The timeline underscores the magnitude of the task ahead: reversing nearly a decade of failed reforms at city jails where violence, deaths and dysfunction have only worsened since a 2015 consent decree was supposed to fix things.<\/p>\n
Swain emphasized that the timeline is not all-or-nothing.<\/p>\n
As the city demonstrates it can meet court-ordered benchmarks in specific areas such as use of force and de-esclation policies, authority over those functions will be returned to the city\u2019s Department of Correction, she wrote in her 28-page order formally announcing Deml\u2019s selection.<\/p>\n
The judge did not explain how she arrived at the seven-year timeline.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Some jail advocates and corrections experts questioned how long it should take to ensure the basic civil rights of the thousands of people held inside the island\u2019s 10 detention facilities.<\/p>\n
\u201cNew York City jails remain in crisis, with people suffering extreme harm on a daily basis and languishing for months and years while awaiting their day in court,\u201d Anisah Sabur of the HALT Solitary Campaign told THE CITY.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe longer we take, the more lives we\u2019re going to lose,\u201d she added. \u201cWe urgently need different pathways, resource allocations and programs to create true public safety.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sixty-three detainees have died behind bars on Rikers over the past five years.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The length of similar court interventions in jail and prison systems across the country has varied widely.<\/p>\n
In California, a court-appointed receiver overseeing prison medical care has remained in place since 2006<\/a>. In a case involving the District of Columbia Jail, a federal judge capped the receivership<\/a> at five years, ending it in 2000.<\/p>\n As for Rikers, a leading national jail reformer, Dean Williams, also questioned the timeline.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cTime is needed, sure, but the real currency to fix the mess is courage to make painful decisions and then follow through on those decisions,\u201d Williams, who formerly led lockup systems in Alaska and Colorado, told THE CITY.\u00a0<\/p>\n Williams was one of several candidates who applied for the remediation manager role.<\/p>\n Advocates have argued for years that the department needs someone with more power than a traditional commissioner in order to ram through real change.\u00a0<\/p>\n Deml\u2019s authority goes well beyond that of past Correction Commissioners in several key areas.\u00a0<\/p>\n He can hire, fire, promote and transfer staff, create or eliminate positions and rewrite policies and procedures across 18 areas of the jail system that city officials failed to fix despite a decade of court orders. That includes use of force policies, investigations of violent incidents, staff discipline, protection of young people in custody and supervision requirements.<\/p>\n Deml can also direct the commissioner, Stanley Richards, to take specific actions. Additionally, he answers to Swain, not the mayor or other city officials.<\/p>\n He\u2019s been charged with overhauling everything from how force is used and investigated to how officers are disciplined and how young detainees are protected. He must also improve basic jail operations, including supervision inside housing units, staffing levels and the use of de-escalation tactics.<\/p>\n Swain ordered Deml to submit an initial \u201cRemediation Action Plan\u201d that is supposed to lay out concrete steps to address 18 core areas where the city was found in contempt of court orders. Those include how the department investigates violence, punishes rogue officers and protects kids locked up on Rikers.<\/p>\n Deml\u2019s appointment has been in the works for more than a year.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"Former](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/nicholas_deml_crop.jpg\")
Former Vermont Department of Corrections Commissioner Nicholas Deml was picked Rikers Island remediation manager. Credit: Via Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n