‘It Makes Me Want to Cry’:

Visiting Rikers Island

NYC Jails Action Coalition
January 2018
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction 1

Section I: The Importance of Visits 1

Section II: Visiting Rikers Island 2

Section III: What Visitors Say About Visiting 3

Section IV: Conclusion and Recommendations 6

Endnotes 8

The NYC Jails Action Coalition (JAC) produced this report. Special thanks to Laura Fettig and Kymáre Hutchinson for spearheading
the visit campaign and writing the report. Thanks also to Ummer Ali, Natalie Block-Levin, Maya Brown, Gina Bull, Brittany Castle,
Jared Chausow, Kelsey De Avila, Jillian Drummond, Alan Figman, Catherine Frizell, Sahiba Gill, Alex Griffith, Susan Goodwillie,
Patrick Hillman, Sarah Kerr, Tanya Krupat, Brian Lewis, Dori Lewis, Elizabeth Mayers, Alec Miranm, Five Mualimm-ak, Jennifer J.
Parish, Anna Pastoressa, Grace Price, Inem Richardson, Nora M. Searle, Jane Stanicki, Gale Wiener, Lindsey Wright, and the over
100 visitors we spoke to who gave their input for this report.
 
JAC is a coalition of activists that includes formerly incarcerated and currently incarcerated people, their family members, and
other community members who are working to promote human rights, dignity, and safety for people in New York City jails. For
more information about JAC, visit www.nycjac.org.

