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Number of Rikers correction officers drops under Adams, but still about 3 times the national average
By
Charles Lane
Published Aug 7, 2023
Modified Aug 7, 2023
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By
Charles Lane
Published Aug 7, 2023
Modified Aug 7, 2023
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The number of correction officers staffing New York City’s jails has dipped sharply under Mayor Eric Adams, even as the number of detainees has risen, according to city data.
Still, staffing levels are more than three times what research shows is the national average – with officers in New York City outnumbering the people they oversee.
Since 2021, the number of correction officers at Rikers Island has dropped about 25 percent, according to preliminary figures from the city's Independent Budget Office. The Department of Correction and the mayor’s office both declined to comment on the reasons for the staffing drop, and would not say whether it’s intentional. But the officers’ union, the Correction Officers Benevolent Association, blamed the City Council and former mayor Bill de Blasio for what they called a “staffing crisis.”
“They made our working conditions so bad that people were leaving and resigning at record numbers,” union President Benny Boscio said. “I believe that Adams is trying to hire correction officers. We just had a class of 120 officers in July. They are anticipating another 500-recruit class in October.”
Among city leaders and experts, there is disagreement about the number of correction officers needed at Rikers. While the union maintains that more officers are required, a federal monitor appointed to oversee the jails said in a report last month that the department “has a very rich complement of staff,” but noted that poor supervision and outdated tracking systems have led to unstaffed posts and some staff members working triple shifts.
“Making sure they come to work in the first instance and are then appropriately assigned to posts in a manner that ensures proper coverage in the facilities has always been the issue,” the monitor’s July 10 report said.
Comptroller Brad Lander said even with fewer officers, staffing levels are too high to excuse the violence and deaths reported on Rikers this year.
“Uniformed officers outnumber detained individuals in custody, yet seven people already died in custody [this year] and violent incidents are on the rise – proof that the agency cannot keep incarcerated people or their staff safe,” he said.
A federal judge will hear arguments as soon as this week over whether to appoint a federal receiver of city jails following a series of scathing court filings that described escalating violence and correction officials hiding information about violent incidents, including deaths.
A spokesperson for the Independent Budget Office which tracks Rikers staffing, said the office plans to take a “deeper dive,” into correction officer staffing, but declined to elaborate.
As recently as 2021, correction officials reported that nearly a third of the officers were calling in sick, or otherwise unable to work with detainees. They said at the time that the remaining officers were struggling to do things like deliver food and escort detainees to medical appointments.
Correction officials say they have significantly reduced absenteeism. According to data collected by the comptroller’s office, the number of officers calling out sick fell from a high of 22% in September of 2021 to 7% of all uniformed staff in June.
“This brought back frontline uniform staff to work with persons in custody, while reducing violence,” Department of Correction spokesperson Patrick Rocchio said. “The department is committed to continual improvement of the jail system in this city so that it is safe for all, and rehabilitative for persons in custody.”
According to correction officials, the current number of officers is even lower than what the budget office calculates, showing a 30% reduction in uniform officers over two years, from 8,388 in 2021 to 5,824 in 2024. Even so, officers would continue to outnumber detainees.
Still, reports of correction officers failing to do their basic duties are persistent. Detainees sued the Department of Correction last year, saying officers were failing to bring them to medical appointments. Former detainees and defense attorneys told the City Council that correction officers also are not bringing them to court for their court appearances – even though a main reason people are held at Rikers is to ensure they will come to court.
And officers have been issued procedural violations and suspended when officials said they failed to make rounds and render aid when detainees were sick or in distress. Seven detainees have died this year.
Boscio agreed that conditions in the jails are “a sad situation” and says it’s because officers “are exhausted.”
“They want us to be perfect in this environment,” he said. “There's no way we can physically do this job. We can't defend ourselves. We can't defend the people in custody.”
The average American jail has more than three detainees for every uniformed correction officer, according to a 2021 report by the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics. According to staffing ratios collected by the Vera Institute of Justice, the city averaged 50% to 75% more officers per detainee compared to the rest of the state prior to the pandemic. Since 2020 the state’s ratio has more closely matched that of the city.
“I don't think there's any jurisdiction in this country that has a one-to-one ratio of correction officers to incarcerated people,” said Stanley Richards, a former deputy commissioner of the Department of Correction under Bill de Blasio, and current deputy CEO of Fortune Society, a justice reform nonprofit.
Richards says one reason the jails need so many officers is because the systems there are so antiquated. Officers still use paper-based time logs and manual gate keys, and sprawling facilities require extra people to guard poorly positioned posts and transport detainees.
Civilian employees have replaced higher paid uniformed officers, according to both the union and the federal monitor.
Elizabeth Glazer, founder of the policy journal Vital City and director of the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice under Bill de Blasio, says staffing at the jail is laden with politics. She said the correction officer’s union is powerful – and noted that union officials were present when Adams appointed Correction Commissioner Louis Molina. The union retains power by retaining its workforce and thus, its membership.
“This is a department that has been richly staffed for decades,” she said. Even with a 25% reduction in staff, she says, “it will continue to be the most richly staffed jail in the nation, if not the world.”
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misstated the affiliation of the city's Independent Budget Office. It is a publicly funded agency that provides nonpartisan information about the city's budget to the public and elected officials.
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new york city
public safety
Charles Lane
Charles is a Day-of reporter focused on breaking news and enterprise. He’s very friendly and can be reached at [email protected], or more securely on whatsapp/signal 631-295-6715
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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