The Municipal Council promotes a bill to reduce the prison population in the Big Apple

Just as voices are growing in New York for it to close soon the Rikers Island Jailwhere 17 arrestedincluding several Latinos, have died in the custody of prison authorities, legislators from the Big Apple are promoting a bill that seeks to reduce prison population in a safe way.

This is how he revealed it councilor Carlina Riverapresident of the City Council Criminal Justice Committee, after introducing the bill, which would require the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice (MOCJ) to establish prison population review teams to identify those cases that could be resolved or released into the community safely safe.

The political leader stated that the prison population review teams are “an innovative strategy already implemented” in various cities of the country to expedite case processing and reduce the unnecessary amount of unconvicted inmate time in jails, many of whom are mentally ill.

“We should be actively working to safely reduce our city’s prison population, not just because New York should close Rikers by 2027, or because it costs more than $10,000 to keep a person in Rikers waiting out their day in court, but because there are people in our jails who don’t deserve to be there and pose little or no risk to our communities,” said the legislator.

The political leaderof Hispanic origin, also pointed out that it is urgent to closely review the population in prisons, since it is known that people with serious mental illnesses represent three to four times the prison population than the general population.

“More than 80 percent of women and gender expansive people in prison are receiving treatment for mental illness, and when there is institutional bias about lto race and ethnic minorities in jail More often and for longer than average, our city suffers,” added Councilwoman Rivera.

The lower manhattan politics He stressed that the prison population review teams proposed by his law would study, review and make informed recommendations on who can be safely released from prisons.

“Simplified case processing is just one way we can reduce the unnecessary and even harmful prison time imposed on New Yorkers,” the decision concluded. President of the Criminal Justice Committee of the Municipal Council.

The bill’s goal also seeks to have enough staff to implement the plan, and create efforts to engage the courts and district attorneys.

Likewise, it is sought that the teams that are constituted be made up of representatives of the Department of Corrections, the Office of Mayor’s Criminal Justice (MOCJ), Correctional Health Services, Probation Department and attorneys.