Rikers Island is basically unraveling

[Fizzzzle]

NYC jails boss admits 'serious problems' at Rikers Island

NYPOST.COM

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Correction Commissioner Vincent Schiraldi acknowledged "serious problems" at Rikers Island, after The Post revealed clips of inmates attacking another and a group of inmates partying in a cell.

 

 

It says they have about 5,600 inmates awaiting trial. They have severe staffing shortages, leading to one guard having to watch multiple blocks at a time, working double shifts. That means inmates are more or less left up to their own devices, which means lots of drugs. About 500 doors don't lock. They haven't fired a corrections officer since 2019 because... well, they can't. Having worked a job in a similar position before (I could theoretically do whatever I want because I know I won't be fired), I can only imagine what pieces of shit most of the guards are.

 

Rikers is a notable example because it's the second largest jail in the country (largest is LA county), but staffing shortages have been plaguing jails everywhere. Prisons typically aren't as bad, since prisons tend to be built in the middle of nowhere with small towns that basically serve them. For jails, it's a different story. They're in the middle of the city. There are other employment options that don't involve risking your life and sanity every day.

 

However, I have a solution. I know this sounds crazy. Radical, even. But... I don't know...

 

Pay the guards more money?

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

This premise assumes that Riker's was ever "raveled" to begin with.

[Ricofoley]

27 minutes ago, Fizzzzle said:

However, I have a solution. I know this sounds crazy. Radical, even. But... I don't know...

 

Pay the guards more money?

I was gonna say maybe we could try not incarcerating more people than any other country in the developed world, but it occurs to me that that's probably not on the table for the short term

[SimpleG]

3 hours ago, Fizzzzle said:

Pay the guards more money?

I am always an advocate for more pay , it really wont fix anything though. The most hated parted of my job is going to correctional facilities and setting up the controls for MC. I spend long swaths of time with the staff and I get an inside view that most dont. It really is a vicious circle, CO's are trained to be assholes and treat inmates as already guilty, they see them as animals. In turn the poor treatment the inmates receive makes them act out completing the circle. Just to give you an idea at one location there was inmate awaiting trial who was obviously out of his element. He was housed in a dorm style open bunk pod that had about 40 other inmates, he was in his late 30's early 40's badly over weight and absolutely terrified. The jail would not let him have his breathing machine at night to help him sleep, so in turn he would snore so loud he would keep the other inmates awake. That lasted about 2 nights until they started kicking the shit out of the guy for keeping them up, the guards thought they were "toughening him up". The dude attempted to kill himself in the showers on the 5th night. The guards thought it was hilarious. 

 

Better pay will bring in a better class of people but the training and mentality need to be fixed before .

 

On a side note, prisons are 10x better then jails to work at. The CO's are much more even tempered and so are the inmates.