A Department of Corrections detainee was pronounced dead Wednesday morning, the 12th person to die this year while in department custody.
The Corrections Department confirmed to NY1 that the detainee was taken from the Vernon C. Bain Center – a floating jail across from Rikers in the Bronx – and taken to Lincoln Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The circumstances of the case are not yet clear.
NY1 Noticias reserves the name of the detainee pending notification of his family. The deceased was 34 years old.
“I am devastated to see that we have another death in custody, and I am determined to stop this heartbreaking trend,” Department of Corrections Commissioner Vincent Schiraldi said in a statement.
“We are doing everything possible to remedy the unprecedented crisis that we are experiencing in our prisons. My thoughts and prayers are with the loved ones of the individual,” he added.
Records show that the detainee had been in the custody of the Department of Correction since December 2019.
For months, the Department of Corrections has been under fire, with the Rikers prison complex in a state of crisis stemming from a lack of adequate staffing and management, as well as a growing prison population.
Detainees, their families and several lawmakers who have visited the jail in recent days have said conditions on the island amount to a humanitarian crisis.
So far, Mayor Bill de Blasio has responded by hiring more officers and suspending those who have not shown up for work.
This week, the administration has also mobilized to open an additional accommodation unit and intake center to alleviate overcrowded conditions.
It is unclear whether officials have provided adequate staff to work in the newly opened units.
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