11/30/2023 0 Comments Lock up prisoners of rikers island![]() ![]() claims that “violence by the DOC staff against detainees rose every year from 2008 to 2014”. One doesn’t have to look far to find a slew of examples, although these reported incidents represent only a small percentage of total occurrences. Reporting abuse from a C.O often leads to even more abuse, perpetuating a silence from the incarcerated and a mentality of “just dealing with it”. The emotional abuse is equally disturbing, with the use of solitary confinement having become the norm, even being used simply because there was a need to open a bed. brutality towards detainees, and the use of a force and the guard culture of abuse towards prisoners is only worsening. Riker’s deeply ingrained culture of violence poses a particularly troubling problem, because it is not something that a policy change, new regulation, or any other Band-Aid solution can correct. In July 2015 alone (Surico, 2016), Rikers experienced 21 slashings and one stabbing. There have been frequent accounts of C.O. To be frank, Riker’s Island is beyond fixing. The only logical remedy for the violent culture, high costs, and physical deterioration of the jail is to shut down the facility and make better use of the literal pile of garbage that it sits on. Opponents of shutting down the prison argue that we should reform the prison by using tighter regulations and new policies for guards, surveillance cameras, protection for minors, and different hiring practices for C.O.s. But the term “reform” is defined as “making changes in something in order to improve it”, implying that only certain aspects of the institution are flawed, but that the institution itself is not. This is not the case the very foundation of Riker’s Island is iniquitous.įrom its origins, racism has been embedded in the prison’s culture, named after Richard Riker who assisted in the kidnapping and selling of free black individuals without trial ( Surico, 2016). Now, 85 years after its opening, Riker’s Island serves as a costly, modern day slavery mechanism for the poor, the addicted and the mentally ill, propagating corruption and mistreatment. prison system, in general, is incredibly flawed and destructive, Riker’s Island is particularly notorious for its corruption and the disregard for human rights. al, 2015). Those who have the misfortune of being sent to the island are subjected to brutal abuse and deprived of necessary resources, only to be released into a society that looks at “ex-convicts” as the lowest class of people. And while the U.S. Riker’s Island -the second largest jail in the country- is “home” to anywhere from 7,800 to 10,000 individuals ( Goldstein et. ![]()
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