Brooklyn Defender Services issued a statement on Tuesday that criticized the New York City Department of Correction (DOC) for what it describes as a continued failure to provide adequate mental health treatment to inmates at Rikers Island.
The response follows a recent report alleging that individuals with mental illness are regularly “locked in” and denied essential care, compounding an already dire situation for vulnerable detainees.
“Three years ago, we filed a class action lawsuit against DOC over its long and persistent failure to provide access to medical care and mental health treatment to New Yorkers incarcerated at Rikers Island,” the statement reads. “Since then, DOC’s denial of access to care has only worsened, with dangerous and deadly results.” According to Brooklyn Defender Services, the latest revelation from a former Rikers social worker is just one example in a pattern of abuse that has been consistently reported by detainees.
The statement also explains that over half of the inmates at Rikers Island have been diagnosed with a mental illness, a systematic failure to provide meaningful care by the DOC, they said.
Many of the so-called “specialized” mental health units are used instead to isolate inmates, a practice that Brooklyn Defender Services argues leads to the deterioration of their conditions. “These ‘lock-ins’ are not documented by DOC, an abuse without a trace and in violation of city rules,” the group states.
Brooklyn Defender Services called for immediate action, including the appointment of a federal receiver to oversee the troubled jail complex and the complete closure of Rikers Island.
Additionally, the group urged a reevaluation of the city’s approach to incarceration, advocating for community-based responses and the passage of the Treatment Not Jail Act to shift the focus from punishment to rehabilitation.
“This new revelation highlights the cruelty and ineffectiveness of using the criminal legal system to address health and mental health concerns,” the group said. The statement added that as New York City plans its borough-based jails, there needs to be a deep review to ensure that future facilities do not replicate these harmful conditions.
In August, the Legal Aid Society and Brooklyn Defender Services filed a new motion in federal court seeking to hold the DOC in contempt for what they called “abject cruelty” in denying detainees access to medical care.
