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Basically Anyone Can Be A Rikers Guard
By
Lauren Evans
Published Jan 15, 2015
Modified Jan 15, 2015
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By
Lauren Evans
Published Jan 15, 2015
Modified Jan 15, 2015
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Good news, felons! A clean criminal record is not a requirement for a career as a Rikers correction officer, the Times reports. Got a gang affiliation and multiple arrests? No problem! Deep-seated psychological issues? Can't hurt to apply!
The Department of Investigation reviewed the Correction Department's hiring process and discovered "profound dysfunction."
In a review of 153 applications of people the Correction Department recently hired, city investigators found that more than one-third had problems that either should have disqualified them or needed further scrutiny. Ten had been arrested more than once, and 12 had previously been rejected by the New York Police Department, six of them for “psychological reasons”, among other issues. Additionally, 79 had relatives or friends who were current or former inmates, a potential security threat, officials said.
This administrative horrorshow does go a long way toward explaining why Rikers has found itself embroiled in so many awful situations, which include but are not limited to the inmate who was beaten and sodomized by a Correction Officer, the teen who died in solitary from a tear in his aorta, and the mentally ill man who died in solitary after guards declined to check on him.
Other instances of unfit guards mentioned in the piece:
One applicant was found to have had multiple arrests and previously worked at a strip club that had been the subject of criminal investigations.
One of the applicants initially claimed she knew no one incarcerated at Rikers. In fact, investigators discovered that an inmate had called her cellphone 20 times. The report said that the deception was 'completely ignored' and that she was hired.
In another case, an applicant had failed city psychological exams four times for 'poor stress tolerance.' Investigators recommended rejecting her for what they called her poor adjustment “to the demands of adulthood”; she was hired anyway.
"Gang membership is potentially the greatest threat to D.O.C.'s security because gang members generally place their gang allegiance above their C.O. duties," the report said.
If there is a silver lining, it's only that these egregious oversights were made before Joseph Ponte, the current correction commissioner, took over last April. You can judge for yourself whether that information is comforting.
The press agent for the Correction Officers' Benevolent Association did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report.
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Lauren Evans
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