Manhattan: Last week, NYC Department of Correction Commissioner Louis Molina told City Council members that “if nothing changes,” the NYC jail population could increase to more than 7,000 people by 2024. This would surely mean more tragic deaths in DOC custody and worse conditions for officers, who can’t seem to safely manage the number of people in jail already. Those outcomes are unacceptable, and Mayor Adams needs to act now to change course.
New York City is currently funneling more and more vulnerable people into decrepit jails where they aren’t receiving medical care and where the death rate has hit a 25-year high. The number of people in city jails who have a serious mental illness is up more than 20% since Adams took office, and stands at more than 1,000 people today. Of the people being held at Rikers Island, 90% are awaiting trial, but their cases move three times slower than the national average, creating an inflated jail population and incredible frustration.
Theorizing about what will happen if “nothing changes” isn’t leadership, and it certainly isn’t getting stuff done. What is? Building supportive housing, funding community-based treatment and setting up population review teams that have worked in other cities to get people into alternative programs.
New Yorkers know better than to believe filling up Rikers…
