The city dropped the lawsuit after the union said it would address the issue.
Those staffing shortages have had dire consequences, the monitor said, citing a January incident when an incarcerated person suffering from convulsions had to be tended to by fellow detainees because employees weren't immediately responsive to calls for help. When staff did respond, they used used chemical munitions to disperse a crowd that had gathered in the meantime, according to the report.
Benny Boscio, the president of the Correction Officers' Benevolent Association, the jail workers' union, said in a statement that the use of force has increased at Rikers Island because of violence between those incarcerated there. He said the staff shortfalls also stem from resignations and retirements of 2,800 employees since 2019 who have yet to be replaced.
Despite the troubles at Rikers Island, New York City's jail system is the most expensive in the U.S., the report said. In fiscal 2021, the city spent $556,539 per incarcerated person, or $1,525 per person per day, according to a recent tally by the city comptroller. The annual cost has quadrupled since fiscal 2011 even as the number of inmates fell.
The Legal Aid Society, which was part of 2015 class action lawsuit that resulted in the appointment of the federal monitor, said it would be addressing the report with the city.
“The alarming examples of injury, abuse and mismanagement cited in the report confirm what we hear from clients -- that every minute they are in city custody, they are at serious risk of harm,” Mary Lynne Werlwas, director of the prisoners' rights project at the organization, said in a statement. “New York City cannot tolerate this status quo.”
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