@JailsAction NYCJAC @jailsactioncoalition

‘IT MAKES ME WANT TO CRY’:
VISITING RIKERS ISLAND
Introduction circuitous tables with six inch Plexiglas partitions—and
it continues to maintain a harsh, difficult, discouraging
Visits are important for the well-being of incarcerated and time-consuming visiting process.
people. Visits decrease the chance of recidivism;1, 2 may
help improve reentry experiences;3, 4 can improve family The Jails Action Coalition has launched a campaign that
relationships during incarceration and upon reentry, seeks to learn more about the experience of families
especially relationships with children;5,6 and can increase and friends who visit Rikers Island. Over the course of
prison safety.7 In addition, visiting preserves the right of 2017, JAC members conducted outreach at the Q100
family members to have a relationship with their loved bus stop in Queens Plaza, and interviewed friends and
ones, and may even prevent health problems that can family who were traveling to Rikers Island to visit their
result from long-term separation from an incarcerated incarcerated loved ones. We spoke to over 100 visitors,
family member.8 a majority of whom were women, and completed over
50 surveys. From this outreach, we learned about the
The Board of Correction Minimum Standards protect the barriers visitors face and gathered recommendations
right for people incarcerated in the New York City jails to about how the visiting process could be improved. We
have visits from family and friends.9 An average of 1000 also heard from an attorney who currently represents
people visit Rikers Island every day—up to 1500 on the at least 45 visitors who report being sexually abused by
busiest visit days—and about 30,000 children visit Rikers DOC staff during the visit process.
every year.10 In May 2015, the Department of Correction
(DOC) proposed rolling back these visit protections This report documents our findings and includes
by limiting physical contact during visits and denying recommendations for improving the visit process.
whole classes of people the right to visit.11 The NYC Jails Section I, “The Importance of Visits,” highlights how
Action Coalition (JAC) galvanized community members crucial visits are to the experience of incarcerated
to oppose these changes. Thirty-five people testified at people and their families and friends. Section II,
the Board of Correction’s hearing on the proposed rule “Visiting Rikers,” describes the experience of visiting
changes, and over 85 organizations and 54 individuals from the perspective of those who visit. Section III
submitted or signed on to written comments. The Board details the findings of our outreach and research.
ultimately rejected the DOC’s most severe restrictions And Section IV outlines recommendations for the
and reaffirmed the significance of visits, stating: Department of Correction, the Board of Correction and
the City to adopt in order to improve the experience of
Maintaining personal connections family members and friends who visit their loved ones
with social and family networks and at Rikers.
support systems is critical to improving
outcomes both during confinement and Section I: The Importance of Visits
upon reentry. Visitation with friends
and family plays an instrumental role Visits from family and friends can serve to keep
in an inmate’s ability to maintain these incarcerated individuals connected to their communities
connections and should therefore and lives outside of the jail’s walls. Visiting allows family
be encouraged and facilitated by the members, including children, to maintain relationships
Department.12 with their loved ones, and can help those who are
incarcerated remain hopeful.
Yet the conditions for visitors continue to be discouraging
at best and traumatizing and violent at worst. Visitors, Reentry and recidivism
who many times have small children with them, wait for Visits also play a vital role in successful reentry. A
hours; undergo multiple searches; submit to strict and 2011 study of 16,420 people who were incarcerated in
inconsistent dress code enforcement; are forced to miss Minnesota prisons between 2003 and 2007 found that
work or school; are treated with disrespect; and have being visited while in prison significantly reduced
even experienced sexual harassment and abuse in order recidivism in the years following the person’s release.13
to spend just one hour with their incarcerated loved one. Many studies over decades have focused on this topic.14
DOC has achieved its goal of restricting contact during Visits from friends, family, and others such as clergy
visits by redesigning visit rooms so that people sit at long, members and mentors allow incarcerated people to
1
create, retain, and strengthen their social supports, Section II: Visiting Rikers Island
which is a key factor in preventing recidivism, and
can significantly improve a person’s transition to the Family members and friends who wish to visit their
community after incarceration.15 People with strong incarcerated loved ones must first make their way to a
social ties are also more likely to find employment upon Q100 bus stop in Queens. The ride from Queens Plaza,
their release.16 Promoting strong family bonds through where the Q100 originates, takes about 30 minutes.
visits can reduce recidivism as most post-release When visitors arrive on Rikers, one or two correction
support, including cash assistance, a place to stay, and officers (COs) board the bus and announce that all
job prospects, is provided by family members.17 contraband must be left on the bus and that visitors will
be required to line up single file when exiting. Visitors
Mental health are also required to show identification to exit. Visitors
Visits support individuals’ mental health while they are brought inside the Samuel L. Perry Center and
are incarcerated. Studies have shown, for example, instructed to stand in a circle with hats off and all bags
that youth who receive visits from their parents while held to their sides. A dog is then led around the circle
incarcerated report fewer depressive symptoms over twice. Visitors are then told to exit and head toward the
time compared to those who do not receive visits.18 first set of lockers outside of the Central Visit House.
Similarly, incarcerated mothers who receive fewer visits There are no clear signs instructing people what they
from their children show more depressive symptoms should leave in the lockers. Visitors are required to
than those who receive more visits.19 Clearly, regular bring quarters to operate the lockers, and many visitors
visits can have a profound positive effect on the mental need to borrow quarters from others, especially if it is
health of those incarcerated. their first time visiting and they were not aware they
would need them. Many times lockers are broken and
Jail safety will not work or return the quarter. After putting their
People who are visited by loved ones consistently belongings in a locker, visitors are asked to show their
throughout their incarceration engage in less identification again to a CO before proceeding inside
“misconduct” while in jail,20 which can lead to safer the Central Visit House, where they go through the first
conditions for incarcerated individuals and correction metal detector search.
staff. Visits can also help incarcerated people cope
with conditions that lead to violence; for example, Once they have passed through the metal detector,
