Echoing a trend in other cities and
states, guards in New York City used more force against inmates in 2014 than any other year on record in spite of the reality that the prison population has declined for several years in a row.
Jake Pearson, of the Associated Press described the recent report:
New York City jail guards reported more use of force against inmates in 2014 than ever before - an average of 11 incidents a day ranging from pepper sprayings to punches - amid heightened scrutiny from federal prosecutors to clean up what they call a "deep-seated culture of violence."
Figures obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press via a public records request show correction officers reported using force 4,074 times last year, including 406 incidents alone in September, the month after a scathing federal report that said Rikers Island guards too often resorted to force against teenage inmates.
"There has clearly not been a commitment to date to address officer violence on Rikers Island," said Dr. Bobby Cohen, a member of the jail oversight board who alluded to the record rates at a public meeting Tuesday. "Will that change now? I hope so. I've certainly not seen that before."
The figures come the same day federal prosecutors, who have since sued to speed up the pace of reforms at Rikers, begin three days of negotiations with city lawyers and correction officials over specific language on use-of-force policy, investigations and other jail problems.
Read the disturbing full report from the Department of Justice regarding guard violence at Rikers Island
here. On this past December 18, after months of threatening to intervene at Rikers Island,
the DOJ filed a lawsuit against the jail because of a culture of violence created at the prison.