Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsNYC politicians touring Rikers witness filth, overcrowding and inmate's attempted suicide
https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/ny-pols-tour-rikers-island-decry-conditions-20210914-c7tkloonubhmzidc4y3mndbtbq-story.htmlShocked lawmakers touring Rikers Island Monday said they witnessed a detainee attempt suicide at the troubled jail complex in the midst of a humanitarian crisis.
Assemblywoman Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas and state Sen. Jessica Ramos said they were visiting the intake area of the Otis Bantum Correctional Center when they came upon the inmate in distress.
(He) jumped up, climbed the bars, and proceeded to bring a noose around his neck, Gonzalez-Rojas told the Daily News. I looked up, and I saw he was about to release himself from the bars and I kind of started yelling for the corrections officers. It was kind of a panicky moment.
(snip)
Speaking at a press conference after the tour, the legislators said they came upon intake cells where detainees are held upon arriving at the jail crammed with a dozen or more men. Shower stalls doubled as cells and garbage covered the halls. Fecal matter, rotting food, urine and dead cockroaches littered the floor, they said.
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
7 replies, 606 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (11)
ReplyReply to this post
7 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
NYC politicians touring Rikers witness filth, overcrowding and inmate's attempted suicide (Original Post)
WhiskeyGrinder
Sep 2021
OP
Yep, and a lot of people simply don't give a shit, because "prison isn't supposed to be pleasant."
WhiskeyGrinder
Sep 2021
#2
Bedtime kick. Meanwhile, people are ending another day without a hearing.
WhiskeyGrinder
Sep 2021
#7
Treefrog
(4,170 posts)1. No matter how many articles I read about the conditions there,
I have no doubt it is much much worse.
WhiskeyGrinder
(22,153 posts)2. Yep, and a lot of people simply don't give a shit, because "prison isn't supposed to be pleasant."
Treefrog
(4,170 posts)4. I've seen people here call for prison abuse, rape, and even death.
I used to be astonished at seeing that. No more, sadly.
WhiskeyGrinder
(22,153 posts)3. Kick for more details. If you think it's only Rikers, you're wrong.
Link to tweet
I want to share more about what I witnessed at Rikers Island yesterday. We broke into groups to inspect different parts of the sprawling facility. I spent several hours at the Otis Bantum Correctional Center.
OBCC is where people are taken to be processed and wait for a hearing. People are supposed to be in and out within 24 hours.
I met people who had been there for 3 months. No contact with family. Overcrowded. No air conditioning.
There's garbage everywhere, rotting food with maggots, cockroaches, worms in the showers, human feces and piss. Most of the toilets are broken so men are given plastic bags to relieve themselves in.
I was told by many people being held there that they're given a single meal a day, and even that has to be demanded and begged for. Everyone was thirsty and had limited access to water.
Most of the people I met were not at Rikers for serious allegations. One got into a fist fight at a barbecue. Many had accidentally made a small technical violation of their parole.
They were confident these charges would be dismissed once they had a hearing but the hearing date passed and no one came to get them for it.
There's a lot of serious mental illness and many hadn't been given their prescription medication for months.
I met multiple men with broken hands and legs that were not being treated.
The ratio of guards to incarcerated people is something like 7 to 3. The officers hate the conditions too and are doing sick outs or just don't show up at all. The people who do report to work end up having to work 18-24 hour shifts.
Because of the lack of security, everyone's scared their going to be injured or killed. Most people have fashioned some kind of homemade weapon to defend themselves.
The prisoners (who have not actually been convicted of any crime, mind you) get maced regularly. For talking too much. For congregating. For anything really.
Men were calling out phone numbers to me, saying things like, Please call my grandma and tell her where I am! Or would burst into tears and say Ive been praying you would come! Save us! We are going to die!
While one man was begging me to hug him through bars and weeping, around the corner another man yelled to my colleague, "Miss, look at me and turned to see a man jump into a noose he made out of a sheet.
One of the officers told me, "At this point we are on the prisoners' side. We are all forgotten. We live here too. Triple shift by triple shift.
Here's what we can do:
1. Pressure DAs to stop asking for cash bail and consigning people who haven't been convicted to this horror house
2. @NYCMayor
must use his power to release people rapidly
3. @GovKathyHochul
should immediately sign the Less is More legislation
OBCC is where people are taken to be processed and wait for a hearing. People are supposed to be in and out within 24 hours.
I met people who had been there for 3 months. No contact with family. Overcrowded. No air conditioning.
There's garbage everywhere, rotting food with maggots, cockroaches, worms in the showers, human feces and piss. Most of the toilets are broken so men are given plastic bags to relieve themselves in.
I was told by many people being held there that they're given a single meal a day, and even that has to be demanded and begged for. Everyone was thirsty and had limited access to water.
Most of the people I met were not at Rikers for serious allegations. One got into a fist fight at a barbecue. Many had accidentally made a small technical violation of their parole.
They were confident these charges would be dismissed once they had a hearing but the hearing date passed and no one came to get them for it.
There's a lot of serious mental illness and many hadn't been given their prescription medication for months.
I met multiple men with broken hands and legs that were not being treated.
The ratio of guards to incarcerated people is something like 7 to 3. The officers hate the conditions too and are doing sick outs or just don't show up at all. The people who do report to work end up having to work 18-24 hour shifts.
Because of the lack of security, everyone's scared their going to be injured or killed. Most people have fashioned some kind of homemade weapon to defend themselves.
The prisoners (who have not actually been convicted of any crime, mind you) get maced regularly. For talking too much. For congregating. For anything really.
Men were calling out phone numbers to me, saying things like, Please call my grandma and tell her where I am! Or would burst into tears and say Ive been praying you would come! Save us! We are going to die!
While one man was begging me to hug him through bars and weeping, around the corner another man yelled to my colleague, "Miss, look at me and turned to see a man jump into a noose he made out of a sheet.
One of the officers told me, "At this point we are on the prisoners' side. We are all forgotten. We live here too. Triple shift by triple shift.
Here's what we can do:
1. Pressure DAs to stop asking for cash bail and consigning people who haven't been convicted to this horror house
2. @NYCMayor
must use his power to release people rapidly
3. @GovKathyHochul
should immediately sign the Less is More legislation
I'll echo her call: Decarcerate.
cynical_idealist
(357 posts)5. what were those rules about cruel and unusual punishment?
WhiskeyGrinder
(22,153 posts)6. Kicking for an unreformable system.
WhiskeyGrinder
(22,153 posts)7. Bedtime kick. Meanwhile, people are ending another day without a hearing.