A Roadmap to Closing Rikers
A Roadmap to Closing Rikers
“Closing Rikers Island is a key piece of creating a smaller, safer and fairer criminal justice system in New York City. It is the right thing to do, but will take time, the effort of many and tough decisions along the way.” -Mayor Bill de Blasio
This website shows New York City’s roadmap to closing Rikers Island and replacing it with a smaller network of modern jails. Track our progress and get involved.
01
Safely reduce the size of the jail population by 25% in the next five years
New York City has the lowest incarceration rate of any large city in the country. The strategies below will move us even further toward the smallest jail system possible without compromising public safety. This is a matter of justice: no one should be incarcerated who does not pose a risk, either to public safety or of not returning to court. It is also a matter of pragmatism: the smaller the jail population, the easier it becomes to close jails on Rikers Island.
Making it easier to pay bail could reduce the average daily jail population by 200 people. Key strategies include: helping defendants and their families post bail before the defendant enters jail by making bail payment easier and faster; launching a charitable bail fund to help some defendants and their families for whom low amounts of bail can be out of reach financially; and launching an online bail payment system.
Projected Population Reduction: -200
Expanding pre-trial diversion could reduce the average daily jail population by 500 people. A new alternative to jail program called “Supervised Release” serves 3,300 people per year and has had a 92% success rate in defendants returning to courts since it was launched in March 2016. Beginning in spring 2017, the program now offers expanded support for people with behavioral health needs by including peers and additional masters-level clinical social workers.
Projected Population Reduction: -500
Replacing short jail sentences with programs that reduce reoffending could reduce the average daily jail population by 300 people. There are approximately 9,000 admissions to jail every year on sentences of less than 30 days. Many of these individuals have had multiple, short stays in jail over the course of their adult lives—a pattern often exacerbated by behavioral health needs. To help change this pattern, the City is rolled out new alternatives to short jail sentences. These programs serve around 300 people per month.
Projected Population Reduction: -300
Providing updated information to judges to assist in their assessment of a defendant’s risk of flight could reduce the average jail population by 710. Since the 1960s, the City has interviewed all arraigned individuals and provided an assessment to the courts on that person’s likelihood of returning for future court dates. The City is currently working to update the instrument using more recent data and new technologies that will allow for more accurate assessments.
Projected Population Reduction: -710
Reducing case delay could reduce the average daily jail population by 450. The single largest driver of the jail population is the length of time people are held pretrial. Today, the average length of stay for individuals facing violent felony charges is 111 days, and for those facing homicide charges 390 days. For the last two years, an initiative called Justice Reboot has brought together leadership from every part of the criminal justice system to identify and resolve causes of delay.
Projected Population Reduction: -450
To reduce the number of state technical parolees in city jails – and the average daily population by at least 170 – the City recommends that the State: take steps to reduce the length of time it takes to process a state parole violation and the time it takes to transfer an individual from city jails back to state prison after a state parole hearing; and expand alternative to jail programs to serve state technical parole violators.
Projected Population Reduction: -170
When New York City began implementing the plan to close Rikers Island, the average daily jail population was 9,400 - 50% lower than in 1990 and 18% lower than when Mayor de Blasio took office. The tracker below shows progress toward our goal of safely reducing the jail population.
The strategies below are driving the decline in the size of the population. As those strategies continue to reduce the number of people who pose little risk in city jails, those who remain in jail will be facing serious charges or pose a high risk, which will make further safe reductions more difficult. Check back regularly to see which initiatives are having the greatest effect and for new ideas on how we can safely reduce the jail population further.
02
Ensure that everyone who works and is incarcerated in city jails is in a safe, modernized and humane facility as quickly as possible
The physical conditions in jails have a profound effect on safety and on whether jails are places of isolation and despair or of stability and hope. While we work toward the longer-term goal of closing the Rikers Island jails, we must act now to improve the conditions for the people who work and are incarcerated in the city’s existing jails, both on- and off-Island.
In 2016, the City announced its commitment to transfer all adolescents off of Rikers Island and into a setting more appropriate for juveniles. This work is in progress now. In effect, this move will mean transferring the adolescent population off Rikers Island and into dedicated facilities that align with a recent change in state law that raises the age of criminal responsibility – a change for which the City had advocated. As of Oct. 1, 2018, all 16 and 17 year olds will be moved off Rikers Island into facilities that are more appropriate for juveniles.
By 2020, the City will triple the number of dedicated mental health housing units to a total of twelve. Approximately 11% of the NYC jail population has been diagnosed with a serious mental illness, and almost one third of the population has some kind of psychiatric diagnosis. Since 2015, the City has opened dedicated housing units that offer enhanced staffing and clinical care to treat those with serious mental illness – this model has been shown to reduce violent incidents by 76%.
To achieve the goal of providing more and better training that equips all corrections officers with the tools necessary to be successful, and ongoing professional development opportunities for in-service staff, the City has allocated $100 million for a new Department of Correction Training Academy. At the same time, the City will continue to expand training options, including specialized skills development and best practices in conflict de-escalation.
Over the next five years, the City will bring existing facilities, including facilities on Rikers Island, to a state of good repair. This will not only materially improve conditions for the people working and incarcerated in these facilities but will maximize housing, preparing the City for the necessary consolidation of a shrinking jail population into a smaller number of jails.
Continued investment in technology will play a key role in the modernization of our jails and in making available the kind of information that will ensure they are safe and productive environments. The Department of Correction has already launched a new incarcerated individual tracking solution to help prevent violence. Additionally, the City has invested over $64 million in full camera coverage in every jail on and off Rikers Island, which has been completed in all housing units on Rikers Island and will be complete everywhere else by the end of this year.
