Jailhouse crock

As long as Department of Correction Commissioner Stanley Richards surrenders to the judicial hegemony of federal monitor Steve Martin, Richards will remain in favor. Even when jail violence and death prevail Martin will praise a capitulating commissioner.

In his 21st compliance assessment report dated June 17 submitted to federal district Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain who oversees the Nunez consent decrees, Martin lauded Richards while he contemporaneously shared the somber reality that “there has been no material change in ameliorating the risk of harm in the jails and the reform effort continues to move at a glacial pace."

He added, “the risk of harm.... remains unreasonably high."

Martin has consistently blamed DOC’s uniformed force for violence, deaths and uses-of-force. It appears the oversight reports are designed to protect tractable DOC commissioners while sacrificing the troops.

But it all makes sense if the back-room deal is for the commissioner to succumb to Martin and Martin returns the favor with praise, then both appointees can portray a deceptively ideal external appearance while behind the curtain DOC’s uniformed force and incarcerated persons suffer the consequences. In the alternative, if you don’t surrender to Martin, he will criticize you, likely with the backing of the court, as he did when former commissioner Louis Molina dared to challenge him.

The 378 page monitor’s report alleges each level of DOC leadership has “shortcomings” that “stymied” reform, and that staff employ “inadequate or unreasonable security protocols."

It states, “From the rank of Warden down the chain of command, the facilities suffer from a dearth of effective uniformed managers and supervisors” and further claims “poor quality of supervision, coaching and guidance offered by captains."

Does Richards, who purports to be an ally of correction unions, agree with Martin’s besmirching assessment of DOC’s uniformed force?

Richards must publicly state Martin is wrong.

Instead, by remaining silent, it appears Richards implicitly agrees with Martin’s assessment which further supports my theory that mutual bureaucratic backscratching is prevalent, gratuitous and indeed part of the dysfunction that sustains the jail crisis.

Martin wants you to believe DOC’s uniformed force is comprised of a bunch of ragtag misfits that are inadequate and lack supervisory and managerial skills.

Something is amiss with Martin; he misleads the court and the public.

I assure you DOC has outstanding security-minded correction officers who proactively identify threats and mitigate risks, facilities have highly effective uniformed middle managers that are respected and lead with distinction and captains who display a high level of quality supervision despite being surrounded by lawlessness and violence in an agency where politicians, federal oversight and DOC commissioners have made correction officers the villains and incarcerated persons the victims.

Yet the real problems, namely, the failed DOC policies that are counterproductive to safety and success and the decade long incompetent and cannibalistic civilian leadership that lacks the skills and insight to end the crisis, are swept under the rug by Martin.

And since self-serving politicians, obsequious commissioners and ambitious political appointees allow Martin from Austin, Texas to exploit the jail crisis and flagrantly spew scorn and contempt for NYC correction officers without any pushback, Martin has become a constant reminder of DOC’s second-class status in its own city.

Martin should examine himself with the same microscope which he uses to examine DOC’s uniformed force. He and his coterie of misguided mercenaries share, with politicians and DOC commissioners, significant responsibility for the jail crisis and carnage that for a decade has tormented many correction officers and incarcerated persons leaving them with life changing damage.

However, Martin won’t examine himself because if he does, he is certain to uncover his own massive failure. Instead, he will double-down and gaslight the uniformed force.

In his report, Martin said, “DOC struggles to manage staff productivity, to deploy them effectively, to supervise them responsibly and to elevate the base skill level of its staff."

And I say Martin struggles to honorably represent the federal court, to understand his objective, to achieve any semblance of compliance with the consent decrees and to salvage what little credibility he has left.

In addition, Martin claims that the uniformed force is not “over-disciplined” and Richards stated, “I don’t see the dysfunction, I see the possibilities."

Unequivocally, the uniformed force is heavily over-disciplined. In 15 months, Louis Molina suspended 800 members of service and terminated 250.

And prior to being commissioner it appears Richards saw the dysfunction despite claiming to not see it now as commissioner. I contend that’s dysfunctional in and of itself.

The more time passes the less Martin and Richards understand about jail management.

Referring to Richards, Martin’s report reads “The monitoring team has observed a positive shift in the approach to working with the monitoring team upon the appointment of the new commissioner."

Martin added “The practical reality is that ameliorating these problem centers will take time and certainly will not occur from one reporting period to the next.”

When commissioners pay homage to Martin, he appears to transform from an independent federal monitor to an apologist and advocate for the commissioner.

Richards also asserts that improvement will take time.

While laying the groundwork for damage control and to prepare everyone for his slow progress, if any progress at all, Richards stated, “This isn’t a speedboat moment where I turn the ship around 180 degrees instantly. This is a cruise ship or battleship moment where it’s going to take critical inch progress to turn around."

That mindset is eerily similar to what I suspect the captain of the RMS Titanic may have been thinking when he only slightly altered the ship’s course after being notified of the icebergs ahead.

I suggest Richards reverse the doomed course of the last decade and turn DOC’s Titanic around immediately. The violent detainee incidents reported daily are just the tip of the iceberg.

There is much more detainee violence hidden under the surface. Further, everyone should understand that on the fateful RMS Titanic it didn’t matter what seat the people had, whether crew or passenger, luxurious first class or stowaway, everyone was vulnerable and at risk.

Martin and DOC commissioners have blatantly disregarded many carceral icebergs since 2015.

It’s been 11 years. How long will Judge Swain continue to accept excuses and alibis? How much more carnage is necessary before common sense has a chance to escape the vice-like grip of ineptness and influence policy?

Martin’s report states the appointment of the remediation manager was necessary to “eradicate the principal barriers that have led to the current crisis and contempt findings." However, although DOC needed reform in 2015, it wasn’t until after the appointment of Martin as federal monitor that the “current crisis” was born.

Today, virtually everyone would gladly accept the violence statistics and use of force numbers in any year from 1998-2014, before federal oversight and DOC commissioners deformed DOC.

And it’s difficult to trust the duplicitous Martin when he blames the uniformed force for detainee violence claiming they failed to perform their basic security duties but doesn’t acknowledge that for a decade the city and DOC abdicated their legal power and virtually stripped the uniformed force of its authority to enforce DOC rules and NYS law thereby incapacitating correction officers and turning DOC into a de facto symbol of inertness.

It’s baseless and illogical to fault correction officers for failing to use authority they no longer have. Correction officers don’t have the tools necessary to perform their duties. They are tasked to “make bricks without straw."

Still Martin disrespects, lambastes, condemns and scapegoats the uniformed force to no end.

With each report, Martin’s rebuke, degradation and humiliation of correction officers figuratively leaves an indelible stain on the uniform worn by members of service similar to when detainees assault correction officers with urine and feces.