Fed’l monitor: juvenile detention staff hesitant to restrain teens

Excessive use of force among correction officers at Rikers Island has been an ongoing concern for years. But at Horizon Juvenile Center, staff often did not physically intervene in violent incidents even when they should have, according to the federal monitor that oversees the facility.

The monitoring team has scrutinized chaotic conditions at the facility ever since 16- and 17-year olds were moved from Rikers to Horizon in 2018 after Raise the Age legislation was implemented. Although the Nunez monitoring team praised the city’s Administration for Children’s Services for working to improve staffing levels at the facility and also noted that the number of assaults has decreased since last summer, the level of violence “still remains troubling as staff appear ill-equipped or reluctant to manage violent and disruptive youth.”