Inside Rikers: Dysfunction, Lawlessness and Detainees in Control

With a staffing emergency disrupting the basic functions of the jail system, detainees have had free rein inside.

When a detainee decided to hijack a bus inside the Rikers Island jail complex, little was in place to stop him.

All he had to do was rise from where he sat with a half dozen other handcuffed men and walk to the front of the unguarded vehicle: A gate that should have confined him was left unsecured. The keys were in the ignition.

Putting the bus into gear, he rammed a jail building and then backed up and rammed it again, this time with enough force to shake the walls and scatter bricks.