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The regularly scheduled hearing was part of a federal consent decree stemming from a 2011 lawsuit over violence and correction officers’ deadly use of force. The consent decree, now nearly eight years old, led to the installation of a federal monitoring team.
“The government remains extremely concerned about the conditions on Rikers Island and the department’s failures,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Powell of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York. “While the department has made some progress … the jails remain volatile and deeply dysfunctional. In short, the pace of reform must be accelerated.”