Rikers Island Facility Closing Down Due To Staffing Problems, Deplorable Conditions

On Friday, the Department of Corrections released records noting that a housing facility on Rikers Island will shut down right away.

This comes as the agency experiences staffing shortages which has led to dangerous conditions at a jail’s admissions facility.

A memo read that the Otis Bantum Correctional Facility, where 152 people were being held, at the beginning of June, would close down. Then, the DOC would reassign my employees to other buildings around the jail complex.

Three days prior to this incident, a member of the Board of Corrections had paid a visit to the Eric M. Taylor Intake Unit. It had been experiencing some of the same problems as another admissions facility that had been closed nine months ago.

During the visit, over 100 men were observed yelling as they were clumped together with each other for days in pens. This was done as they waited to be given a housing unit. The DOC makes it mandatory that this process is done in less than a day.

The board member also noted that detainees couldn’t really use the restroom, get their medication, or make calls to get them to court. This was all due to staffing problems, the board member stated.

Because there aren’t enough employees trained to do the work, most new individuals who have been admitted haven’t had body scans. These procedures check for drugs, weapons, or other contraband.

“Every inmate can just go to the jail they are assigned to and do the intake process in their jail. That’s how you fix the problem,” stated one source.