Op-Ed | NYC needs a new understanding of community safety that only starts by closing Rikers amNewYork

"But we need a change that goes far beyond new infrastructure or we'll simply repeat the same mistakes in tinier buildings. We need a new understanding of community safety one that addresses the root causes of crime and promotes humane, rehabilitative treatment for all New Yorkers. In doing so, we'll create stronger, more prosperous communities in every corner of our city."

"Notably, many of the earliest iterations of incarceration were driven by religious groups and designed with the intention of moral repair and reformation. The word penitentiary comes from penance, an act of sorrow or regret for wrongdoing, showing one's commitment to making amends. But today, prison has become a way to punish and demean human beings especially human beings who never received the basic support they needed to survive."

"Across New York City, there are lengthy waiting lists for housing, mental health services, and other basic needs. But there's no waiting list for jail. Unsurprisingly and unfortunately twenty percent of people detained at Rikers have a diagnosed serious mental illness, and more than 50 percent have some mental health needs. Many are unhoused, poor, or from traditionally marginalized communities."

Rikers Island continues to experience hazardous living conditions, extreme violence, and inadequate health care, with more than a dozen deaths last year. The mayor announced measures to improve conditions, and the city plans five smaller jails across the boroughs to replace the complex. Reform must go beyond new infrastructure to avoid repeating harms in smaller facilities. A new approach to community safety must address root causes of crime and expand humane, rehabilitative treatment and community supports. Many detained people have serious mental illness or other mental health needs and face homelessness, poverty, and marginalization. Nearly 300 interfaith leaders, advocates, and formerly incarcerated people convened to chart a vision centering faith communities in criminal justice reform. Many early incarceration models were driven by religious groups aiming at moral repair; the term penitentiary derives from penance. Prison has shifted toward punishment and humiliation rather than support and reformation.

Read at www.amny.com