City Department of Correction Commissioner Joseph Ponte.
Photo Courtesy of DOC
With Rikers Island wracked by a slew of headline-grabbing scandals over the past year, the commissioner of the Department of Correction this week outlined a package of reforms aimed at reducing jail violence, and enhancing the safety of staff and inmates.
Commissioner Joseph Ponte, speaking in front of the city Board of Correction on Tuesday, announced that the department’s reforms call for installing security cameras in every DOC facility on Rikers Island within the next 18 months. Cameras, Ponte noted, serve both as investigative tools and as deterrents to inmates and staff from violating Department policies.
“We expect to install over 7,800 new cameras facility wide, which will almost triple the number of cameras throughout the Department of Correction,” Ponte said.
Additionally, Ponte asked the board to approve what he called three “major reforms to punitive segregation,” that were designed based on his experience at other jail systems, research and concerns raised by advocacy groups. The reforms include: eliminating the use of punitive segregation—solitary confinement—for adolescents (16-17 year olds) by the end of the year; eliminating punitive segregation for “time owed” by inmates returning to city jails; placing a cap on punitive segregation—Ponte said he wants to reduce the maximum amount of time an inmate can spend in punitive segregation to 30 days from the current 90 days.
At the heart of Pomte’s reform package is the creation of Enhanced Supervision Housing on Rikers Island, which has been described as a non-punitive, highly secure housing unit for the small number of highly dangerous inmates who are responsible for most of the violence in city jails. ESH will feature higher staff-to-inmate ratio and at least 7 hours of mandated out-of-cell time, will also limit inmate movement and lower the risk of violence by bringing BOC-mandated services, such as law library and congregate services, to the housing unit, instead of requiring staff to escort inmates to these services elsewhere in the building, as is done in general population.
Also, beginning this week, inmates who are male but identify as female can voluntarily move into a new, separate transgender unit.
“For too long, the Department of Correction has operated under one size fits all practices that neglected to recognize the unique needs of diverse jail populations,” said City Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley, chairwoman of the Fire and Criminal Justice Services Committee. “I commend Commissioner Ponte for helping move the department into the 21st century.”
By Michael V. Cusenza
