NEW YORK – A second person in three days died in custody at New York City’s troubled Rikers Island prison complex, marking the 12th such death so far this year amid growing calls from representatives and advocates of Congress to close the facility forever.
The person, who has not been identified, died shortly before 11:00 am Wednesday at Lincoln Hospital, the Rikers Vernon C. Bain Center Department of Prisons said. The coroner is investigating the cause of death.
Authorities said the individual appeared to be in medical danger and emergency medical protocols were activated, although other details about the case were not immediately released until a full investigation is completed.
“I am devastated to see that we have another death in custody and I am determined to stop this heartbreaking trend,” DOC Commissioner Vincent Schiraldi said in a statement. “We are doing everything we can to remedy the unprecedented crisis we are experiencing in our prisons. My thoughts and prayers are with the person’s loved ones.”
Just a few days ago on Sunday night, Rikers reported another death in custody. In that case, DOC officials said the person was “not feeling well” Sunday night and was sent to the jail medical clinic, where he was administered CPR. In this case, the cause of death is also being investigated.
Wednesday’s events come a day after four Democratic members of Congress demanded the immediate shutdown of Rikers due to the death on Sunday night, which at the time was the 11th this year.
Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Jerry Nadler, Jamaal Bowman and Nydia Velázquez called conditions in the jail “deplorable and nothing short of a humanitarian crisis,” in a letter Tuesday to New York Governor Kathy Hochul and the mayor of New York City, Bill de Blasio.
In their letter, members of the House said the jail has failed to provide inmates with basic services and protection against the spread of COVID-19, and lawmakers on a recent visit to the facility found conditions that were “dire and life-threatening. “.
They reported overflowing toilets and floors covered in dead roaches, feces and rotting food. State Assemblywoman Jessica González-Rojas said inmates told her they felt treated like slaves and animals.
It was not immediately clear from the letter whether the four members of the Chamber were calling for all inmates, including those detained for violent crimes, to be immediately released or for some to be transferred to other facilities.
When asked about Rikers on Wednesday, before the latest death was announced, de Blasio said the intake process has been a critical issue and vowed to end triple shifts in October. The city will reward the vast majority of correctional officers who continued to work despite challenges and will give bonuses to officers for triple shifts that continue to work.
“We are going to be very hard on people who are absent without permission,” added the mayor.
He promised to visit the facilities “when the time is right.”
Both de Blasio and Hochul have announced plans to try to improve conditions on Rikers Island, where long-standing problems worsened amid the pandemic.
Hochul’s press secretary Hazel Crampton-Hays said the governor “took swift action to free hundreds of people incarcerated at Rikers and improve justice and security,” and promised further action.
At least five of the inmates who died on Rikers Island this year died in suspected suicides. Authorities have said the deteriorating conditions in the jail came amid a slowdown in court proceedings, leaving more inmates in jail awaiting trial and a chronic shortage of staff.
At one point this summer, more than a third of the city’s jail guards were on sick leave or in no condition to work with inmates. Some guards did not work shifts without explanation.
The DOC said it is “working tirelessly to continue to improve conditions for the Rikers, including releasing eligible individuals under the Less is More Act, increasing accountability for absent employees, expediting admission to create more space, and utilizing emergency contracts to ensure quick repairs and deep cleaning. “
Michael Skelly, a spokesman for the Benevolent Association of Corrections Officers, which represents jail guards, dismissed the letter from members of Congress.
“Closing Rikers is a topic of conversation and not a reality at this time. We have 6,000 inmates. No new prisons have been built yet, “he said.” Where are they going to go? “
He encouraged members of Congress concerned about Rikers to use their power to accelerate the construction of new prisons, plans for which they have met with opposition from the community. Skelly said those jails won’t open until at least 2027 and, combined, they would have a maximum capacity of 3,300 inmates.
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