Robert Cohen, with the Board of Correction. "It's a permanent solitary confinement unit for people in protective custody whose problem is they need special protection," said Dr. Critics claim the department keeps those inmates locked in their cells for too long, violating their own standards. That area houses some of the island's most dangerous inmates.īoth advocates and the department's oversight board have slammed the administration for housing dangerous inmates and inmates in protective custody in the same area at the West Facility. It actually withdrew a proposal for an area known as the West Facility. "So we are not going to close the unit today, but we are going to try to work with the advocates to find a way to keep the unit open to everyone's satisfaction but we have to deal with the contrary piece of the law," Commissioner Ponte said.Įlsewhere the department was trying to avoid controversy. On its face, it is a firm commitment to reduce sexual assaults in jails.īut part of that federal regulation prohibits the segregation of transgender inmates based on their anatomy, which means it threatens the city's transgender unit. The Board of Correction approved new rules on Tuesday to make the city comply with much of the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act. "It's our understanding it would be contrary to the current law as we have the unit set up today," the Correction Commissioner said. Now, because of a federal regulation the city is trying to comply with, that special unit may be phased out. Two years ago, the city's Department of Correction set up a segregated unit on Rikers where transgender female inmates would be held - safely. "There are safety issues and safety concerns." "Generally they are at risk in jails and prisons," said Department of Correction Commissioner Joseph Ponte. There are not a lot of transgender inmates on Rikers Island. But by complying with federal guidelines it may have to get rid of a special unit that does just that. Follow Maysoon Khan on Twitter.The city says it wants to protect inmates from sexual assault on Rikers Island. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Maysoon Khan is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Home-cooked or baked foods were not allowed even before the new package policy was implemented. It was updated on Augto correct two erroneous examples of the kinds of items prisoners could no longer receive, citing home-cooked meals and cookies. This story was first published on August 14, 2022. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, because of public backlash and criticism. It was quickly rescinded by then-New York Gov. The package restriction was first introduced in 2018 through a pilot program at three state prisons, where families could only send packages through a list of six preapproved online vendors. More than 60 families of inmates sent grievance letters to New York Assemblymember David Weprin, the Democratic chair of the Assembly’s Committee on Correction. “My husband basically thinks this is one more way to deprive him of his basic necessities,” Hansen said. Hansen, whose husband is serving time for killing a cab driver, said having to order goods through vendors that charge “ridiculous prices,” was no solution to the contraband problem. “I tried to do fresh, but it wasn’t a good idea because they’d hold it in their storage rooms and it would go bad.” “Most of it was nonperishable items,” said Watson, who lives in Buffalo. Those checks, though, aren’t perfect, and authorities believe items slip through. If there is reason for suspicion, officers are allowed to open sealed packages for further inspection. When packages are received by a prison, officers remove the items from the box to inspect the items visually or through an X-ray machine. New York’s Department of Corrections and Community Supervision said in a statement that the two new policies are necessary to stop contraband.Ĭontraband has been smuggled into prisons in a number of ways: books laced with heroin, weapons and unauthorized electronics like phones hidden in packages, and letter mail soaked in drugs like methamphetamine or a synthetic cannabinoid, also known as K2. The federal Bureau of Prisons began a similar practice in 2019. Multiple states including Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, Nebraska and Pennsylvania, already photocopy incoming mail to prevent drugs from being delivered to inmates. The change is being made to try and head off a trend of people soaking letters in drugs to smuggle them past authorities.
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