Inside Rikers: Dysfunction, Lawlessness and Detainees in Control
The New York Times
With a staffing emergency disrupting the basic functions of the jail system, detainees have had free rein inside.
When a detainee decided to hijack a bus inside the Rikers Island jail complex, little was in place to stop him.
All he had to do was rise from where he sat with a half dozen other handcuffed men and walk to the front of the unguarded vehicle: A gate that should have confined him was left unsecured. The keys were in the ignition.
Putting the bus into gear, he rammed a jail building and then backed up and rammed it again, this time with enough force to shake the walls and scatter bricks.
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