Rikers Island Guards Still Using Excessive At 'Alarming Rate,' Report Says
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A report issued Monday by a federal monitor overseeing reforms at the Rikers Island jail complex says guards continue to use excessive force at an "alarming rate.''
The report said inmates have been unnecessarily struck in the head while handcuffed, slammed against walls, put into chokeholds and doused with pepper spray.
The report claims these incidents are often not reported accurately and sometimes ignored.
Department of Correction Commissioner Joseph Ponte said the department is moving quickly to fix these issues. He says uses of force at facilities housing its youngest inmates are the lowest they have been in years.
The independent monitor was installed after a 2015 agreement to settle civil litigation over pervasive brutality at Rikers.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said last week he wants to close Rikers over the next decade.
A 148-page report released Sunday outlines plans for replacing the city's main jail with smaller community jails in the city's five boroughs. The five new facilities would be near county courthouses and the city said they would be smaller, safer and more humane.
Closing the infamous penitentiary requires cutting the city's prison population almost in half -- to around 5,000 inmates -- using bail reform, new sentencing procedures, and other strategies.
(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
