Council Members Kevin Riley & Lincoln Restler:
A Pathway to Ending Mass Incarceration in New York City
INTRODUCTION
In 2019, the New York City Council took the long-overdue step of voting to close Rikers Island. By law, the jails must be closed by August 31, 2027.
For decades, Rikers Island has been an inhumane jail complex that exposes vulnerable New Yorkers to trauma and instability and leaves people in worse condition than when they entered.
36 incarcerated people have died in the last two years. Violence threatens everyone inside the jails, and the City remains unable to consistently provide basic services or consistently deliver pre-trial detainees to court hearings.
90% of the people on Rikers are Black or Latinx. Black people are jailed at 11.6 times the rate of white people in our city. Beyond the humanitarian crisis Rikers represents, this treatment of people in jail decreases stability and pushes safety further away for New York City as a whole.
Closing Rikers is an essential step to reforming our criminal justice system and delivering the safety New Yorkers deserve. However, our ability to close Rikers requires an incarcerated population of 3,600 or less – the maximum capacity of the secure hospital beds and borough jail system that will replace Rikers.
It is essential that our city have a comprehensive plan to safely and permanently reduce the jail population and end mass incarceration, while building a resilient system able to withstand potential future shocks that might drive up crime. This requires scaling up tried and tested policies and programs proven to increase safety and well-being.
The Adams Administration has not presented any plan to achieve the mandate to Close Rikers by 2027. They have irresponsibly speculated about a rising jail population and rolled back previous initiatives that helped lower the population. So, the Council must lead. Rikers Island will not close if we do not act now.
Together, we can take concrete, proven steps to safely reduce the population on Rikers and close the Island by focusing on the following three principles:
Prioritize safely moving people off Rikers Island.
Expand access to housing - especially supportive housing.
Expedite case processing.
These principles will take time to implement comprehensively—but New Yorkers cannot afford to wait. The City Council must take the following immediate steps to get the closure of Rikers back on track:
PRIORITIZE SAFELY MOVING PEOPLE OFF RIKERS
New York City’s jails are full of people who should not be there. Almost 90% of those on Rikers Island are presumed innocent and awaiting trial, and one in every two people has a diagnosed mental illness. We need to divert people before they enter Rikers Island, connecting them to the community-based services they need instead of jail. In addition to diversion, judges, attorneys, and City agencies should identify and prioritize people already in jail who can safely be released with proper support.
Immediately pass Council Member Carlina Rivera’s Population Review Team legislation (Intro. 806) and begin identifying people who can be safely released, as well as collaborating to resolve stalled cases. This should include early holistic assessments of people on Rikers to ensure their needs are fully considered.
Increase Supervised Release program funding by $28 million (to a total of $100 million) and work with relevant stakeholders, including District Attorneys, Defenders, and the Office of Court Administration, to establish and build support for a more intensive supervised release model that connects people to mental health care, substance use, and other resources. By supporting higher-need program participants, the City will be able to decrease the number of people entering Rikers. Longer term, the Council should consider allocating funds for a fully staffed and resourced Pretrial Services Agency to manage this program.
Enhance funding for Alternative to Incarceration (ATI) Programs and Alternative to Detention Programs (ATD) by $34 million. Half the nearly 6,000 people on Rikers Island have a mental health diagnosis. The city must fund ATI programs to levels adequate to meet the needs of this population, connecting people to the services they need rather than jail, and seek to address gaps in the current network to work with people facing a broader range of charges and higher levels of need.
Urge the Adams administration to accelerate the construction of outposted therapeutic housing beds at Bellevue, Woodhull, and North Central Bronx. These are secure hospital beds that would be used for the most ill people currently at Rikers. The City has already allocated capital funds for 380 therapeutic beds and has the staff available to operate them —now the Administration must follow through and bring them online as soon as possible. The sooner that happens, the sooner these people can avoid Rikers. In parallel, the City should fund additional therapeutic beds and invest in increased capacity to expand the population targeted for therapeutic beds, including people with mental illness.
Call on the Mayor to immediately appoint two more members to the Local Conditional Release Commission, so it can start its work to safely reduce lengths of sentences.
