As Deaths Rise in N.Y.C. Jails, Oversight Board Fails to Raise Alarm

Do your job “before someone dies,” an advocate pleaded at a meeting of the city Board of Correction, which has the power to monitor Rikers Island.

Of all the agencies that share responsibility for New York City’s troubled jail system, only one was established by the city solely to monitor conditions behind bars.

That organization, the Board of Correction, has its own budget and the power to inspect the city’s jails at any time, even daily. It is meant to serve as an independent check on the entire system, to ensure that those in city custody are treated humanely.

But as the death count in city jails rose to 14 this year, the board’s inaction was conspicuous.