incarcerated people who receive visits perceive issues visitors disperse to different waiting areas depending
like overcrowding as less oppressive, which can reduce on which facility they are visiting. Once visitors make
the likelihood of violent behavior.21 While the timing their way to the correct waiting area, they must check
and frequency of visits is important when examining in with a CO and provide their identification as well the
their effect on incidents of misconduct or violence,22 book and case number of the person they are visiting.
visits should be supported and encouraged as much as They are also asked to provide their fingerprints. While
possible because of their potential positive effect on jail this is not required, COs do not tell visitors they have a
safety. choice, nor are there signs that inform visitors of their
right to refuse to be fingerprinted.
Impact on families
Family members have a right to safely visit their loved From there, visitors wait for another bus to take them
ones, and children have a right to maintain a relationship from the waiting area to the jail facility they are visiting.
with their incarcerated parent. Relationships between They must sometimes wait over half an hour for the
incarcerated people and their family members, and next bus to arrive. While waiting for the second bus,
particularly their children, can be strengthened by visitors are sometimes randomly chosen to leave the
increased contact during incarceration23—although the visit area and go through an ion scan for drug residue.
quality of the visiting environment may affect children’s If the test comes up negative, visitors can go back to
visiting experiences.24,25 One study found that barriers to the previous area to wait for the bus, although they
visiting were strongly related to decreases in the quality may have missed the bus and have to wait even longer.
of family relationships post-release.26 In an in-depth Once at the jail facility, visitors must remove their shoes
study on the impact of incarceration on family members and pass through another metal detector. Once they
of incarcerated individuals, family members who were have cleared the second metal detector, they must
unable to talk to or visit their loved ones regularly were leave all their belongings, including their outer layers
more likely to self-report that their incarceration caused of clothing, in a second locker, which also requires a
negative impacts on their health.27 quarter. Visitors then enter a small room where they are
subjected to yet another body search, this time with a
2
hand-held metal detector. In some facilities on Rikers, are directly in violation of DOC policy.29 As of November
this last body search requires that two or three visitors 2017, at least 45 women have filed or are in the process
at a time lift their shirts, exposing their stomach; shake of filing lawsuits that accuse the DOC of unlawful strip
out their bra; open their pants zipper and expose their searches, most of them at Rikers.30 According to an
underwear; flip out the waistband of their pants; and attorney representing the plaintiffs, these strip searches
turn around to show their bare back. Visitors are then are still happening, and they are now being conducted
requested to lower their socks below their ankles, lift in bathrooms in the Central Visit House, out of sight
their sleeves up to their elbows, open their mouths and from surveillance cameras. He also shared that one of
stick their tongues out. the officers who was accused of sexual abuse has been
promoted to the DOC Investigations team. Our outreach
Finally, visitors are allowed to enter a waiting room where at the Q100 bus stop also confirmed that officers conduct
they wait, sometimes for hours, until their loved one is illegal strip searches on visitors. One visitor said she
called to the visiting floor. These waiting rooms are cold, felt violated during searches because they sometimes
even in the summer, and if a visitor leaves to use the includes officers “touching her privates.”
restroom they are denied their visit. Visits last one hour,
the room is often extremely loud, and it is often difficult Treatment of visitors
for visitors and their loved ones to hear each other. Many visitors report that COs’ behavior as a major
After the visit, visitors must wait again for a bus to pick concern and hindrance during visits. More than 50%
them up and take them back to the Perry Center, where of surveyed visitors noted the need for improvement in
they wait again for the Q100 to take them off the Island. the way that COs treat visitors. Many visitors reported
that they were treated as though they had committed a
Section III: What Visitors Say About Visiting crime or were incarcerated themselves—a phenomenon
that has been called “secondary prisonization.”31 One
Visiting a person incarcerated at Rikers is a challenge visitor said, “They treat me like I’m my husband, like the
for families and friends. They must set aside a whole one that we go see.”
day to spend only one hour with their loved ones and
endure the arduous visit process described above. “It makes me want to cry.
Visitors sometimes must even put their personal safety
at risk. Through conducting outreach to visitors at the It’s a very cold experience.”
Q100 bus stop, and collecting first- and second- hand
accounts of people’s visiting experiences, JAC has While a few visitors reported that certain COs are
compiled some of the most egregious and frequently nice and helpful, visitors more consistently reported
raised complaints. These concerns and abuses create that COs are “disrespectful and rude” and that COs
barriers to successful visits and must be addressed. often “talk nasty” to them and “aren’t understanding of
what visitors go through.” One visitor shared that she
The barriers include: witnessed a CO tell another visitor with her baby that
her loved one was “probably crying and masturbating
• The risk of sexual abuse during unlawful strip waiting for her.” Another visitor said that COs “pick on
searches; people and treat them like animals” and “poke at inmates
• Other inappropriate behavior by COs; for a reaction.” One 43-year-old visitor who visits her
• Vague and inconsistently enforced policies; boyfriend weekly said, “It makes me want to cry. It’s a
• Long commutes to the island; very cold experience.”
• Long wait times and excessive searches; and
• An unwelcoming and uncomfortable physical Even when searches do not end in sexual abuse, they
environment. are invasive. One visitor described them as an “assault
on privacy.” “I felt violated because they’ve asked me
Sexual abuse of visitors to show my underwear not only in front of officers
The DOC prohibits strip searches and cavity searches but in front of other visitors,” she shared. “They search
of visitors to city jails, and yet many visitors, most of children’s diapers. They would do more to my daughter—
whom are women, have reported being searched in a she is young and pretty, you would see the difference
way that constitutes sexual abuse by COs.28 Women and in treatment and she would get searched more and
men have reported being forced to strip down to their harassed.”
underwear, show COs their genitals, suffer through
inappropriate touching of their breasts and genitals, and Vague and inconsistent policies
undergo cavity searches—even though these searches Visitors are often subjected to the whims of COs. One

