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drpvn t1_iu5n1wd wrote

Reply to comment by marshall_project in I Spent Over 40 Years Working in Corrections. I Wasn’t Ready for Rikers. by marshall_project

The people in Rikers are by and large there for pretty serious offenses.

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Rottimer t1_iu6ekdb wrote

you mean charged with pretty serious offenses because we have reduced the number of people we keep behind bars awaiting trial for misdemeanors. It most certainly wasn't the case before bail reform where far more people would be sent to the island for non-violent offenses.

Further, "by and large" still means that there are people sitting in Rikers for non-serious offenses. And some people are put there entirely illegally.

https://www.audacy.com/1010wins/news/local/nypd-illegally-jailing-people-at-rikers-without-seeing-judge

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drpvn t1_iu6hkyd wrote

I’d have to check the data—surely there were a lot more people in Rikers charged with non-violent crimes, but I’m not sure how many. It’s knowable info from the DOC reports, though.

When you have a city of 8.5 million people, and bail reform prevents any jail time for non-violent offenders (regardless of how many repeat offenses), the 5,000 who are left in the system are very hard cases.

But yet all we hear from the progressive left is “mass incarceration.”

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IKNWMORE t1_iu8mrrj wrote

No one is going to Rikers for Petit larceny. They might be going their for Petit Larceny + bench warrant etc. but they aren’t ending up in jail for non violent crimes.

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Rottimer t1_iu8pcrc wrote

At least read the link. Your feeling don’t change what’s actually going on.

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yankuniz t1_iu60cq0 wrote

Growing up in the area, this has not been my experience.

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drpvn t1_iu612fd wrote

In what area?

Your info is bad and/or outdated. Here is the most recent breakdown of the charges for the average daily population in Rikers.

The most common charge: murder/manslaughter.

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Extension_Gap2319 t1_iu6j7wb wrote

Actually the game is to charge people with the highest possible crimes, have the remanded to Rikers for weeks, usually 6 to 8 months, then release them on reduced pleas with "time served". So, what they are charged with sounds way scary then what they served time for and are released back to the public.

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yankuniz t1_iu67btp wrote

I just know a number of people who have spent time there for non violent crimes. Granted, not so much recently but within the last decade

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Grass8989 t1_iu6dlvz wrote

Did they have any priors or were the “non-violent crimes” their only offenses?

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yankuniz t1_iu6f9v7 wrote

Not sure but I am sure their only offenses were non violent offenses and they were not a flight risk

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