Targets on Their Backs

Theworst attack in years on a Rikers Island correction officer prompts the question: Has Mayor de Blasio painted targets on jail guards’ backs? CO Jean Souffrant lies in New York-Presbyterian Hospital with a fractured spine after Saturday’s brutal assault. Five alleged Bloods members reportedly took the correction officer down in a premeditated attack.

The victim deserves more than a phone call from the mayor — and so do his fellow officers. Their union has accused the mayor of removing basic tools they need to maintain order and safety in city jails.

Notably, de Blasio last year banned “punitive segregation” for inmates aged 21 and under. The union warned this would endanger guards and lead to greater violence, and that’s looking prescient: Souffrant’s attackers were all in an “enhanced supervision” unit for violent troublemakers.

To be clear: This doesn’t mean that “solitary” is never abuse but only that a wholesale ban was the wrong answer.

Indeed, de Blasio’s whole approach looks dubious. As city Comptroller Scott Stringer notes, the mayor’s own management report shows increases in fights and assaults among inmates, as well as rising attacks on correction officers and civilian staff.

Team de Blasio’s mismanagement is so bad that the cost of running Rikers is at a record $1.36 billion, even as the jail population sinks.

Don’t look to Correction Commissioner Cynthia Brann for change: De Blasio promoted her to replace her (scandal-ousted) old boss, Joe Ponte, because she’s committed to the same ideology-driven “reforms.”

The pattern is all too familiar. We don’t look forward to learning how much bloodshed it’ll take this time for the mayor to put common sense ahead of ideology.