3
visitor said that rules are “made up by each officer One visitor shared that she would watch some visitors
according to their moods and power trips” and they be waved through without being searched, and felt that
use their power in “a very nasty and corrupted way.” these visitors were being given special treatment. “When
For example, the Minimum Standards clearly state that I asked why, the COs told me to shut up. What else would
visits are a minimum of one hour, and that attorney they be doing other than bringing in contraband?”
visits do not count towards the maximum number of
visits that an incarcerated individual is allowed. And yet, Excessive searches and long wait times
visitors we spoke to reported visits that lasted less than Families sacrifice entire days in order to see their loved
an hour or were denied completely because they were one for just one hour when they visit Rikers. Studies
told that an attorney took the incarcerated person’s last show that visiting is very often a financial burden,
visit. The Minimum Standards also allow for longer visits because taking time off work, obtaining childcare, and
for special circumstances such as additional travel time the transportation costs associated with visiting can
required by the visitor, and yet we heard reports that add to the debt caused by loss of the incarcerated family
this rule was not being honored for visitors coming from member’s income and legal fees that many families face
out of state.32 when a family member is incarcerated.35 In addition,
visitors must accommodate the visit schedule: Only
“How do you visit and talk about Fridays are open to all visitors regardless of their loved
one’s last name; four days a week, visits are restricted by
things if you know there will be last name; and two days a week there are no visits at all.36
repercussions for talking about All too often, visitors get all the way to the island only
to find that their loved one’s building is on lockdown,
certain things? If you talk about which means there is no movement allowed within the
how the guards are mistreating jail and they aren’t able to visit that day.
you in front of the guards, they One visitor said that it seems like long waits happen
are going to mistreat you. How do because COs just “sit, talk and make you wait.” Another
you find out if someone’s okay?” lives near Rikers, but when she visits it still takes up a big
part of her day—she says that if she gets there at 2:00
p.m. she won’t leave until 10:00 p.m. or later. Another
Some visitors we spoke to complained that officers visitor reported waiting until 10:00 a.m. to be processed
seemingly make up their own rules regarding what even though visits start at 8:00 a.m. because the CO
color or type of clothes visitors can wear. One visitor didn’t arrive until 9:00 a.m. One visitor said that “after I
reported being denied his visit because he was wearing visited the first time, I knew it was gonna be a whole day
“gang colors.” “I wasn’t offered any other clothing, they no matter what.”
wouldn’t even let me turn my shirt inside out. They just
said ‘hey, you have to go,’” he said. The DOC’s policy “After I visited the first time, I
specifically allows for visits to continue if the dress
code is violated as long as the visitor agrees to wear knew it was gonna be a whole day
a Department-issued cover-up.33 The same visitor no matter what.”
reported that on another occasion COs listened to his
visit with his incarcerated friend, even though it is in Excessive searches certainly exacerbate long wait times
direct violation of the Minimum Standards for COs to for visitors. In July 2015, then-Commissioner Ponte
monitor visits without a warrant.34 He was asked to acknowledged that multiple searches were problematic
leave when he confronted the officer about listening and agreed to consider changes in the search process. He
to the conversation. Visit areas are so loud that often also agreed that wait times should be reduced. Instead,
visitors are forced to shout to be heard by their loved DOC added an additional search in which visitors
one, which makes it even more difficult to have a private are subjected to passive canine inspection. Visitors
conversation. “The whole process is invasive even when complain that the number of searches does not make
the invasive part is over,” he shared. “How do you visit and sense, especially if they are having a non-contact visit.
talk about things if you know there will be repercussions One visitor described it this way: There are “searches,
for talking about certain things? If you talk about how again, again, again, again, five times.”
the guards are mistreating you in front of the guards,
they are going to mistreat you. How do you find out if DOC insists on multiple searches in order to prevent
someone’s okay?” contraband from entering Rikers. Yet the Board of
Correction’s 2015 report Violence in New York City Jails:
4
Slashing and Stabbing Incidents found that nearly 80% and seats on the other side for the person being visited.
