DASHBOARD UPDATE: NYC Comptroller Releases New Monthly Data on Department of Correction Operations

 

Updated dashboard shows the number of people incarcerated at Rikers rose by 137 in September.

For third month in a row, the share of uniformed officers out sick remains at 12% - double pre-pandemic averages.

 The New York City Comptroller’s Office released a monthly update to the Department of Correction (DOC) Dashboard, available here. The dashboard monitors pervasive issues in the City’s jails, including staff absenteeism, missed medical appointments, and incidents of violence among detained people and staff. It also tracks the jail population on Rikers Island, which rose by approximately 2 percent in September; with 5,849 people in custody, the detained population remains well above the capacity of the borough-based jails intended to replace the notorious complex.

The data for September shows little progress on the key metrics available for the dashboard:

• As of October 2, the jail population was 5,849 — 2% higher than last month and up 5% over October 2021.
• The share of staff out sick remains at 12%, unchanged over the last three months.
• The share of medically restricted staff remains at 8%, unchanged since last month.
• The total hours of paid sick leave are down but sick leave usage remains well above pre-pandemic levels – 160,276 in August 2022 compared to 106,333 in August 2019.
• The monthly number of slashings decreased but the year-to-date total remains 22% higher than the same period last year and 318% greater than 2019, when there were far more people in custody.
• The average number of people in custody diagnosed with serious mental illness increased again to 1,033, still approximately 18% of the population.
• The number of missed medical appointments is up slightly – 9,259 compared to 8,914 during the previous month.

“Just this past weekend, Erick Tavira died in a mental health observation unit in a jail on Rikers Island. He was the 17th person to die just this year, and the 33rd since January 2021. Decades of mismanagement and impunity have reached a crisis point on the island that we cannot turn away from. We cannot continue to lock growing numbers of our neighbors away out of sight to await trial in crumbling facilities home to a culture of impunity and brutality,” said Comptroller Brad Lander.

In August 2022, Comptroller Brad Lander produced an oversight and accountability dashboard to provide detailed, timely metrics for the press and public to assess progress on addressing ongoing management issues at DOC, including staff absenteeism, rates of violence, and the rising incarcerated population that perpetuates the chaos of the City’s jail system. The data will be updated regularly to track changes over time.

Comptroller Lander was the first citywide elected official to call for a federal receiver to oversee reforms at the jail complex, citing rising violence and deaths in custody.