By STEVE ZEIDMAN / NY DAILY NEWS
Stanley Richards, New York City’s newly appointed Department of Correction commissioner, testified at a recent City Council hearing that Rikers Island was under acute strain and badly in need of an overhaul. In addition to the decaying physical structure, Richards highlighted a decrease in correction officer staffing levels such that people inside do not feel safe.
Rather than adopt the kneejerk suggestion of adding more COs, Richards noted that recruitment alone will not solve the crisis. Instead, he advocated shrinking the jail population, recognizing that if there are too few COs to supervise the jail population, then it is necessary to think about releasing people who present no threat to public safety.
Richards knows what he is talking about. As someone who was formerly Incarcerated, he has firsthand knowledge that there are many people on Rikers who need not be there.
The state Department of Corrections is in strikingly similar dire straits with dilapidated prisons and a decreasing number of COs…