RIKERS ISLAND — The Department of Correction has put forward a host of reforms for troubled Rikers Island — including relying on time outs for unruly inmates instead of solitary confinement.
Commissioner Joseph Ponte released a series of proposed reforms to Rikers Island in the wake of a highly critical report by federal authorities. Several of the changes involve solitary confinement practices at the jail complex.
US Attorney Preet Bharara previously blasted the jail for fostering an "unchecked cycle of violence" against its adolescent inmates following a multiyear investigation into the massive jail complex.
Among the proposed changes are altering where Rikers houses its teenage and young adult inmates, with the eventual goal of housing 18- to 21-year-olds together as part of a special young adult population, according to the DOC.
The DOC is also looking to completely eliminate solitary confinement for 16- and 17-year-olds, a disciplinary practice that Bharara harshly criticized as overused and deeply harmful to teens.
Under the changes, DOC captains would be encouraged to administer alternative punishments, such as withholding recreation time or putting inmates in time out, provided the inmate has only been involved with a minor infraction that was not related to weapons possession or violence, the Associated Press reported.
Additionally, the DOC will have extra maintenance staffers install surveillance cameras as part of the $32.5 million in New York City's budget to improve mental health care and safety in its jails.
Bharara's investigation found that Rikers officers routinely took inmates to sections of the jail where there were no security cameras in order to administer beatings.
The DOC has also hired private consulting firm McKinsey & Company to conduct a thorough review of its policies.
