By: Martin Horn

Most of us are familiar with the saying, “What happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas.” A similar sentiment attaches to Rikers Island in New York—the nation’s largest jail. The officers there have for long believed that what happens on Rikers stays on Rikers.
Recent press reports about abuses of prisoners, the U. S. Attorney’s investigation and reports from New York City’s Department of Investigation, as well as public hearings have focused attention on the underlying problem in the New York City jails: the culture within the jails on Rikers Island.
Indeed, one need only consider the difference between the several jails on Rikers and the city’s other, smaller jails in Brooklyn, Manhattan, the Bronx and Queens to recognize that there is something special about that place.
Contrary to popular belief, Rikers is not one jail. It consists of 10 jails, each with its own warden and administration. But the public and the press continue to refer to any jail there as “Rikers Island.”
You only need to watch several episodes of Law and Order (the original) to hear references to what a perp or defendant can expect there. The cost of not cooperating with…

Originally posted on The Crime Report

Read @ The Crime Report