of weapons recovered in 2014 were fashioned from Visitors complain that the long tables make for a much
items found or used in the jails, and only 10% were less intimate visiting experience than smaller tables.
likely introduced from the outside.37 A New York City The design is also extremely problematic for visiting
Department of Investigation report from 2014 found that children. Under the Board standards, incarcerated
a large portion of the illegal trafficking of contraband is individuals are permitted to hold children in their family
carried out by uniformed guards and civilian employees.38 who are age 14 and younger.43 For a child to be able to
Given the reality of how contraband enters Rikers, the sit with their incarcerated family member as permitted
number of searches is excessive and unnecessary. by the Standard, they have to walk all the way around
the long circuitous table, through other people’s visits.44
There are “searches, again, again, Families are generally discouraged from leaving their
seats, adding another barrier for children to sit on their
again, again, five times.” incarcerated parent’s lap. JAC indicated to the Board
that this new infrastructure would be problematic for
Another visitor complained that random drug searches children, yet no accommodation was made.
are unfair and cause extra delays. “Sometimes you’ll get
pulled out of the waiting room for a random drug search For those families and incarcerated individuals who are
and then you lose your place in line. Just because you denied a contact visit, visits occur inside a booth with
maybe came in contact with drugs doesn’t mean you the incarcerated person on one side of a Plexiglas divider
shouldn’t get a visit. Say a visitor is a drug addict, so and the visitor on the other side. People have reported
because you’re a drug addict you shouldn’t have a visit?” that communication is difficult because there are no
phones to use to speak to each other through the glass.
Although repetitive searches and processing times make Visitors and incarcerated people are forced to raise their
waits longer, the physical location of Rikers is a big part voices to make themselves heard, which contributes to
of the problem. Visitors must rely on just one bus line to the noise and chaos of the visiting environment. In some
get to and from the island, which can add hours to their facilities the Plexiglas is so scratched and dirty that it is
commute.39 The inaccessibility of Rikers takes its toll on difficult to see through. One visitor said, “You have to
visiting: In 2017, the visit rate at Rikers was roughly half mime what you are saying. And other families are trying
that of NYC’s borough jail facilities.40 to talk and everyone’s screaming.” Non-contact visits
can be emotionally difficult for families, especially for
Physical environment those with young children who become distressed at
The physical environment at Rikers plays an important not being allowed to touch their incarcerated parent.45
role in the experience of visits. Visiting areas are
dirty and uncomfortable, and are often cold, loud and
chaotic. Visitors have complained that the water from
“You have to mime what you are
the water fountains comes out rusty—a direct violation saying. And other families are
of the Minimum Standards, which require drinking trying to talk and everyone’s
fountains be available to visitors.41 Once visitors get to
the jail facility where they wait for their visit, they are screaming.”
not allowed to use the restroom or else their visit will
be denied. Visit areas are cold, even in the summer, and Despite these hardships, visitors consistenly affirm
visitors are not allowed to wear any outer layers. The the importance of visiting for themselves and their
only food available to visitors is through the vending incarcerated loved one. One 24-year-old visitor shared,
machines in the Central Visit House, and food is not “[Visiting] makes my son’s father’s day. I’m the only one
allowed in the visiting areas of jail facilities, so visitors who visits him. It makes his time go faster. Visits make
often wait for hours without access to food or restrooms. my day as well. My son loves to go, he says ‘daddy’ as we
cross the bridge.” A mother who visits her incarcerated
One of the most frequently cited problems among son said, “I look forward to visits. I feel better when I
visitors with children is that there is no space for see him. [It] feels good to know he is in good health and
children to play; long wait times make visiting even good spirits.” Visitors put up with the arduous and at
more difficult for families with small children. In 2015, times dangerous process of visiting becuase they are
the BOC approved six-inch high partitions in the center dedicated to seeing their loved ones. The DOC, the
of visit tables between visitors and their incarcerated Board, and the City should be supporting visitors, not
loved one.42 DOC also modified visit rooms to have one disuading them.
long circuitous table with seats on one side for visitors

