Maximum insecurity

To the editor:

Calendar year 2023 ended with about 7,000 uses of force in the NYC Department of Correction which had a daily average population of 5,700 persons in custody.  

The vast majority of the uses of force were pursuant to detainee violence; over 1,000 assaults on staff, some 400 slashings and stabbings and 9,000 detainees cited for fighting and assault resulting in 1,200 serious injuries.  

On Dec. 28, The New York Times reported that Steven Hutcherson, the man accused of stabbing two teenage girls in Grand Central Terminal on Christmas Day, slashed another detainee four times to the face, resulting in 200 stitches to close the wounds.   

However, Hutcherson will not be placed in solitary confinement as a result.  

Despite all the violence and carnage in city jails, which have seen more than 2,000 slashings and stabbings in the last 10 years, solitary confinement was banned on Dec.  21, pursuant to bill 549-A introduced by city Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and approved by the City Council.  

This ban defies common sense and borders on absurdity.  

By coddling the most dangerous detainees Williams and the Council will enable more violence. This ban is counterproductive to safety and will unequivocally make jails even more dangerous.   

Some confinement is necessary to prevent detainees, who have assaulted others while in custody, from committing further assaults. As a result of the ban they will still be able to mingle and have opportunities to slash, stab and assault other detainees and employees at will.  

Williams and the Council appear to have taken on the role of NYC’s jail illuminati? They should share their acumen and carceral expertise with DOC.  

I implore them to show correction officers how to manage detainees who circle the jails like birds of prey. 

Marc Bullaro