NYC Comptroller Welcomes DOC Transparent Inquiry Response, Publishes Dashboard Of Jails Staffing and Management Challenges

 

The data - now available on both the Comptroller and DOC’s dashboards - tracks increasing jail population, violent incidents, staffing shortages, court appearances, and missed medical appointments.

Rates of sick leave trending down yet remains double pre-pandemic averages.

New York City Comptroller Brad Lander welcomed the Department of Correction’s (DOC) release of new data tracking metrics and conditions in city jails, in response to months of requests from the Comptroller’s office for data transparency. In light of the ongoing crisis in the city’s jails, the Comptroller’s office began requesting data from DOC in January, with the goal of providing regular information to the public on key agency metrics, including staff absenteeism, rates of violence, missed medical appointments, and the growth of the jail population. That data is now available on a dashboard published today, available here.

“What we can’t see, we can’t fix. For years, the Department of Correction has locked away its data, failing to provide real transparency to the public. The Comptroller’s office has had the agency on its watch list since 2018, in order to track operations and management problems that have snowballed into a humanitarian crisis. I’m pleased that following formal requests from our office, critical DOC data is now finally available to the public on both their website and on ours. Transparency about staffing absences, the provision of basic services including medical care and access to the courts, and the prevalence of violence are essential for accountability and change,” said Comptroller Brad Lander.

The Comptroller’s dashboard shows that the number of uniformed staff out sick spiked from about 500 per day in 2019 to 3,000 in April 2020 during the early days of the pandemic. Staff on sick leave rose again in late 2020 and throughout 2021. While sick leave usage has fallen since January 2022, the share of uniformed staff out each day remains double pre-pandemic levels. During June 2022, uniformed staff logged 170,789 hours of sick leave – 154,789 hours due to illness and 16,000 hours due to injuries. In June 2019 (before the pandemic), DOC recorded 87,892 hours of uniformed staff sick due to illness and 17,509 hours due to injuries.

The dashboard shows:

• As of the beginning of August 2022, the jail population stood at 5,708—with 119 more people in custody than in July, but 1,600 fewer people detained compared to August 2019.
• The average share of staff out sick per day is 12%, down from 13% in June.
• The average number of staff restricted from working with people in custody due to medical conditions is 608, or 9% of total headcount – more than double the average rate in 2019.
• After increasing violent incidents in 2021, assaults on staff and fights has decreased. As of July 2022, there were 65 assaults on staff, down 9 incidents from June.
• 42 slashings/stabbings occurred last month, up from 39 in June. For the calendar year-to-date, the total number of slashings and stabbings is up 40% over the same period in 2021.
• Adjusted for the jail population, the rate of use of force, including incidents and allegations, rose from 28.27 to 32.69 per 100 (as of the most recent quarter).
• The share of detained people making court appearances each day is at 9%, returning to pre-pandemic levels after dipping to a low of 2% in April 2020.
• The average length of detention is now 125 days for the calendar year-to-date (January-July 2022), up from 79 for the same period in 2019.

New York City’s DOC operates all city jails including the complex on Rikers Island. The conditions on Rikers Island have been subject to a federal monitor since 2015. As noted in the monitor’s April 2022 Report, “the level of dysfunction within the Department’s staffing framework is unmatched by any jurisdiction with which the Monitoring Team has had experienced.” New York City plans to replace the complex with four, borough-based jails, but the average daily jail population currently exceeds the capacity of these new jails by about 2,400, and has trended upwards in recent months.

Comptroller Lander continued, “A dozen people have already died this year in the custody of our correctional system. Getting arrested in New York City should not be a death sentence. As James Baldwin said, ‘Not everything that’s faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it’s faced.’ Our city cannot look away from this crisis. DOC’s new data transparency is one step in facing it.”

DOC began providing the data to the Comptroller’s office this spring. The Comptroller’s office shared a mockup of its new dashboard with DOC for feedback on August 5 pursuant to an information sharing agreement, in anticipation of public release. DOC then announced its own dashboard on August 22, so the new data will now be available to the public on both the Comptroller and DOC websites (and downloadable from the Comptroller’s site). The dashboard will be updated monthly as new data is made available and will highlight changes over time.

You can view the Comptroller’s dashboard at: https://comptroller.nyc.gov/services/for-the-public/department-of-correction-doc/dashboard/.