5
Section IV: Recommendations 1. Facility;
2. Demographics (gender, race, and age);
Visiting is a crucial component of improving reentry 3. Category (abusive pat frisk, strip search,
and decreasing recidivism, improving jail safety and sexual abuse47);
the mental health of incarcerated people, and helping 4. Number of investigatory days complaints
families who deal with the collateral consequences of have been pending;
incarceration to maintain ties with their loved ones. We 5. Closing rates;
have outlined our major concerns with the experience 6. Category of alleged perpetrator (correction
of visiting and highlighted the voices of visitors. Below, officer, captain, other DOC staff);
we detail recommendations for the Department of 7. Substantiation rates; and
Correction, the Board of Correction, and the Mayor’s 8. Administrative actions taken against staff.
office. If followed, these recommendations will greatly
improve the experience of visiting and will support a 2. The experience of visiting
healthy and safe visiting process for incarcerated people
and their family and friends who visit. Visiting is important to the wellbeing of both incarcerated
people and their family and friends. DOC should support
Recommendations: Department of Correction visitors to have the best visit possible and eliminate the
barriers to safe, efficient and meaningful visits. DOC
1. Preventing sexual abuse should:

No one should have to suffer unlawful searches and • Create child-friendly visiting areas so that (a)
sexual abuse in order to visit their incarcerated loved visiting children and their caretakers have a place to
ones. DOC must take these allegations seriously and comfortably wait for their visit and (b) incarcerated
take action immediately to keep them from happening. parents can interact with their children in a family-
DOC should: like environment that promotes connection.
Children should be provided with crayons, books,
• Launch an independent and transparent toys, etc.
investigation into the allegations of sexual abuse • Improve the physical environment of visiting areas,
during unlawful strip searches. including bathroom facilities, drinking fountains,
• Ensure supervisors make rounds during visit hours and seating; ensure visiting areas are warmer.
to ensure that DOC’s policies regarding searches are • Allow visitors to use the restroom while they are
followed.46 waiting for their loved one to be called to the visit
• Ensure that when pat-frisk searches of visitors do floor without losing their visit.
occur, supervisors are present to oversee the search. • Install smaller visit tables and remove 6-inch
• Periodically re-train correction officers on DOC’s Plexiglas dividers to allow for a more private and
search policies and how to do a proper search. intimate visiting experience.
• Immediately transfer any staff member from their • Replace Plexiglas in booth visit areas and install
visit post if there is a complaint that the staff phones so that visitors can hear their loved ones.
member has conducted an improper search. • Ensure that correction officers adhere to DOC policy
• Immediately transfer any staff member from their regarding monitoring of conversations between
visit post when it has been determined that a staff visitors and their incarcerated loved ones.
member has used undesignated search areas such • Add more busses from the Central Visit House to jail
as bathrooms to conduct searches. facilities (as well as more bus drivers) and implement
• Provide visitors who are subjected to pat-frisk a set bus schedule in order to cut down on wait
searches with a card that includes the searching times for visitors.
correction officer’s name, badge number, an • Eliminate the canine search and reduce searches so
explanation of the visitor’s rights, and a description that visitors are only searched once.
of how to make a complaint. • Eliminate random ion scan drug searches as they too
• Hang signs in visit areas with a phone number frequently lead to false positives and unnecessarily
visitors can call to report sexual abuse. Consider delay visits.
including the NYPD Special Victims Unit hotline • Consider increasing searches for correction officers
number. and/or enforce searching correction officers to cut
• Track and publish quarterly numbers of sexual down on contraband entering Rikers.
abuse complaints by visitors, including the following • Prioritize shortening wait times for visitors.
information: • Develop and publicize a notification system (such as
6
 a call-in line, Twitter page, or updated web page) so • Do not at any point replace in-person visits with
that visitors are notified of lockdowns before they video visiting. If video visiting is implemented, it
arrive on Rikers. should be available as a supplement to in-person
• Update website consistently with visiting rules. visits only and it should be available at no cost.
Ensure correction officers consistently follow every
rule posted on the website. Recommendations: Board of Correction
• Publish the existing Visitor’s Guide and post a link
to download it on the DOC visiting website. Provide 1. Compliance monitoring
paper copies to visitors when they arrive at Rikers.
• Enforce consistently policies that require DOC to The Board should focus on monitoring current rules
provide clothing to visitors who do not meet dress regarding visits. The Board should:
code rules. DOC should provide both shirts as
currently practiced, as well as sweatpants if needed. • Ensure COs are properly conducting searches, and
Visitors should not be turned away for wearing that unlawful strip searches are not happening, by
certain colors. sending BOC staff to monitor visit areas.
• Lengthen visits from one hour to two or three hours, • Test water fountains and monitor restrooms for
extend visiting hours, and add two more visit days functionality, cleanliness, and refilled toilet paper
so that visitors can visit seven days a week. and soap.
• Hang posters informing visitors of their rights in • Ensure that visitors who do not comply with DOC
visit areas, and include information about how to dress code are offered clothing alternatives and
contact the Board when rights are violated. are not turned away from visits unless they do not
• Launch a PSA campaign to inform visitors of their consent to wearing clothing alternatives.
rights when they visit Rikers, including signs and • Ensure COs are not monitoring conversations
an informational recording that plays on the Q100 between family and friends and their incarcerated
so that visitors are informed of their rights before loved ones without a warrant.
reaching Rikers. • Require that DOC staff inform visitors of their right
• Collect information on how long each visitor must not to be fingerprinted when being checked in at
wait before seeing their loved one and report this the Central Visit House.
data to the Board monthly. • Require DOC to provide opportunities for child-
parent contact in visit areas.
3. Programming and oversight
2. Rulemaking
DOC should make some systemic changes in order to
improve visits overall: The Board should engage in rulemaking to improve the
quality of visits and take the opportunity to hear from
• Investigate correction officers who work in visit visitors on what would make the visiting experience
areas for gang activity. better. In particular, the Board should:
• Promote and encourage visits for people who do not
receive regular visits. • Expand the Sexual Abuse and Sexual Harassment
• Continue working on the plan underway to promote Minimum Standards to include rules about visits.
events to encourage children to visit their mothers • Require visits be longer than one hour.
held at Rikers. • Require DOC to track and report wait times for each
• Get input from family members who visit on visit stage of the visiting process, as well as document
policies and practices. search procedures for each visitor.
• Provide better training for correction officers so • Require DOC to provide notice to visitors of any
they are more prepared to deal compassionately lockdowns occurring on a particular day so that
with the issues that visitors face. visitors can check ahead of time before traveling to
• Revitalize the Visit Working Group, including adding Rikers.
more members. • Require DOC to post visit rules and visitors’ rights
• Discontinue the use of non-contact visits as and the Board’s contact information in visible places
punishment for small infractions by incarcerated in visit areas.
individuals. • Require DOC to provide a card with the searching
• Do not allow COs to work double shifts; exhausted CO’s information, the visitor’s rights regarding
COs do not contribute to a positive visiting searches and the Board’s contact information each
environment. time a pat-frisk search is performed.

