Rikers could soon have a federal receiver — How have takeovers worked in other U.S. jails?
Corrections departments in California and Chicago highlight benefits and challenges of moves to place chaotic lockups under outside control.
This article was originally published on by THE CITY
As the administration of Mayor Eric Adams resists a growing chorus of calls for a federal judge to appoint a receiver to run the city’s troubled Department of Correction, past takeovers around the country suggest what might be in store.
New York City’s jails have already been under the oversight of a federal court-appointed monitor as a result of a 2011 class-action lawsuit. But under receivership, the judge in that case would appoint a person to take over running Rikers Island and the city’s other jails — where violence far outpaces other lockups throughout the country, a national expert testified before the City Council Wednesday.