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Rikers watchdog wins back 'unfettered' access to live video from NYC jails
By
Jessy Edwards
Published Oct 2, 2023
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By
Jessy Edwards
Published Oct 2, 2023
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A government watchdog’s “eyes and ears” inside city jails have been fully restored, thanks to a legal settlement reached with the Adams administration last week.
After more than eight months of being able to access video from city jails only at a designated location and during business hours, the city Board of Correction will regain unfettered access this week, officials said.
The board – which is the government agency tasked with overseeing Rikers Island – sued the city in August, demanding independent access to the video footage be returned under the City Charter, stating its legal right to inspect and visit the facilities at all times. Last week, board members got what they wanted: The Department of Correction settled the litigation, with Department of Correction spokesperson Annais Morales telling Gothamist the department is working to restore video access by this week.
DeAnna Hoskins, vice chair of the city jails watchdog group the Board of Correction, told Gothamist the video access should never have been removed, under the City Charter.
She said it was “unsettling” that Department of Correction Commissioner Louis A. Molina would not speak with the board about the policy change, and that it took litigation to get it restored.
“But also it's a relief that he realized that we were serious in carrying out this charter for the people of New York."
The Board of Correction announced the settlement on Sept. 28, exactly a year after Gothamist published never-before-seen images from Rikers Island that depicted the squalid and deadly conditions in which defendants are held.
The shocking images were prepared by the Board of Correction for an Aug. 2022 presentation for hundreds of prosecutors at the invitation of Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg. They were later obtained by Gothamist through a public information request.
In January, the Adams administration abruptly blocked the board from independently accessing video footage from inside the jails. The Department of Correction, which runs the jails, did not give a reason for the move.
Under the January policy change, the board was still able to watch videos if members or staff requested to do so at a designated location during business hours. But they lost unfettered access to video footage, both archived and in real time, from about 14,000 wall-mounted surveillance cameras in the jails, as well as footage from officers’ body-worn and handheld cameras.
Hoskins said eight months without independent video access has hurt the board. Any complaints the board needed to investigate in recent months had to be done under the eye of the department, in a certain room, she said. "They still want to control and monitor us."
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new york city
public safety
Jessy Edwards
Jessy Edwards covers incarceration and public safety. Before working at Gothamist/WNYC, she covered daily and breaking news at NBC New York and Brooklyn news at BK Reader. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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