Probe finds NYC jail guards hired despite arrests, gang ties

FILE - In this May 17, 2011, file photo, a bus drives past the entrance to New York City’s largest jail, the Rikers Island Correctional facility in New York. A city investigation into New York City jail hiring practices has found dozens of recently hired guards had gang ties, previous arrests and otherwise checkered histories. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File) FILE - In this May 17, 2011, file photo, a bus drives past the entrance to New York City’s largest jail, the Rikers Island Correctional facility in New York. A city investigation into New York City jail hiring practices has found dozens of recently hired guards had gang ties, previous arrests and otherwise checkered histories. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

By Associated Press January 15, 2015 4 min read

NEW YORK (AP) – One applicant to be a New York City correction officer had been fired from his last job as a security guard for stealing. Another admitted he had regularly socialized with gang members. Another had debts of more than $400,000.

Yet all those candidates and dozens like them were hired last year to be part of the force overseeing nearly 11,000 inmates on Rikers Island, according to a yearlong city probe of jail hiring practices released Thursday. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the findings hours before they were to be announced.

The probe found systemic problems with the Department of Correction hiring system, including no recruiting strategy for the past six years, that allowed an alarmingly high number of hires who had arrest records, gang ties or other red flags that are markers for corruption.

Department of Investigation Commissioner Mark Peters said the chronic problems of violence, smuggling and bribery that plague the city jails can all be traced to the character and qualifications of the employees.

“Unless you have consistently qualified correction officers, solving the other problems we care about is an almost insurmountable task,” Peters said.