With the holidays fast approaching, families across New York are rushing to get packages to loved ones on Rikers Island \u2014 gifts of new winter clothes, books and art supplies.<\/p>\n
But public defenders say a troubling number of even the most benign deliveries will get caught up in the jail’s mail system and never arrive.<\/p>\n
Packages are routinely delayed for months, rejected for what advocates describe as arbitrary reasons, or lost entirely. They say that\u2019s true even when the senders follow rules outlined on the Department of Correction website, leaving people inside without essentials during the coldest months of the year \u2014 and families out of the money they\u2019ve spent on items that never make it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the holidays coming up, this is always a concern,\u201d said Rebecca Kinsella, the social work director at Brooklyn Defender Services. \u201cIt’s really difficult for us to guide families and provide advice about what they can and can’t send when no one has a source of information that seems accurate.\u201d<\/p>\n
The problem, Kinsella and others say, speaks to the larger issue of a department that doesn\u2019t follow its own rules.<\/p>\n
Patrick Rocchio, a spokesperson for the city\u2019s Department of Correction, didn\u2019t respond to specific issues the advocates raised. Instead, he sent a statement noting that Rikers Island is \u201ca secure environment and occasionally packages, or certain items within packages, are sent that present a risk to individuals in custody and the safety and security of facilities.\u201d<\/p>\n
The department tries to balance \u201csafety and security\u201d with the \u201cneeds of the people in custody,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The department gets between 2,100 and 2,800 packages a month, according to correction records. About a quarter include items that aren’t allowed. Most of those items are returned to the sender, according to the department data. About 11% of packages identified as having non-permissible items are either donated or destroyed.<\/p>\n
But attorneys and social workers said items that should be permitted \u2014 such as books, colored pencils or pants without pockets \u2014 are rejected with no explanation and never returned. In theory, prisoners are notified when an item is rejected and given the option of having it returned to sender at their own expense, donated or destroyed, but the people working with prisoners said that rarely happens.<\/p>\n
The department\u2019s publicly available policies add to the confusion, advocates said: Its main \u201cpermissible items<\/a>\u201d list appears to mirror a department directive<\/a> dated July 2016, but neither reflects what officers enforce. And updates to the policy, such as the allowance of chest binders for gender nonconforming prisoners two years ago, have not been reflected on the list.<\/p>\n Natalie Fiorenzo, a senior corrections specialist at New York County Defender Services, estimated about 30% of the packages her organization sends never make it to the intended recipients. Standards can vary from facility to facility, and so does the advice for making sure items are delivered. At one point, Fiorenzo said, she was advised to stop using Amazon delivery services though no such suggestion exists in published guidance.<\/p>\n