Barbara Hamilton
3:51:52
Good afternoon, chair nurse and members of the committee.
3:51:55
My name is Barbara Hamilton.
3:51:57
I am the director of incarcerated client services at the legal aid society, and I thank you for the opportunity to testify here today.
3:52:05
As you know, legal aid is urging the city council to act on this.
3:52:08
And what I would say is it's time for a reckoning on this issue.
3:52:13
Legal aid has represented and interviewed many people who are sexually abused harassed and assaulted in DOC custody.
3:52:23
And what we found during our very long investigation is that there is a deep seated culture where correctional staff exploit their authority with impunity.
3:52:35
And despite repeated warnings to the city and the Department of Correction, there has been no attempt to meaningfully remedy this situation as we saw here today.
3:52:50
The practice is enacted by DOC, failed to demonstrate any intent to actually and electively change the status quo.
3:52:59
There is a failure to conduct meaningful and robust and timely investigations.
3:53:05
A big issue is people being subject to retaliation for reporting, and allegations of sexual abuse against staff as discussed today are rarely substantiated.
3:53:15
It was one half of a person sent out of 1500 cases.
3:53:21
DOC first and foremost must comply with Priya, and legally will recommend independent audits inside Priya to make sure that the department is conforming.
3:53:32
DOC must enact hiring processes that screen perspective correction officers.
3:53:38
DOC must implement policies to protect people and custody who report sexual abuse from retaliation and to really meaningfully connect them with services.
3:53:50
The city and DOC must conduct meaningful and timely investigations into allegations of sexual abuse.
3:53:58
And we agree 3, that DOC must adequately train its correction officers, supervisors, medical staff, and investigators to detect, report, and thoroughly investigate sexual abuse.
3:54:11
To that end, legal aid supports Intrude 30, 2024.
3:54:16
We do have suggestions to make the bill more robust.
3:54:20
For example, we suggest having proficiency audits, enforcement and monitoring.
3:54:26
The standard of proof of investigators should be clear, and they should use the A standard.
3:54:31
Definition for sexual violence rather than the penal code.
3:54:37
Individuals who report should be deep credible until proven otherwise.
3:54:42
Investigators should meaningfully look at previous reports even if they were unsubstantiated against staff, and the chronically extremely low rate of substantiation of abuse is unacceptable.
3:54:56
Lastly, DOC must hold staff accountable as well as the city for abuse, retaliation, and sexual exploitation, and assault, and a meaningful and timely honor through the informal through the internal disciplinary processes, as well as referrals for criminal prosecution.
3:55:16
Thank you for your time.
