Adolescents at Rikers Island face excessive force

Summary

There’s a deep-seated culture of violence against teen inmates at one of the country’s largest municipal jails, Rikers Island in New York City. That’s how the U.S. attorney in Manhattan described practices and conduct there in a report.

It also said staff at Rikers Island — quote — “routinely utilize force not as a last result, but instead as a means to control the adolescent population.”

Among his findings, the U.S. attorney reported: Nearly 44 percent of male teens between 16 and 18 years old have been subjected to force at least once while in custody, a striking number of serious injuries, including broken jaws and bone fractures, and investigations and incident reports that were often incomplete or falsified.