Corrections needs correcting

Oops: The outside contractor the city Correction Department is paying $3 million a year for telephone service in city jails accidentally recorded more than 1,500 legally protected phone calls between jailed defendants and their attorneys and shared them with city prosecutors, a mistake that could jeopardize almost 400 court cases in Brooklyn and the Bronx, the Daily News’ Chelsia Marcius reported.

This is a major screw-up, and a massive breach of attorney-client privilege. It would be less alarming if it weren’t one of nearly half a dozen other massive snafus in New York City’s jails this month.

In the course of one week this month, correction officers mistakenly released two defendants accused of felonies, because of clerical errors and other bumbling. One inmate who’d been arrested on murder charges but was discharged with the approval of an assistant deputy warden (who’s now suspended without pay) remains at large, and is considered armed and dangerous. Another inmate, arrested for attempted murder, saved the DOC from further embarrassment by doing the right thing and turning himself in, after his erroneous release.

But wait, there’s more. Within the last 22 days, two inmates have died in custody in city jails, though officers are supposed to keep constant watch. One man was able to commit suicide in pre-dawn hours. Another man’s death is under investigation. He was found with his head somehow wedged in his jail cell’s bars.

Even though the nearly 9,000 correction employees, including more than 7,000 officers, vastly outnumber the shrinking inmate population, some correction officers are reportedly forced to work 24-hour consecutive shifts. The average number of staff out sick has skyrocketed, from an average 500 per month in Jan. 2020, to 1,200 in Jan. 2021, more than 13% of the workforce. Violent incidents among inmates have been going up, as have serious injuries. Assaults on staff have increased 100% in the last five years. The number of accidents involving people in custody increased 792% between 2019 and 2020, growing from 27 to 241.

Correction Commissioner Cynthia Brann, something’s rotten inside your jails and it’s not just the terrible food.