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Queens councilwoman calls for increased penalties on
sexual assaults, harassment against correction offi cers
Councilwoman Adrienne Adams and COBA leadership demand increased penalties on sexual assaults and harassment against correction
officers. Courtesy of Adams’offi ce
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | OCT. 29 - NOV. 4, 2021 21
BY BILL PARRY
As the humanitarian crisis
on Rikers Island has claimed
the lives of 14 incarcerated
individuals already this year,
Councilwoman Adrienne Adams
joined the executive board
of the Correction Officers’ Benevolent
Association, including
its president Benny Boscio,
on Oct. 25 to announce new legislative
actions to deter the ongoing
sexual assaults and harassment
perpetrated against
correction officers inside New
York City jails.
Adams, the chair of the
Committee of Public Safety,
plans to introduce a resolution
calling on the governor and
state Legislature to amend the
New York State Penal Law to
make forcible touching of a correction
officer a felony instead
of a Class A misdemeanor.
The resolution will also
call on the state to amend the
penal code to make aggravated
sexual harassment against a
correction officer, including
verbal abuse and lewd gestures,
a Class A misdemeanor.
Currently, it is only a civil infraction.
Adams also plans to introduce
legislation requiring the
Department of Correction to
track and publicly report data
on sexual assaults that occur
inside city jails. The bill will
require the DOC to be more
transparent and accountable
for sexual assaults that take
place under their supervision.
“Correction officers have
been abused, violated and completely
traumatized by vicious
acts of sexual assault and harassment,
often without consequences,
on Rikers Island.
Their stories of facing physical
and emotional violence on the
job are deeply disturbing, disgraceful
and wholly unacceptable,”
Adams said. “After hearing
from the courageous women
about what they have endured
for years, I knew I had to shine a
light on the issue, which has not
received enough attention.”
Adams has a deep understanding
of the challenges
faced by correction officers
in the city. Her mother was a
longtime correction officer,
who retired as a captain in the
department.
“My proposed legislation
will discourage detainees
from committing these heinous
acts against correction
officers, and finally force the
Department of Correction
to reveal the extent to which
sexual assaults occur under
their watch,” Adams said. “I’m
grateful to the Correction Officers’
Benevolent Association,
especially our women leaders,
for bravely sharing their
accounts of working under
these wretched conditions
and standing up for their colleagues.
We can never tolerate
or accept sexual abuse and harassment,
whether it’s in our
communities or in our city’s
jails.”
During the press briefing at
the entrance to Rikers Island,
women leaders on the COBA
Executive Board detailed the
hostile and toxic environment
that correction officers are
forced to work in, as well as
the physical and emotional
abuse they endure on a daily
basis. They also shared horror
stories of female correction
officers who were groped,
molested and even had fluids
thrown at them.
They expressed support for
the impending legislation and
called for more resources, services
and care for the correction
officers who are survivors
of sexual assault and abuse.
“For too long, sexual
predators who commit sexual
crimes and engage in sexual
harassment against our correction
officers, half of whom
are female, have faced little
consequences for their abhorrent
behavior,” Boscio said.
“Forcible touching, attempted
rape, indecent exposure and
aggravated sexual harassment
would never be tolerated in
any work environment in our
city, yet these heinous crimes
are tolerated every day in the
city’s jails.”
According to COBA, since
Jan. 1, 24 DOC employees have
been sexually assaulted by detainees.
Of those 24 employees,
17 were correction officers,
including 16 women and one
man; one was correction captain;
and the other six were
civilian employees. Out of the
24 cases, only 13 perpetrators
were re-arrested, and just six
resulted in an indictment.
“It is time for all of our
elected officials who used
their advocacy during the ‘Me
Too’ movement to ensure that
same advocacy for our ‘Us Too’
movement to change our laws
in New York to ensure sexual
predators in our jails face serious
criminal charges and
are held fully accountable for
their crimes,” Boscio said. “On
behalf of all our correction officers
who continue to work in
an incredibly hostile environment,
I thank Council member
Adams for sharing our concerns
and taking legislative
action to ensure sexual predators
in our jails are brought to
justice.”
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