7
• Eliminate the rule which allows for a 6-inch Plexiglas build new visit areas and implement visit policies that
divider at visit tables. reflect the needs of visitors and their incarcerated loved
• Allow for more contact during visits. ones. In particular, the City should:
• Limit the number of searches to which visitors are
subjected, including eliminating the canine search • Make visit areas accessible by multiple forms of
and random ion scans. transportation.
• Build comfortable and child-friendly visiting areas.
Recommendations: Mayor’s Office • Require only one search for visitors.
• Provide extensive visit hours 7 days a week.
As the plan for closing Rikers moves forward and plans • Create multiple ways for visitors to learn about their
for new jails begin, the City should consider the issues rights and DOC rules, including clear signage in visit
visitors have faced at Rikers and thoughtfully plan to facilities.

Endnotes
1 Page 904–5. Mears, D., Cochran, J. Siennick, S. and Bales, W. (2012, December). Prison visitation and
recidivism. Justice Quarterly, 29(6), pp. 889–918.
2 Minnesota Department of Corrections. (2011, November). The effects of prison visitation on offender
recidivism. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Department of Corrections. Retrieved from https://mn.gov/doc/assets/11-
11MNPrisonVisitationStudy_tcm1089-272781.pdf.
3 deVuono-powell, S., Schweidler, C., Walters, A., and Zohrabi, A. (2015). Who pays? The true cost of
incarceration on families. Oakland, CA: Ella Baker Center, Forward Together, Research Action Design.
4 Berg, M. and Huebner, B. (2011, April). Reentry and the ties that bind: An examination of social ties,
employment, and recidivism. Justice Quarterly, 28(2), pp. 382–410.
5 Page 331. La Vigne, N., Naser, R., Brooks, L., and Castro, J. (2005, November). Examining the effect of
incarceration and in-prison family contact on prisoners’ family relationships. Journal of Criminal Justice, 21(4), pp.
314–335.
6 Minnesota Department of Corrections. (2011, November).
7 Cochran, J. (2012). The ties that bind or the ties that break: Examining the relationship between visitation
and prisoner misconduct. Journal of Criminal Justice, 40, pp. 433–440.
8 deVuono-powell, S., Schweidler, C., Walters, A., and Zohrabi, A. (2015). See page 9.
9 N.Y.C. Rules & Regs. tit. 40, § 1-09(a).
10 New York City Department of Correction. (2017, October). NYC Department of Correction at a Glance:
Information through first nine months of FY 2017. Retrieved from https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doc/downloads/
pdf/DOC_At-Glance-4-27-17.pdf. In addition, internal data shared with the DOC Visiting Workgroup based on
April–June 2015 numbers of children (under age 16) who visited was multiplied to reach approximately 30,000
children. Each month included more than 3,000 children.
11 Ponte, J. (2015, May 26). Petition to the NYC Board of Correction for rulemaking pursuant to the City
Administration Procedure Act [Letter to Stanley Brezonoff]. East Elmhurst, NY. Retrieved from http://www1.nyc.
gov/assets/boc/downloads/pdf/DOC%20Petition%20for%20Rulemaking.pdf.
12 N.Y.C. Rules & Regs. tit. 40, § 1-09(a).
13 Page 27. Minnesota Department of Corrections. (2011, November).
14 Page 889–90. Mears, D., Cochran, J. Siennick, S. and Bales, W. (2012, December).
15 Minnesota Department of Corrections. (2011, November).
16 Duwe, G. and Clark, V. (2011). Blessed be the social tie that binds: The effects of prison visitation on offender
recidivism. Criminal Justice Policy Review 24(3), pp. 271–296. Retrieved at http://cjp.sagepub.com.proxy.wexler.
hunter.cuny.edu/content/24/3/271.full.pdf+html.
17 deVuono-powell, S., Schweidler, C., Walters, A., and Zohrabi, A. (2015). See page 9.
18 Monahan, K.C., Goldweber, A., and Cauffman, E. (2011, April). The effects of visitation on incarcerated juvenile
offenders: How contact with the outside impacts adjustment on the inside. Law and Human Behavior, 35(2), pp.
143–151.
19 Poehlmann, J. (2005). Incarcerated mothers’ contact with children, perceived family relationships, and
depressive symptoms. Journal of the Division of Family Psychology of the American Psychological Association (Division
