The fallout from the 22-day strike by state correction officers which ended Monday has put more than 300 people awaiting transfers to state prison into limbo — one of a series of issues that city officials said Tuesday are causing crowding and staffing problems in the city jails.
The 344 people people held on Rikers Island are awaiting transfer upstate to either begin their sentences or return to continue their sentences, correction officials said Tuesday in a Board of Correction hearing. But the state has delayed those transfers until at least March 31, said Ray Sanchez, an assistant deputy warden.
The disclosure was made during a discussion over a DOC request to increase beds in three jails because of overcrowding.
The bigger issue is the ever-growing jail population — 6,760 as of February, a 32% increase during Mayor Adams’ tenure and at least a 67% increase from what it was following the pandemic-era releases that drove the population below 4,000.
An aerial view of Rikers Island. (Todd Maisel/New York Daily News)
James Conway, DOC’s general counsel and a former NYPD lawyer, attributed the growing population in part to the changes to laws governing discovery in criminal cases.
“We don’t have control over who comes to the jails. We don’t have turnstile jumpers or pickpockets in our custody right now,” Conway said. “The reality is … we have a pretrial detention population that is immense. Every single one of the adjournments that you see, 70% of which are [for] serious violent felony offenses, are because of discovery compliance.”
Countered Dr. Bobby Cohen, a board member, “The fact it was down to 3,500 four years ago shows that when you work with the judges and the DA’s you can reduce the population substantially.”
Conway called the point “unproductive and unfair.”
“Since 2019 if you talk to any DA, discovery has been a problem,” he said, adding, “We want less population, unequivocally.”
As the population has increased, the number of city correction officers have fallen — from 10,577 in 2019 to 5,946 as of February, Conway said, blaming it in part on a hiring freeze that followed approval of the Close Rikers plan.
Kayla Simpson of the Legal Aid Society attributed the staffing issues to inefficient deployment of officers.
“For years DOC was covering up underlying dysfunction in how to staff the jails with band-aid measures, so when staff started calling out sick en masse, it wasn’t just a problem, it was a crisis,” Simpson said. “We should be using these moments to get to the root of problems.”
Correction Commissioner Lynelle Maginley-Liddie has released 83 people serving city sentences since January 2024. The releases were done under the so-called “6A” power which allows early releases of sentenced people with exceptions for violent crimes and sex crimes — a tool that advocates have called on the city to make use of much more often.
“I was one of those turnstile jumpers,” said Helen Skipper, the board’s vice chair. “Regardless of the crime, they should be eligible for the 6A program. You’re talking about people, whether they are turnstile jumpers or axe murderers,” she added.
“I don’t know that I could agree with that premise,” Conway said.
As the debate closed, the board unanimously approved adding beds to the three jails, the Otis Bantum Correctional Center, the West Facility and the Eric M. Taylor Center.