THE FORTUNE SOCIETY STATEMENT ON YET ANOTHER DEATH ON RIKERS ISLAND

(October 23, 2022) Andre Ward, Associate Vice President of the David Rothenberg Center for Public Policy, on behalf of The Fortune Society, issued the following statement today after the most recent death of a person in the care of the New York City Department of Correction.

The Fortune Society calls for immediate investigation and release of information about the death of 28-year–old Erick Tavera on Rikers Island earlier today (change timeframe if not posting on Saturday).  Mr. Tavera was reportedly found unresponsive in what appears to be yet another suicide in a mental health observation unit.  Such units are supposed to be staffed by specially-trained corrections officers who perform regular checks on people in custody to prevent precisely this kind of tragedy.  More people who have been held in Rikers Island have died this year since 2013 despite the jail population being 50% lower than it was then.  The Department of Correction (DOC) must inform the Administration, the Board of Correction, and the public about whether staff in the unit where Mr. Tavera was housed were at their assigned posts and whether they performed their assigned duties.  Mr. Tavera’s death must remind us all that the humanitarian crisis on Rikers Island has not abated and instead grows worse with each passing day, and urgent action is needed to prevent more people from dying in DOC custody.