43), 19(3), pp. 350–357.
20 Page 439. Cochran, J. (2012).
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21 Page 37. Woolredge, J.D. (1997). Explaining variation in perceptions of inmate crowding. The Prison Journal,
77, pp. 27–40.
22 Cochran, J. (2012).
23 Page 331. La Vigne, N., Naser, R., Brooks, L., and Castro, J. (2005, November). See page 331.
24 Page 590. Poehlmann, J., Dallaire, D., Loper, A.B., and Shear, L.D. (2010, September). Children’s contact with
their incarcerated parents: Research findings and recommendations. American Psychologist, 65(6), pp. 575–598.
25 Tasca, M. (2014, March). “It’s Not All Cupcakes and Lollipops”: An investigation of the predictors and effects
of prison visitation for children during maternal and paternal incarceration (doctoral dissertation). Arizona State
University, Tempe, Arizona. Retrieved from https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/248650.pdf. See page 110.
26 Mowen, T. and Visher, C. (2016). Changing the ties that bind: How incarceration impacts family relationships.
Criminology & Public Policy, 15(2), pp. 503–528. See page 520.
27 deVuono-powell, S., Schweidler, C., Walters, A., and Zohrabi, A. (2015). See page 9.
28 Rakia, R. (2017, January 10). “A Living Nightmare”: Women visiting loved ones jailed at rikers describe a
pattern of invasive searches by guards. The Intercept. Retrieved from https://theintercept.com/2017/01/10/rikers-
island-strip-search-new-york-city-jails-visitors/.
29 Ibid.
30 A. Figman, personal communication, November 27, 2017.
31 Comfort, M. (2003, February). In the tube at San Quentin: The “secondary prisonization” of women visiting
inmates. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 32(1), pp. 77–107.
32 N.Y.C. Rules & Regs. tit. 40, § 1-09(b)(7).
33 “Dress Code Policy.” Department of Corrections. Retrieved from https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doc/inmate-
info/visitors-dress-code.page
34 N.Y.C. Rules & Regs. tit. 40, § 1-09(g)(6).
35 Page 29. deVuono-powell, S., Schweidler, C., Walters, A., and Zohrabi, A. (2015).
36 “Visiting Schedule.” Department of Corrections. Retrieved from https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doc/inmate-
info/visit-inmate-schedule-december-2017.page.
37 The City of New York Department of Correction. (2015, April 22). Violence in New York City Jails: Slashing and
Stabbing Incidents. Retrieved from http://www1.nyc.gov/assets/boc/downloads/pdf/Violence%20in%20New%20
York%20City%20Jails_Slashing%20and%20Stabbing%20Incidents.pdf
38 Mark G. Peters, Commissioner. (2014, November). New York City Department of Investigation Report
on Security Failures at City Department of Correction Facilities. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/
interactive/2014/11/07/nyregion/rikers-security-report.html.
39 Page 27, 74. Independent Commission on New York City Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform. (2017). A
More Just New York City. Retrieved from https://static1.squarespace.com/static/577d72ee2e69cfa9dd2b7a5e/t/58e
0d7c08419c29a7b1f2da8/1491130312339/Independent+Commission+Final+Report.pdf
40 Department of Correction. Visitation Quarterly Report. (2017, January 1). Retrieved from https://www1.nyc.
gov/assets/doc/downloads/pdf/INTRO_706_FY17_1-30-17.pdf.
41 N.Y.C. Rules & Regs. tit. 40, § 1-09(f).
42 Amendment to the Minimum Standards. Retrieved from http://www1.nyc.gov/assets/boc/downloads/pdf/
Amendment%20to%20the%20Minimum%20Standards.pdf.
43 N.Y.C. Rules & Regs. tit. 40, § 1-09(f).
44 Independent Commission on New York City Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform. (2017).
45 Ibid.
46 Visitors have complained that often supervisors are complicit in failing to properly search visitors. DOC
should also ensure that DOC administration is involved in monitoring proper search procedures.
47 As defined by the Board’s Minimum Standards on preventing sexual harassment and sexual abuse.
Retrieved from: http://library.amlegal.com/nxt/gateway.dll/New%20York/rules/title40boardofcorrection/
chapter5eliminationofsexualabuseandsexua?f=templates$fn=default.htm$3.0$vid=amlegal:newyork_ny$anc=JD_
T40C005

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