Demand DOC Commissioner Molina to greatly expand the use of the 6-A Early Release Program, which was successfully used during the pandemic to identify individuals for supervised release.
Encourage the Adams administration to collaborate with the State to move remaining sentenced individuals to a New York State Correctional Facility in New York City, which will spare them the harm of Rikers and enable people to take part in established re-entry and work release programs, setting them up for success post-release.
Pass legislation to require quarterly progress reports on the Administration’s efforts to reduce unnecessary incarceration, including staffing and budget resources dedicated to this. Reports should include anticipated resources required to reduce the jail population below 3,600.
2. EXPAND ACCESS TO HOUSING
People experiencing homelessness need homes, not jail, but New York City incarcerates roughly 2,600 unhoused people whose behavioral needs should qualify them for supportive housing - permanent affordable housing with wrap-around services. Often, judges are reluctant to release people without homes, and the likelihood of rearrest is higher among people facing housing instability. To advance safety and justice, New York City must increase funding and access to housing options that connect vulnerable people with stable places to live and the services they need to thrive.
Pass legislation or take executive action to amend the homeless eligibility requirement for the NYC 15/15 supportive housing program to include time in jail as time considered homeless. If a person enters jail or prison homeless, their time incarcerated should count towards being homeless. Currently incarceration does not count towards homeless eligibility criteria and much like shelters, jails and prisons are not meant for permanent or ongoing habitation. The 15/15 program also needs an additional $45 million investment to support rental subsidy increases and higher services rates to fill and operate the remaining units.
Increase funding for Justice Involved Supportive Housing (JISH) by $26 million to serve more people with the highest jail and shelter use who have mental illness and/or substance use disorders. Although JISH has been proven effective, only 120 beds exist – and even those are inadequately funded. The City must honor the commitment made in the Close Rikers plan to adequately fund and open 380 more beds immediately. The Council should also ensure funding is available to develop 500 additional new JISH beds per year for the next five years.
Provide $46 million in additional funding for Rapid Reentry Housing, which provides immediate, temporary housing to people released from Rikers Island through MOCJ hotel contracts. This successful model provides barrier-free, stable housing and tailored onsite services, including mental health services and job placement assistance, to eliminate lack of housing as an impediment to release and directly reduce incarceration in New York City.
3. EXPEDITE CASE PROCESSING
On average, people held pretrial at Rikers have been incarcerated for 280 days and counting. This keeps them and crime victims waiting for answers and accountability. The Mayor, Council, and other system actors must take action to speed up case processing to ensure people are not stuck on Rikers for months or years while they await trial and are presumed innocent.
Increase funding for the City’s indigent defense legal services organizations by $135 million to allow for higher salaries that enable greater staff retention and more seamless case oversight. The high rates of turnover among defenders contributes to case delays, so this will allow people to have their cases resolved more quickly.
Create an oversight system to hold DOC accountable for getting people on time to 100% of court dates. Prior to the pandemic, DOC got people to court on time 96% of the time. Currently, only 72% of people are on time.
Urge OCA and DOC to maximize videoconferencing to facilitate appearances in court, including ensuring there are video booths easily accessible from each housing unit. DOC must also commit to getting people to 100% of video court appearances and ensure they can connect privately with their attorneys before appearances.
Ensure the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) has adequate staff and resources to eliminate delays in testing DNA and other evidence.
Fund more paralegals and state-of-the-art technology to help district attorneys and public defenders implement discovery laws to facilitate required exchange of evidence.
Ensure Correctional Health Services has the resources necessary to speed up 730 exams, which determine whether someone is mentally competent to stand trial by replicating and expanding successful pilots. Request that New York State and NYC Health+Hospitals provide additional hospital beds for people found incompetent, so that the ~400 people annually determined not to be competent to stand trial no longer languish at Rikers.
Regularly convene key stakeholders from OCA to improve coordination between the City and judges to shorten case processing timelines.
Call on the Mayor to make all available judicial appointments expeditiously in order to ensure case delays are not due to court capacity issues.
CONCLUSION
Beyond getting the City on track to close Rikers by 2027, these investments and legislation will create a safer, more just New York, and provide stability, support, and care to vulnerable people and our communities.