CRIMINAL JUSTICE
Correction Suspensions in Polanco’s Rikers Death
Report spurs de Balsio to act, censures from Jumaane Williams, AOC, Elizabeth Warren
BY MATT TRACY
New York Mayor Bill de
Blasio acted to suspend
nearly a dozen and a
half Department of
Correction (DOC) employees in the
wake of a report from the board
overseeing the department that
concluded jail offi cials responsible
for the well-being of Layleen Xtravaganza
Cubilette-Polanco leading
up to her death at Rikers last year
failed to properly monitor her, neglected
her serious health issues,
and felt “increased pressure” to
place her alone because of department
rules against housing trans
women in the general population.
In addition to the June 26 action
by the mayor and DOC Commissioner
Cynthia Brann, the board’s
fi ndings drew national attention
from prominent members of Congress.
The Board of Correction issued
the damning June 23 report summing
up the investigation into the
circumstances surrounding Polanco’s
death one year to the month
after she died in her restrictive
housing cell — a form of solitary
confi nement — on June 6, 2019,
due to seizures caused by epilepsy.
Rikers offi cials left her alone for extended
periods of time despite having
full knowledge of her multiple
health conditions.
“The death of Layleen Polanco
was an incredibly painful moment
for our city,” de Blasio said
in a written statement. “What happened
to Layleen was absolutely
unacceptable and it is critical that
there is accountability.”
The mayor and the commissioner
announced that 17 offi cers
would be suspended; four of them,
including a captain, face their suspensions
without pay.
“We are committed to ensuring
that all of our facilities are safe
and humane,” Brann said. “Even
one death in our custody is one too
many and this swift and fair determination
on internal discipline
makes clear that the safety and
well-being of people in our custody
remains our top priority.”
A Board of Correction report provided provided offi cial confi rmation of failings at Rikers Island that led
to the June 2019 death of Layleen Xtravaganza Cubilette-Polanco, a transgender inmate.
Senator Elizabeth Warren of
Massachusetts and Representative
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of the
Bronx and Queens had earlier in
the week issued statements on the
report’s fi ndings. Both lawmakers
used the opportunity to call for an
end to cash bail and solitary confi
nement in light of the fact that Polanco
was being held on $500 bail
— partly due to a sex work-related
charge — and died alone in restrictive
housing. Ocasio-Cortez also
said correction offi cers involved in
Polanco’s case must be fi red.
The report also called out DOC
staffers for failing to frequently
check on Polanco. Jail guards were
supposed to be checking on her every
15 minutes but instead left her
alone on three separate occasions
for 57 minutes, 47 minutes, and
41 minutes. The report stated that
guards said they were “confused”
about the policy regarding how often
they should have been making
their rounds.
The entire justifi cation for Polanco
being kept in restrictive housing
stemmed from an alleged physical
altercation she had with another
person in jail, according to the report.
Polanco was charged with an
“infraction” and at a May 14 disciplinary
hearing she was sentenced
to 20 days in solitary confi nement.
She also “was involved in another
fi ght with someone in her dorm”
FACEBOOK/ LAYLEEN POLANCO
on the same day as the hearing,
and in the following days started
to show increasing signs of emotional
distress and mental health
instability — perhaps due to harsh
treatment she received when suffering
seizures in the weeks leading
up to the disciplinary hearing.
Polanco endured severe emotional
distress and allegedly
“charged at an offi cer with her
fi st out, striking the offi cer’s arm,”
prompting offi cials to transfer her
to Elmhurst Hospital, where she
was treated at the hospital’s psychiatric
prison ward. Polanco was
hospitalized for more than a week,
after which offi cials had to decide
where to place her.
Upon Polanco’s return to Rikers’
Rose M. Singer Center, where
women are held, the center’s tour
commander described via email a
situation in which offi cials aggressively
argued for her to be placed in
“segregation.”
The report stated that the commander
wrote, “‘Please be advised
that as per our conversation regarding
Transgender inmate Layleen
Polanco’ her mental health
chart ‘was reviewed by a CHS
Psychiatrist who verbally stated
that due to her medical history as
it pertains to seizure disorder that
he would not be able to authorized
sic a cell housing placement for
inmate Polanco.’”
In a follow-up email, the commander
wrote, “We tried very hard
to get Inmate Polanco cleared for
segregation but Mental Health
just won’t clear her. We are in the
process of generating Protective
Custody paperwork for her.”
Those mounting the aggressive
lobbying push did so despite knowing
about the health conditions Polanco
suffered. Furthermore, the
report laid out crucial points about
Polanco’s health that raised even
more questions about why Polanco
was allowed to be placed in solitary
confi nement: She suffered from
multiple seizures in the middle of
the night in the weeks leading up
to her death — including one on
April 30 and another on May 4.
The report specifi cally details
one health offi cial within the Department
of Correction warning
that Polanco had no business being
thrown into restrictive housing
considering the status of her
health.
“Even though on May 24 a CHS
(Correctional Health Services)
psychiatrist had refused to ‘clear’
Ms. Polanco for PSEG/ RHU placement
on account of her seizure
history, on May 29, another Mental
Health clinician reviewed her
medical chart and authorized her
placement into the RHU, pending
‘medical clearance,’” the report
stated. “The next morning, on May
30, a CHS medical doctor notifi ed
DOC that Ms. Polanco had ‘been
cleared.’”
Among the fi ndingst, Polanco’s
gender identity appeared to play
a signifi cant role in how offi cials
handled her housing placement.
“DOC’s determination not to
house a transgender woman in
general population housing areas
for cisgender women in May 2019
resulted in increased pressure to
place Ms. Polanco in the RHU —
a Unit unsuitable to manage both
her medical and mental health
needs,” the report stated.
In response to the fi ndings, the
board issued a total of more than
two dozen recommendations to
➤ RIKERS SUSPENSIONS, continued on p.27
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