The federal monitor is rewriting the DOC’s history

Winston Churchill said, “History is written by victors.” At the Department of Correction, the same applies. The federal monitor’s reports submitted to Federal District Judge Laura Taylor Swain over the last nine years are not written by non-partisan parties or an impartial witness. The monitor, Steve Martin, is the victor and his reports are written from his perspective and based on his interpretation.

Martin is a powerful partisan backed by the DOJ, federal courts and the Legal Aid Society whose reports are documented in the case record. But they are not facts, they are only the interpretations of the monitoring team. This litigious gambit uses the correction officers and even the incarcerated victims of detainee violence as pawns and has DOC in checkmate, rendering it unable to move to perform the most basic duty.

It is abundantly clear that removing uniformed chiefs and wardens and replacing them with civilians from outside the agency did not solve any of DOC’s problems. A simple check of the statistics incorporated in the yearly Mayor’s Management Reports will provide ample evidence in support of this assertion. In fact, the partial dismantling of the uniformed force by former Commissioner Louis Molina and Steve Martin resulted in increased detainee violence and deaths. Despite that fact, Molina claims he has improved DOC and Martin asserts that his perceived enemy, the uniformed force, is stuck in a “culture of violence” in NYC jails.

Neither is true, yet both appear to be written in stone in DOC history.

In the alternative, anything written that opposes the federal monitor’s reports is like writing your name in the sand. It will wash away with the next wave.

The Rubicon must be crossed and Judge Taylor Swain must be informed of the truth behind the walls that is obscured by the self-serving ambitions of those who are deforming NYC jails, not reforming them. The nine years of chaos, dysfunction, violence and carnage is the result of a kakistocracy in NYC and a federal monitor that tolerates and I venture to say almost encourages detainee lawlessness in the jails.

How much clearer can it be? The DOC policies and federal monitor recommendations have failed and the incarcerated population is suffering the consequences? How many more detainees must be stabbed? Must a homicide occur before this macabre filled saga is ended?

When a child covers their eyes, they believe the object in front of them no longer exists. This is the psychological concept known as “object permanence.” It is the understanding that an object that is not seen could still exist. Even though the federal monitor covers his eyes as to the detainee violence and their culpability, it still exists.

And the choir of acolytes that sing the praises of this law enforcement nihilism is almost as loud as the cacophony of violence in the jails.

The federal monitor’s recommendations are built on a foundation of quicksand, yet Martin blames the uniformed force for the lack of reform. This leads to the cannibalistic leadership by DOC commissioners that consume their young so they can survive because there is no other option. This is proof enough that there is no way out of the monitor’s career-ending approach to jail reform. It is a colossal failure.   

It’s time for the DOC ‘Yes men’ to say ‘No’ and speak truth to power. Judge Taylor Swain must be informed of the real causes of the chaos, dysfunction and violence on Rikers Island in order to make informed decisions and more importantly keep the jails safe and humane.

Marc Bullaro, a retired NYC DOC assistant deputy warden, is an adjunct assistant professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

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