Skip to main content

Violence spikes at Rikers Island despite jail population decline

Violent attacks by inmates against each other and Dept. of Correction officers at Rikers Island spiked over the past year even as the jail population dropped, according to new city statistics.

The overall “rate of violent incidents among individuals in custody rose by 24.5%, and the rate of serious injury to individuals in custody as a result of these incidents rose by nearly 24%,” according to the mayor’s annual Management Report released Tuesday.

Slashing and stabbings jumped by 10.4%. Assaults against staff also rose 3.4% percent, leading to a staggering 37% increase in serious injuries to Dept. of Correction officers, the report found.

“There’s really little to no consequence to the inmate for fighting or for bad behavior,” Joseph Russo, president of the Deputy Wardens Association, told The Post.

“So the inmate is not concerned about that when he has a fight with another inmate or assaults staff,” Russo said.

The report, authored by First Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan and Mayor‘s Office of Operations Director Jeff Thamkittikasem, attributes the rise in violence to the declining inmate population that’s part of de Blasio’s plan to close Rikers by 2027.

“As the Department’s overall population has declined, DOC is managing a population made up of individuals with more serious offenses,” Fuleihan and Thamkittikasem say in the report.

“From Fiscal 2018 to Fiscal 2019, the percentage of the population with confirmed gang affiliation rose from 15.4 percent to 16.4 percent,” they note.

Th city’s average daily jail population dipped below 8,000 for the first time last year since 1980.

A DOC spokesman did not immediately return a request for comment.

Credit: Source link

The post Violence spikes at Rikers Island despite jail population decline appeared first on Fox USA Live.



from Fox USA Live https://ift.tt/34VDHCv

Comments

Popular

LPGA's most dominant player this season wins first major title

Jin Young Ko had dominated throughout the early season, only her second on the LPGA Tour. Third place or better in four of five events. No. 1 on the money list. Easily the best finisher on tour this year. Now, the 23-year-old South Korean can add a major championship to her lustrous resume. Playing... from latimes.com - Los Angeles Times http://www.latimes.com/sports/more/la-sp-ana-inspiration-round-4-20190407-story.html>

Review: Animated ‘Chance’ takes on dog fighting with overly earnest yet well-intended spirit

The CG animated feature “Chance” is a well-intended but heavy-handed denunciation of the barbaric blood sport of dog fighting. The title character (voiced by Will Canon) is a dreamer of a pit bull, who believes in a canine god and a peaceful place where “Hatonas” (dogs) can live idyllic lives.... from latimes.com - Los Angeles Times http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-mini-chance-review-20190403-story.html>

Convicted rapist killer strikes again after getting out of jail

A convicted rapist killer who strangled a teen in 1981 and was suspected of cutting out the eyes out of an earlier victim has been arrested on a new rape charge, six years after he got out of jail. Christopher “Crazy Chris” Aniades, 62, is being held on an attempted forcible rape charge after he allegedly attacked the victim, according to the city Department of Correction. He’s being held at the Eric. M Taylor Center in Queens on first degree attempted rape, according to the city Department of Correction website. His arrest on Aug. 2 was based on a warrant issued by the state’s Division of Parole. The NYPD and the state DOC said they couldn’t provide details on Aniades’ latest offense. Aniades, who was released on Aug. 20, 2013 after spending more than 30 years in jail, became a poster boy of the violent 1980s in New York, when homicides routinely reached 2,000 a year. He was sentenced to 25-years to life for abducting, raping and killing 19-year-old Doreen Vitale on Oct. 15 198...