Staffing problems at troubled NYC jails mean many detainee injuries went unobserved: draft Board of Correction report

Staffing woes at New York City jails means many injuries among detainees went unobserved last year, according to a draft Board of Correction report obtained by the Daily News.

During the first eight months of 2022, staffing problems in the troubled jails were so bad that correction officers witnessed only 17% of all incidents that led to serious injuries of detainees, the report found.

The alarming figure is contained in a wide-ranging board report on serious injuries in the jails that has been ready for months but has yet to be officially released, for reasons unknown.

The 17-page draft version marked “confidential” obtained by The News contains a rare bit of positive news about the often-beleaguered jail system — the Correction Department’s ability to accurately report serious injuries has markedly improved since the board directed the agency to work more closely with jail medical staff.

Five years ago, DOC routinely undercounted the number of serious injuries by as much as two-thirds when compared with medical reports compiled by Correctional Health Services, the draft report said. In 2018, for example, just 399 serious-injury incidents were recorded.

But after the new board rule aimed at increasing data exchange took hold, the number of reported serious injuries climbed to a more accurate figure, the draft report found. In 2020, the agency reported 1,159 incidents — then 2,057 in 2021 — according to the document.

“Nearly all serious injuries to people in custody are now being reported by the DOC, which in turn has contributed to a dramatic increase in the total number of annual serious injury reports,” the draft report concludes.

One lesson, the draft suggests, is that doctors are better able to accurately report data on injuries than correction officials.

“That CHS can deliver a more accurate evaluation of the causes of injury in the city jails, despite having no investigative mandate or authority, is evidence of the barriers of mistrust that hinder DOC investigations,” the draft report stated.

The Eric M. Taylor Center, a jail plagued in the first eight months of 2022 with unstaffed posts, also had the highest rate of serious-injury cases in the same period. In all, 345 people suffered serious injuries in the Taylor Center during the period.

The Taylor Center units for detainees new to the island were among the most dangerous in the system and least well-staffed, the draft found.

On one July day, the Taylor Center had just 144 officers to work with 757 detainees.

“The presence of uniformed staff in these units is essential to reduce the unacceptably high rates of serious injury occurring there,” the draft report said.

While searches are key to catching weapons, the report says the vast majority of weapons are made from the jails themselves.

From January to March 2022, 90% of the shivs found by staff were made from pieces of the buildings. Plexiglass was the most common material, accounting for 489 weapons or a third of seizures.

In May 2022, DOC’s “action plan” said it would install perforated metal window coverings to stop the use of Plexiglass for weapons, but that idea was pulled the next month, the draft report said.

Searches picked up more than 4,000 weapons from January to August 2022, but October still saw 46 slashings, one of the highest totals of the year.

“Searches alone are not enough to stem the availability of sharp weapons in the jails,” the draft report found.

As for why the final version of the report hasn’t been released, some suggested it may be part of the effort by City Hall to tighten control on information about the jails.

“By withholding it, they are only making it a lot more interesting,” said a close observer of board operations.

The current board chairman, Dwayne Sampson, did not reply to requests for comment. Correction Department officials also did not respond.

The board still doesn’t have one of its most important tools — remote access to jail security video. Correction Commissioner Louis Molina cut it off on Jan. 11, claiming the board had an “agenda to portray the Correction Department in a negative light.”

Board staff now have to make an appointment in advance at DOC headquarters to view specific video, but cannot record what they see, sources said.

Molina’s move contributed to the resignation of BOC Executive Director Amanda Masters on Feb. 16. In her letter to the board, Masters called Molina’s comments “inaccurate and destructive.”

“Oversight is a necessary piece of good government,” she wrote.