PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Tanya Krupat, Vice President of Policy and Advocacy at Osborne Association
3:07:04
·
3 min
Tanya Krupat from the Osborne Association testified in support of several bills being considered by the NYC City Council Committee on Criminal Justice, focusing on death notification and visiting policies for the Department of Correction (DOC). She emphasized the need for improvements in notifying families about deaths in custody and enhancing visitation processes.
- Supported Intro 423 with amendments, including allowing chaplaincy staff to notify next of kin and updating emergency contacts every 3 months
- Highlighted the decrease in in-person visits since the pandemic, from 149,000 in 2019 to approximately 47,000
- Recommended reconvening the visit work group, including families and visiting staff, to address visitation issues
Tanya Krupat
3:07:04
Thank you to your nurse and members of the criminal justice committee for the opportunity to provide testimony today.
3:07:10
My name is Tanya Krupet.
3:07:11
I'm the vice president of policy and advocacy at the Osborne Association.
3:07:14
We're grateful for the many bills being considered today, all of which advance the safety, dignity, and humanity of those in and affected by DOC custody.
3:07:22
My written testimony discusses 7 of the bills, and I wanna focus on the death notification and visiting bills now.
3:07:28
We support intro 423 with amendments, including that put forth by the Freedom agenda that Nextiva can be notified by Chaplaincy staff and also request emergency contacts be updated every 3 months.
3:07:41
It is heartbreaking and raging to hear about the deaths of the 33 people who have died in or immediately after release from DOC custody since 2022.
3:07:50
Elijah Mohammed is one of these people, and he is the family member of an Osbourne staff member.
3:07:55
He died under horrific conditions at age thirty one leaving 4 young children behind.
3:08:00
He suffered from mental illness, and as a family member said, he needed professional help, not prison.
3:08:05
He has missed deeply by his children.
3:08:07
And when they get older and wanna understand how their father died, what will their family tell them?
3:08:11
How do you explain this to children?
3:08:14
How can we expect them to have confidence in our laws and justice system when this happened to their father?
3:08:18
Pre trial.
3:08:20
I once heard someone say that this should be the litmus test for public policy.
3:08:23
If you can explain it to a child in a way that makes sense, seems fair, kind, and just, then something is wrong with the policy.
3:08:30
Something is very wrong when we need death and serious injury notification laws for our jails.
3:08:35
Which we do need.
3:08:36
We're very happy to see the 3 bills focusing on visiting, which is a critical lifeline for those in custody for their children and families.
3:08:43
Osborn supports the 3 visiting bills with recommended amendments that are detailed in my written testimony.
3:08:48
It's important to note that the department facilitates far fewer in person visits than it did pre pandemic.
3:08:55
Using the figures foiled and reported on in October 2023, DUC facilitated more than a 101,000 fewer in person visits than in 2019.
3:09:05
Approximately 47,000 visits compared with 149,000 visits in 2019.
3:09:12
This means people on records are much more isolated than they were pre pandemic.
3:09:16
They're not seeing their families, and they're also no community providers offering programming for the 5 hours of daily programming that is required.
3:09:23
The far fewer visitors also means that wait time should be less, and the visiting process should be improved, but this is not what we are hearing.
3:09:30
We urge the council to request that a study of wait times per facility be done using the timestamps from visitor express.
3:09:37
We also ask that DOC reconvened the visit work group, which was created in 2014 by the jail's action coalition and was very effective.
3:09:45
We also ask that families and visiting staff be included in the working group.
3:09:50
Many visiting officers have important and practical ideas and solutions and want to be consulted.
3:09:55
They are expected work every weekend with Monday Tuesday as their days off.
3:09:59
No rotations, no exceptions.
3:10:01
This should also be examined so that officers do not miss out on their own families and transfer this resentment to visitors.
3:10:07
Thank you for your leadership.
