Rikers Island Prisoners Rewarded With Domino's Pizza In Exchange For Good Behavior
Prisoners at Rikers Island are being treated to pizza parties in exchange for good behavior. A photo provided to the New York Post shows stacks of Domino's pies being carted into Otis Bantum Correctional Center, which houses 400 of New York City's most tightly guarded inmates in its Central Punitive Segregation Unit.
"I'm not a fan of rewarding inmates when they don't beat the crap out of one another," Correction Captains' Association union president Patrick Farraiuolo told the New York Post, adding that door-to-door delivery violates Rikers rules. "Since when is bringing food in from the outside not considered contraband? It's not jail food that's part of the everyday menu."
The $400 worth of pizza provides two slices each to 75 prisoners who "reached a key milestone" in a "work skills program."
Rikers inmates rewarded with pizza parties when they play nice https://t.co/gQp56rHHnJ pic.twitter.com/k9qa0z4WJt
— EagleStar.NET (@EagleStarNET) October 23, 2017
In 2014, ex-commissioner Joseph Ponte began serving slices to inmates in an effort to reduce violence.
"If we can enlist their cooperation through positive reinforcement, why not do that?" he told The New York Times. But this angered correction officers, who saw the effort as "coddling criminals."
Norman Seabrook, longtime president of the New York City Correction Officers' Union, rebutted, "You want to eat pizza, stay home. You want to eat Carvel, stay home. You want to do a timeout, stay home. Corrections officers are not babysitters."
Seabrook, a figured adored by Rikers guards, may soon find himself on the other side of bars. The 57-year-old faces a bribery trial on counts of conspiracy and fraud.
A spokesperson for the anti-violence pizza program at Rikers says the delicious positive reinforcement is working. And, according to figures obtained by the New York Post, attacks on Rikers correction officers are down 65 percent since the 2014 fiscal year. For more jailhouse eats, check out what these 10 infamous inmates requested for their very last meals.