The Rikers Island jail complex in New York City has been dogged by reports of abundant contraband and violent episodes. Credit Bebeto Matthews/Associated PressPhoto by: Bebeto Matthews/Associated Press
A sweep by law enforcement authorities at Rikers Island, part of a monthslong investigation into wrongdoing at the jail complex, led to the arrests of two correction officers on Monday night and more than 20 inmates on Tuesday, officials said.
The officers and inmates were part of what officials with the Department of Investigation and the Department of Correction described as a network of contraband smuggling and other criminality at Rikers that has undermined security at the jail complex and contributed to surging violence. The search also uncovered stashes of marijuana, tobacco and weapons. Before Monday, at least 12 other correction officers and their superiors were referred for prosecution as part of the investigation. They were accused of drug trafficking, inmate abuse and falsifying documents, the officials said.
“Criminal conduct in the correctional facilities will not be tolerated,” Mark G. Peters, commissioner of the Department of Investigation, and Joseph Ponte, commissioner of the Department of Correction, said in a statement. If an inmate breaks the law in jail, it is treated as a new arrest. More arrests are expected, officials said.
In just one measure of the rising levels of violence, there were 1,844 uses of force by correction officers at the jail complex from January to May this year, a number that has doubled in the previous three years during the same period, according to the Correction Department. Also during this period, there were 274 drug recoveries and 868 weapons confiscated, the department said.
The latest investigation came after the recent deaths of several inmates and persistent reports by oversight officials, fellow correction officers and civilians of rampant corruption and abuse of inmates by correction officers.
Diane Struzzi, a spokeswoman for the Investigation Department, said that in the last six months, it “significantly stepped up its efforts” at Rikers. Agents quietly gathered incriminating information against correctional officials and inmates, and presented the evidence to Mr. Ponte when he took over as department commissioner this April, Ms. Struzzi said.
“We collaborated on this because the evidence we uncovered showed that prisoners and corrupt correction officers were acting together,” she said.
Over 100 correction officers were searched in the sweep on Monday of the George Motchan Detention Center, which ended at 10:45 p.m. Two officers, identified as Steven Dominguez, 26, and Infinite Devine Rahming, 30, were arrested. They were arraigned on Monday night in Manhattan Criminal Court, charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of marijuana, according to the criminal complaint. Both were caught with backpacks containing eight ounces or more of cocaine, according to the report. Marijuana was also found in Officer Dominguez’s vehicle, the complaint said. Prosecutors did not specify if marijuana was found with Officer Rahming.
Bond was set at $500,000, or $250,000 cash alternative.
Norman Seabrook, president of the Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association, the correction officers’ union, supported the efforts to curb corruption at the jail but contended the arrests were part of a “witch hunt” against his members. He said that to his knowledge, Officers Dominguez and Rahming, who each have about two years on the job, did not bring drugs onto the territory of the jail.
Mr. Seabrook said he believed the two men were given the backpacks by someone else and might not have known that they contained drugs. He also challenged the assertion that contraband was a major problem at Rikers, noting the relatively small amount of illegal goods confiscated in the search.
Mr. Ponte, a well-regarded prison reformer who has vowed to impose order at Rikers, said in a statement on Tuesday that corruption would not be tolerated. But he defended “the overwhelming majority of correction staff” that he said were “hardworking professionals.”
“Their safety, like the safety of civilian staff, inmates and visitors, demands that we maintain the highest levels of staff integrity,” he said.
© 2014 The New York Times Company.
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