The city correction commissioner on Wednesday announced new security and safety protocols to safeguard staff following a rash of assaults on civilian employees and officers on Rikers Island.
Newly minted jails commissioner Joseph Ponte also demanded a joint investigation into “training and safety protocols in city jails” with the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and union groups.
The move comes after The Post exclusively reported last week about the existence of a Bloods gang “hit list” targeting officers and supervisors on Rikers Island amid a rash of assaults.
“The staff members who serve in our city’s jails perform admirable work in difficult conditions, and we are committed to keeping these employees safe from harm’s way,” Ponte said in a statement.
These new safety measures are a strong step toward ensuring our employees are fully protected from violence, and we will continue to work with mental health experts and union representatives to develop long-term initiatives that will provide a safe working environment for all our staff,” he added.
Ponte’s solutions to stop attacks on jail staff are:
- Relocating the psych clinic on Rikers Island to a bigger area with more prisoner holding pens and additional open space. That would curb the interactions between staff and inmates.
- Allocating additional security staff in key parts of Rikers, such as the dental area, which previously had “blind spots” where medical staff were alone with prisoners.
- Addressing the concerns of medical staff, who have given input to the wardens of each city jail. The staff’s requests included panic alarms, security mirrors and plexi-glass barriers on offices.
- Better communication among staff during shift changes to flag patients who may pose safety concerns.
- Safety seminars by wardens in each facility for civilian staff.