Grassroots Effort Launches to Reform NYC Jails, Combat Culture of Brutality at Department of Correction
NYC Has One of the Highest Rates of Solitary Confinement in U.S.
By 2013, NYC Department of Correction (DOC) Will Have Increased Solitary Confinement Cells by 69%
Lawsuits against Correction Officers Cost City Millions, Yet Funding for Officer Training Down 40%; Top DOC Officials Have History of Brutality
New York, NY – A grassroots effort to reform New York City jails launched with a protest outside a meeting of the Board of Correction, where NYC Department of Correction (DOC) Commissioner Dora Schriro was present. The protest marked the first public action of the New York City Jails Action Coalition, a collection of activists working to improve conditions, stop the use of solitary confinement, and increase transparency and accountability at the DOC. As the Commissioner and Board Members entered the building, activists held signs calling out the DOC’s most brutal officers.
Amidst a national conversation on ending the abusive practice of solitary confinement, the NYC Department of Correction is partway through its plan to increase solitary confinement capacity by 69% by the end of Fiscal Year 2013. New York City jails have one of the highest rates of solitary confinement in the U.S.— by FY13, NYC’s rate will be up to five times the national average, with 9-10% of the jail population in solitary confinement at any one time.
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