How Gang Affiliates Wound Up Hired as Jail Guards
Thursday, January 15, 2015
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A view of the buildings at Rikers Island. (EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images)
A report out today from the NYC Department of Investigations details problems with the hiring practices at city jails, including poor screening and recruitment efforts. Mark Peters, DOI commissioner, explains the report's recommendations and what it could mean for reform at Rikers and other jails.
According to a write-up of the findings in the New York Times today:
In a review of 153 applications of people the Correction Department recently hired, city investigators found that more than one-third had problems that either should have disqualified them or needed further scrutiny. Ten had been arrested more than once; 12 had previously been rejected by the New York Police Department, six of them for “psychological reasons”; and 79 had relatives or friends who were current or former inmates, a potential security threat, officials said.
