DOC boss blames mental illness for jail violence

The Brad H v. City of New York lawsuit, known as “Brad H”, was a class action suit that challenged NYC’s practice of discharging individuals with mental health concerns from city jails without any psychiatric medication or treatment referrals. The lawsuit was settled and the city agreed to provide discharge planning services.

Department of Correction Commissioner Stanley Richards stated, 60 percent of incarcerated persons in NYC have a “Brad H” designation.

That’s true because they required mental health services more than twice while in custody, hence they remain under mental observation for their entire NYC incarceration.

However, there’s a significant difference between mental health struggles and mental illness. I submit the majority of ‘Brad H’ detainees aren’t mentally ill and don’t require hospitalization.

Nonetheless, Richards stated “When I look at violence and uses-of-force in our jails, 92 percent of the people involved in those instances are people with mental illness."

That claim is unsettling, misleading at best and likely intentionally deceptive. I suspect the 92 percent have a “Brad H” designation, although most aren’t mentally ill. It appears Richards categorizes incarcerated persons with mental health struggles as being mentally ill.

Jail violence is ubiquitous and far-reaching because the powers that be enable ruthless detainee gangs to traffic drugs, extort the incarcerated population and control the jails by fear and intimidation with impunity.

Richards ignores this and instead blames mental illness for the violence.

Neither former correction commissioner Vincent Schiraldi nor federal monitor Steve Martin blamed incarcerated persons with mental illness for violence or uses-of-force. To obscure their failure, both blamed DOC’s uniformed force.

Richards learned from their mistake.

Outwardly, Richards doesn’t blame correction officers because he sees how extremely unpopular that made Martin and Schiraldi. Although, beneath the surface an ulterior motive may lurk.

It better serves Richards agenda to coax and cajole the uniformed force.

Consequently, he blames and exploits “mental illness” further stigmatizing as violent and dangerous those already most marginalized.

Surprisingly, there’s no backlash.

According to the Centers For Disease Control mental illness and mental health conditions aren’t the same. Recent data indicates 60 percent of Rikers detainees have a mental health condition and 22 percent have a form of mental illness.

According to the National Library of Medicine, socially deviant behavior is not a mental health disorder, neither is an “expected or cultural response to common stress."

It’s very common for incarcerated people to have stress and anxiety or temporary minor mental health struggles simply by reason of being incarcerated. Mental health experts assert violence isn’t necessarily related to mental illness but rather to the stress of incarceration.

Still, many incarcerated individuals are likely designated as “Brad H” because of that exact behavior and others with no mental health issues will claim issues just to live in mental health units because they feel safer.

Nonetheless, Richards pathologizes normal struggles, weaponizes labels and then recklessly groups everyone together as “people with mental illness."

Consequently, I suspect this gaslighting may have some incarcerated doubting their own sanity.

Studies find mentally ill individuals are more likely to be victims of violence than perpetrators. Experts assert, “The false perception about the link between mental health and violence carries serious consequences” and blaming mental illness only adds to the stigma.

They warn, “public figures should not continue to associate all mental illness with violence."

The MacArthur Risk Assessment Study at Columbia University found when neighborhoods are unsafe and high in crime, violence is the likely outcome whether a person has a mental illness or not.

Similarly, NYC jails are unsafe and high in crime and as expected violence is the outcome.

Another study concluded that outside factors like perceived threats, substance addiction and victimization may propel individuals to commit violence.

Accordingly, safe jails would significantly reduce violence.

Therefore, I declare the solution to reducing jail violence is to end systematic mismanagement, remove those factors that prompt violence and protect incarcerated persons from threats and victimization.

Richards declared, “here’s the solution... get those people out of our system” and into “a system that can provide the appropriate level of care."

However, providing appropriate care is Richards’ foremost responsibility.

On Feb 2, pursuant to Richards’ appointment the Mayor's office issued a statement that read, Richards “will focus on improving safety... and ensuring DOC delivers on its core responsibility to care for people in custody."

To further deflect responsibility, Richards alleges, “the system is not designed to provide mental health care."

Yet, Richards is in charge of “the system."

If Richards’ accusation is true, under his watch DOC is in violation of the NYC Minimum Standards which mandates “Adequate mental health care is to be provided to inmates."

DOC would also be in violation of the U.S. Constitution.

In 1976 the Supreme Court held in Estelle v Gamble the government is constitutionally required to provide medical care to every person incarcerated and to deny that care is a violation of the 8th amendment’s prohibition against ‘cruel and unusual’ punishment.

Further, in 1977 the federal appellate court review of Bowring v Godwin specifically extended the obligation to provide medical care to include mental health, whether psychiatric or psychological.

Richards also claimed, “we have a system that is designed, because of who’s in it, to fail."

Is he alleging an ongoing conspiracy to intentionally deprive incarcerated persons of constitutionally mandated mental health care?

The “system” has been under federal oversight for almost 11 years. Is Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain aware of this purported conspiracy?

There are about 6,500 persons incarcerated on Rikers.

Richards is attempting to camouflage his failure to provide care by insisting the 60 percent with “Brad H” designation, which equals 3,900 people, “do not belong in the jail system” despite the fact that they’re accused criminals and in some cases already convicted and being held in DOC custody by court order.

Is he recommending criminal charges be dismissed and convictions overturned?

Or is he calling for involuntarily committing thousands of people to a mental institution under the guise of providing better care which is reminiscent of the Willowbrook State School public health scandal in 1972 which also promised to provide care to children and adults labeled “mental defectives?"

Richards implies DOC can’t provide care because correction officers aren’t “clinicians."

Officers aren’t employed as clinicians. Clinicians are persons qualified in the practice of medicine or psychiatry and NYC provides medical and mental health clinicians for every jail.

Maybe he’s insinuating the courts should release all 3,900 accused criminals with “Brad H” designations, that he claims are mentally ill and violent, and are likely charged with felonies, back to the community for outpatient care.

Richards sidesteps his responsibility by blaming the mentally ill for violence and then attempts to pass the buck. He does a grave disservice to people with mental health struggles and mental illness, to NYC and to the entire mental health system across America by misleading the public, manipulating statistics and stigmatizing and exploiting mental illness.

Instead, he should address systematic failures like DOC’s practice of providing shaving razors to incarcerated persons who are mentally ill and suicidal.

This absurd policy led to the 2022 suicide of Michael Nieves who was mentally ill and had a history of suicide attempts.

Nieves was given a razor. He slashed his neck and bled out.

Today, suicidal persons are still provided shaving razors which results in suicide attempts, self-infliced injuries, violence and uses-of-force.

Richards is in way over his head, refuses to accept responsibility and subsequently blames mental illness for the widespread violence.

Even though his sensational claims made to lessen his culpability are tantalizing to some, they don’t absolve him of his legal obligation to ensure adequate mental health care is provided.

His agenda isn’t to fix problems it’s to relocate problems in order to empty the jails and meet the population target of 3,300 for the borough based facilities, one way or the other.

In effect, he’s the “Close Rikers Czar” masquerading as DOC commissioner in between photo-ops, media interviews, speeches and being a jail tour guide,