MAYOR DE BLASIO ANNOUNCES CITY JAIL ADMISSIONS CUT IN HALF SINCE TAKING OFFICE

The average daily population in City jails is at its lowest rate since the late 1970s

  Mayor de Blasio and the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice Director Elizabeth Glazer announced today that for the first time in decades, the number of city jail admissions fell below 40,000—a roughly 50 percent drop since the beginning of the Administration.

Along with the continued reduction in the average daily population in the city’s jail system to approximately 7,400 – about a 35 percent drop since the Mayor took office – the historic drop in jail admissions represents another concrete sign that the City’s plan to close the jails on Rikers Island by 2026 is well on track.

The total number of jail admissions between July 2018 and June 2019 fell to 39,420. This halving of admissions over five years follows a 20% drop over the past year alone, after Fiscal Year 2018 ended with approximately 49,500 admissions. The term “admissions” is not meant to indicate the number of individuals jailed; a person could enter the jail system more than once and each time count towards the total admissions.

“The safest big city in America is ending the era of mass incarceration,” said Mayor de Blasio. “For decades, we’ve been told we can only arrest and imprison our way to a safer city. Under my Administration, New York City has proven that’s not true. Instead, we can keep fathers at home and kids in school and get even safer.”

“These reductions result from a paradigm shift in our approach to public safety, with New York City at the leading edge of what works,” said Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice Director Elizabeth Glazer. “New Yorkers are committing fewer crimes, police are arresting less often, and our courts are releasing more people, resulting in a dramatic decrease in the numbers entering the jail system—all while New York City remains the safest big city in the United States.”

Since the Mayor took office, the City has invested tens of millions of dollars in pretrial services and alternatives to detention. Supervised Release, a diversion program used by judges, has alone served more than 13,600 people since launching citywide in 2016, ensuring that they stay in their communities rather than going to jail.

During the last legislative session, Albany legislators passed historic bail reform into law, which will further reduce the jail population. The Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice has convened a taskforce of criminal justice partners that includes the district attorneys' offices, public defenders, city agencies, representatives from the court system, and advocates.  The task force is helping to identify and coordinate operational and resource needs to implement the new reforms, which take effect January 1, 2020.