In our last post we started talking about the increase in personal injury claims coming from correctional facilities in New York City. The last few years have seen significant increases. Although some of the claims come from simple accidents such as slip-and-fall accidents, many of them are due to violence that happens within jail walls.
When looking at the numbers during fiscal year 2015, there was a substantial increase in various types of incidents. There was a 46 percent increase of reported cases of jail staff being assaulted by inmates, there was a 27 percent increase in reports where a staff member used force against an inmate, and there was a 19 percent increase in infraction citations given to inmates for assaults or fights. All these increases have happened while the actual jail population has dropped in recent years.
Although the actual episodes of violent acts keep increasing, the number of inmate assaults that led to serious injury was down by 11 percent. Similarly, reports related to force used by officers that led to serious injury fell by 23 percent during 2015.
The city claims they are taking aggressive measures in order to keep everyone at the jails safe. They are adding more officers, using solitary confinement less often, and improving training.
Inmates may be in jail or prison for a reason, but they deserve to feel safe in their environment and not fear for their lives. Families of individuals who are incarcerated may want to keep a close eye on the physical wellbeing of their loved ones while they are in jail in order to make sure that they are not being harmed.
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