The corrections department's growing usage of chemical agents is being criticized in a new report by the Board of Correction, the city jails monitoring body.
The Board of Correction, the monitoring board for the city's jails, has released a fresh report criticizing the corrections department for using more chemical agents.
According to the latest study, DOC personnel frequently utilize chemical agents without warning or following established rules when using force. It was discovered that there were about 3,000 chemical agent accidents in city jails during the first ten months of 2023. That is a 50% rise over 2018.
The report also included disturbing details about instances in which correctional personnel blasted inmates with chemical spray. Specifically, eight of these occurrences involved staff spraying inmates who were using ligatures around their necks to hurt themselves.
A representative for the Department of Corrections responded to this report by stating that after carefully reading the board's findings, the department has decided to provide staff with more training on using OC spray and to survey other counties in New York and similar jail systems about their use. Correctional officers rely on OC spray, a vital non-lethal weapon, to protect not only other detainees but also other uniformed employees.
Another obstacle for the department came on Thursday when the city comptroller declared that a no-bid contract that DOC had signed with Securus Technologies did not comply with procurement regulations. The agreement would have given people access to movies and television series on tablets that detainees on Rikers Island own, along with other premium entertainment.
