In the wake of another recent death on Rikers Island, the question of whether the city will be able to put an end to the long-running crisis at the jail complex has again been thrust into the spotlight.

Time is running short: The commissioner of the Department of Correction, Louis Molina, who is charged with bringing Rikers Island up to a humane standard, must deliver the city’s plan to fix the facilities by May 17.

If Mr. Molina’s plan is deemed inadequate, the city may have to accept the appointment of a federal receiver who would be granted any powers the federal court in Manhattan deemed necessary to remedy the situation on the island.

A federal monitor, Steve Martin, outlined what he expects the city to do in an April 25 letter to the court. His seven main points focus on issues including staffing, accountability, and the speed at which inmates get to trial.

Mr. Martin wrote that “the City must immediately

take aggressive and dramatic action, not previously taken before.”

His letter outlines a tall task that includes removing barriers to hiring from outside the department and holding officers accountable, hiring “highly qualified staff,” and eliminating “all rules and regulations that allow for abuse of sick leave.”

Beyond the staffing issues at Rikers Island, the city will be required to hire “lawyers and support staff for the Trials Division” and establish a system to expedite cases and trials, which would require the cooperation of courts and prosecutors.

Thus, the monitor is expecting the city to not only completely overhaul the staffing system in the Rikers Island facility but also swaths of New York City’s criminal justice and court system.

Many see this as beyond the city’s power to accomplish given the rules, regulations, and contracts now in place.

A former director of the mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice, Elizabeth Glazer, told the Sun that “it requires a different kind of power” to fix the problem at Rikers Island.

“I think what we are seeing over and over again is a structural problem that has not been able to be addressed with all the good will and all the money that has been invested so far,” Ms. Glazer told the Sun.

She pointed to union contracts as an example of a “structural problem” that is outside the city’s control. Such contracts reportedly make it difficult for the city to hire from outside the department or properly hold absent employees accountable.

A correction department letter from September 2021 reads: “As of the end of July 2021, 35 percent of correction officers were out on sick leave or restricted from working with persons of custody.” 

Eight months later, the percentage of absent correction officers on any given day is roughly the same, raising the question of whether any administration would be able to fix the situation.

Mr. Adams has said that he wants “to terminate those who are abusing the sick leave procedures,” but under current rules he is unable to do so.

The Correction Officer Benevolent Association disagrees with the argument that union contracts are responsible for any lack of accountability and contends that a federal receiver would not help.

“Just because a receiver comes in doesn’t mean that he or she is going to wave a magic wand and that all of our problems are going to go away,” Coba’s president, Benny Boscio, said on Spectrum News.

Analysts are also doubtful the city could shorten detainees’ wait times for trials.

Ms. Glazer described the issue as “one of the structural issues that is not directly under the control of the Department of Corrections.”

Mr. Martin’s letter asserts that the “City must work with local prosecutors and the Office of Court Administration to identify and advocate for the cases of those individuals in jail for over a year.”

The median wait time for trial has ballooned to 542 days from 297 days in the past two years. More than 1,684 inmates had spent more than a year in jail awaiting trial as of February 2022, according to a watchdog group, Vital City.

With such a daunting task and such a short turnaround time to undo decades of  mismanagement, many believe that “only a federal takeover will give any hope” for Rikers, according to the Citizens Crime Commission president, Richard Aborn.