Violence by Rikers Guards Grew Under Bloomberg

[WhiskeyGrinder]

The portrait that emerged from the report on Rikers Island by the United States attorney’s office in Manhattan last week was of a place with almost medieval levels of violence, meted out with startling ferocity by guards and their superiors.

The two-and-a-half-year investigation, which focused on the abuse of teenage inmates by correction staff, was exhaustive in cataloging the brutality. But a critical question that went unaddressed is how conditions were allowed to get to this point.

(snip)

But conditions worsened substantially under the administration of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, which reduced jail staff and failed to curb escalating violence by guards, according to former correction officials, inmates’ advocates and others intimately familiar with the jail.

As mayor, Mr. Bloomberg earned a reputation for being a consummate manager who leveraged his private sector experience to tackle municipal problems. But he never made Rikers a high priority, at a time when conditions were drastically deteriorating, according to people familiar with its problems. During Mr. Bloomberg’s last term, use of force by officers on inmates jumped by 90 percent, according to Correction Department data. Inmates’ advocates and public officials charged with overseeing the jails said they pleaded for the administration to address the issue.

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/14/nyregion/why-violence-toward-inmates-at-rikers-grew.html

[left-of-center2012]

1. I'll add the link not included in the OP

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/14/nyregion/why-violence-toward-inmates-at-rikers-grew.html

[WhiskeyGrinder]

2. Thanks, I'm multitasking and forgot.