NYC Department Of Correction Graduates Nearly 600 Recruits
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Nearly 600 New York City Department of Correction recruits graduated Friday.
The 592 recruits, to be exact, are entering the department with a tall order, WCBS 880's Stephanie Colombini reported.
"We've got to rewrite the story of Rikers Island," Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has been driving reform efforts there, told the graduating class at the Lehman College. "We simply have to, and you will be the authors of that new history."
But de Blasio said the largest class in DOC history will not be alone in their efforts. He said his administration has invested $200 million in areas such as increased staff, new equipment and better repairs at Rikers.
"All of these investments to change the reality," he said.
De Blasio said the investments are already paying off. He said there has been an 11 percent reduction in serious assaults on correction staff this year.
The head of the correction officers' union, however, disputed those numbers.
"You are entitled to your own opinion but not your own facts," Correction Officers' Benevolent Association President Norman Seabrook said in a statement. "Selectively choosing statistics to show a reduction in violence directed at jail staff is simply disingenuous."
The union said there were 280 serious injuries to correction officers from Jan. 1 to Nov. 30, up from 216 last year.
"We support reform at Rikers and even some of the Department's highly publicized efforts, but our number one priority must remain the safety of Correction Officers, civilians and inmates, and that has not been their focus," Seabrook said.