The way jail environments are structured—with attention to light, space, sound, and feel—shapes the behavior, safety, and well-being of those who work and are incarcerated inside. Below are some of the design principles that will be critical as we work to ensure that everyone in city custody is in a modern, safe and humane facility as quickly as possible.
03
Change the culture and purpose of jail so staff and incarcerated individuals are treated with dignity and provided with opportunity
Our goal is to build on the progress made to date to transform the culture inside the city’s jails into one of safety and respect. Improving culture includes providing staff with the support to serve the public at the highest levels of integrity and offering incarcerated individuals the educational, therapeutic, and vocational programming that can permit a more stable future and reduce the likelihood of returning to jail following release. Below are the strategies that will move us toward a fairer jail system.
The City will improve visits to Rikers Island by renovating visit areas, training staff on department policy and community engagement, revamping protocols that encourage families with children under six to visit, and piloting expedited transportation options. Established research has shown that incarcerated people’s ability to maintain community connections, including through visits, is key to reducing reoffending. The City recently launched express shuttle buses that take visitors from central locations throughout the City directly to Rikers Island.
Every person who enters city jails will be offered customized programming for at least 5 hours per day that address vocational, educational, therapeutic and other needs in an individualized way as well as new employment and other stabilizing supports after returning to the community. This new system helps people lay a foundation that can prevent future interaction with the criminal justice system.
In the last three years, New York City has reduced the use of punitive segregation on Rikers Island by 90%. We are the first jurisdiction in the country to announce a complete end to solitary confinement for individuals under 22 years of age. Additionally, we have completely eliminated the practice for women and continue to reduce the use of punitive segregation by developing safe alternatives for the rest of the jail population.
As of May 2018, everyone leaving city jails after serving a sentence is offered paid, short-term transitional employment to help with securing a long-term job. Research has shown that connecting those recently released from prison to short-term transitional jobs can reduce reoffending by 22%.
To better support correctional staff, the City is incorporating peer mentorship for new recruits and supportive services for staff to deal with distress and trauma. Additionally, by the end of 2017, every facility will have a dedicated clinic for officers who may become injured on the job.
The culture inside jails can determine whether they are places of despair or places of hope. Educational and therapeutic programming – instead of idle isolation – can reduce violence and the likelihood that incarcerated people will return to jail in the future. Professional development opportunities for staff can support them to serve the public at the highest levels of integrity. Below are success stories from a culture already beginning to change.
A corrections officer at Rikers, Officer Michael Bernstein has seen dramatic improvements since the City recently opened dedicated housing units for individuals with serious mental illness.
Officer Bernstein remembers the minimal officer training and medical services available for incarcerated individuals suffering from mental health problems when he began working at Rikers in 2004. Back then, most individuals struggled with medicine compliance, and would cycle constantly between the hospital and jail, dealing with spouts of aggression.
Since dedicated mental health units opened on Rikers Island in 2013, however, Officer Bernstein has witnessed remarkable improvements: nearly 100% medicine compliance and significantly reduced acts of aggression and violence. Officer Bernstein attributes these successes to the sense of calm and community among officers, mental health professionals, and incarcerated individuals in these units. Incarcerated individuals have their own living space, individual therapy sessions, and group meetings without the punitive aspect of segregation. He also sees that violence has been reduced due to the mental health and de-escalation training new correction officers receive.
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Mr. B participated in one of the City’s reentry programs, which aim to reduce recidivism by supporting people who are at the highest risk for re-incarceration to successfully reintegrate into their families and communities.
Mr. B had cycled through the criminal justice system for many years—he estimates that he had spent at least half his life behind bars by the time he met Anthony Diaz from the Osborne Association, a non-profit organization that partners with the City to provide reentry services. He remembers the day well, just over a year ago, when Anthony stopped him out on the yard at Rikers, shook his hand, looked him in the eye, and asked him to join their meeting. Mr. B went and was impressed by how Anthony spoke to him. He signed up for a trade program for custodial maintenance and has been involved with the City’s reentry program that provides support both before and after release ever since.
After his release, Osborne helped Mr. B secure supportive housing, find work, and connect to continued mental health treatment. He was hired on the spot for two jobs, and now works for a state agency, as well as behind the scenes at a theatre in Harlem.
Mr. B currently spends five days a week at Osborne—going to meetings, checking in with his counselors, leading peer groups, fulfilling his duties as the president of the Osborne Alumni Association, and connecting with the people he credits for keeping him positive. He says that he loves being able to walk down the street in his community and be idolized as a clean, sober, positive role model. Reflecting on his personal journey, Mr. B explains, “I don’t forget where I came from. I just ask for forgiveness. Every day I ask for forgiveness. Every fiber in my body is working for that.”
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Jamaal was a recent participant in the City’s Supervised Release program, which allowed him to wait for trial at home instead of in jail, while connecting him to support services and a committed case worker.
When Jamaal was brought to court on a nonviolent felony charge last year, he assumed, given his criminal history, that he would be held in jail pretrial. However, at arraignment, his defense attorney suggested the Supervised Release program as an alternative to detention, and the judge agreed.
Jamaal was able to remain at home with his family and continue working while awaiting trial, as long as he regularly kept in touch with his case worker, John, from Bronx Community Solutions, and checked in with the court. After a few months, Jamaal successfully completed his Supervised Release program, and his felony charge was ultimately reduced to a misdemeanor, which did not require any jail time. Jamaal now does maintenance work for a national non-profit organization.
Jamaal says that before his participation in the Supervised Release program, he always had “dead-end jobs,” but was supported to “do a lot better than what I was doing.” The Supervised Release program has made an enormous difference in Jamaal’s life. In Jamaal’s own words, “I’m just grateful that the program exists, and even more grateful that John is in it. Without it, I don’t know where I’d be right now.”
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