ClaimStat Alert
Office of the New York City Comptroller

Scott M. Stringer

AUGUST 2014

BUREAU OF POLICY & RESEARCH AND BUREAU OF LAW AND ADJUSTMENT

ClaimStat is an initiative of Comptroller Scott M. Stringer to save taxpayer money and improve services across all
City agencies by taking a data-driven approach to the thousands of claims filed against the City of New York. The
Comptroller’s first report, published in July 2014, focused on claims at five City agencies: the Police Department,
Department of Transportation, Department of Sanitation, Department of Environmental Protection, and Health
and Hospitals Corporation.
This ClaimStat Alert focuses on new data relating to the Department of Correction (DOC), including claims made
and settlements/judgments issued in FY 2014.
As shown below in Chart I, 2,245 Personal Injury Correctional Facility claims were filed against DOC in FY
2014, an increase of 37 percent over FY 2013 and 114 percent since FY 2009.1

Personal
Injury
Correctional
Facility
Chart
I: Personal
Injury
Correction
Facility
Claims
Filed, FY
2009-2014
Claims
Filed Against
NYC,
FY 2009-2014
2500

Number
ClaimsFiled
Filed
Number
ofofClaims

2000

1500

1000

500

0

ClaimStat Alert

2009

2010

2011
2012
FiscalYear
Year
Fiscal

2013

2014

1

Office of the New York City Comptroller

Injury
Correctional
Facility
ClaimsClaims
Filed Filed
ChartPersonal
II: Personal
Injury
Correction
Facility
by Facility,
FYNYC,
2009-2014
by Facility
Against
FY 2009-2014
ANNA M. KROSS (RIKERS)

400

OTIS BANTUM (RIKERS)

350

Number
Claims
Filed
Number of
of Claims
Filed

GEORGE R. VIERNO (RIKERS)
300

GEORGE MOTCHAN (RIKERS)
MANHATTAN DETENTION COMPLEX

250

ROBERT N. DAVOREN (RIKERS)
200

ERIC M. TAYLOR (RIKERS)
ROSE M. SINGER (RIKERS)

150

VERNON C BAIN
100
BROOKLYN HOUSE OF DETENTION
50

0

NORTH INFIRMARY COMMAND (RIKERS)

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

ADOLESCENT RECEPTION CENTER
(RIKERS)

Fiscal Year
Fiscal
Year

This rise in claims activity corresponds to a rise in the
number of serious allegations of violence at Rikers.
Scrutiny of policies and procedures, and a corresponding
demand for transparency, has increased following
reports of significant problems at DOC facilities by
federal prosecutors.

Otis Bantum Correctional Center (OBCC).
Over the same period, claims have decreased or remained
stable at North Infirmary Command, the Rose M. Singer
Center, and the Adolescent Reception Detention Center.

This ClaimStat Alert provides a facility-by-facility
breakdown of Personal Injury Correctional Facility
claims at the twelve DOC facilities with the highest
claims activity, including nine at Rikers Island.2 By
understanding which facilities are showing positive or
negative trends, DOC can more quickly and directly
seek to identify possible problems and thereby reduce
the number of claims filed against the City.

Increases in settlement/judgment costs to taxpayers
generally follow increases in claims. As shown below,
the amount of money paid out in Personal Injury
Correctional Facility claims has risen 34 percent
between FY 2009 and FY 2014. Given the increase in
claims filed between FY 2011-2014, it is likely that
costs to the City—whether from claims settlements,
litigation costs, or judgments—will rise accordingly in
the coming years.

As shown in the Chart II above, certain facilities at
Rikers have witnessed sharp increases in claims activity
over the past six years, including Anna M. Kross Center
(AMKC), the George R. Vierno Center (GRVC), and the

There are a number of possible explanations for these
trends. AMKC, which saw a rise in Correctional Facility
claims of 33 percent in FY 2014 over FY 2013 (and 174
percent since FY 2009), is home to both a Methadone

2

ClaimStat Alert

www.comptroller.nyc.gov

Office of the New York City Comptroller

Personal
Injury
Correction
Facility
Chart III:
Personal
Injury
Correction
Facility
Settlements/Judgments,
FY
2009-2014
Settlements/Judgments, FY 2009-2014
9
8

Dollars (in Millions)
Dollars (in Millions)

7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

Fiscal Year
Year
Fiscal

Detoxification Unit as well as DOC’s Mental Health
Center. The percentage of individuals who suffer from
mental illness who are held at DOC facilities has risen
sharply in recent years.

In June, City Hall responded to the increase in violence
at Rikers and concerns about mental health treatment
by forming the Task Force on Behavioral Health
and the Criminal Justice System.6 The Task Force is
charged with developing a plan to “transform the city’s
A 2013 study commissioned by the Board of Correction criminal justice system, so that it addresses the needs
(BOC) found that 40 percent of individuals held at of individuals with behavioral and mental health issues
Rikers have a diagnosed mental illness, twice the rate of more appropriately and effectively.”
merely eight years ago, with a third of those having what
the Department considers “serious mental illness.”3
The Task Force should also take advantage of claims data
to hone in on trends at particular facilities and identify
In addition, the study linked the rising use of solitary best practices that can be shared across the system.
confinement to the increase in violence, finding that of
the individuals held in solitary confinement at any given
time, over half of them are mentally ill.4 While several
facilities at Rikers have punitive segregation units (also
known as “solitary confinement”), the largest is the
Central Punitive Segregation Unit (CPSU) at OBCC,
which has seen a 174 percent increase in Correctional
Facility claims between FY 2009 and FY 2014.5
ClaimStat Alert

August 2014

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Office of the New York City Comptroller

Endnotes
1.	 Correctional Facility claims are claims filed by inmates or employees of City correction institutions or facilities
who were allegedly injured by the actions of City employees or inmates. These are distinct from Civil Rights
claims, which involve alleged Federal, State or City statutory or constitutional violations.
2.	 The Manhattan Detention Complex, the Brooklyn Detention Complex, and the Vernon C. Bain Center (Bronx)
are located outside of Rikers Island.
3.	 http://solitarywatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Gilligan-Report.-Final.pdf.
4.	 Id.
5.	 http://www.nyc.gov/html/boc/downloads/pdf/reports/CPSU_Rec_Report.pdf; A snapshot taken by the New
York City Board of Correction (BOC) on March 17, 2014 found that 367 adults – 92.4 percent of all adult
prisoners assigned to punitive segregation – were housed in the CPSU, along with 22 adolescent prisoners
representing 27.8 percent of all teens in punitive segregation on that day. Of those inmates in segregation
outside OBCC, some adults are placed in a punitive segregation unit at GRVC and most adolescent male
prisoners are assigned to the Robert N. Davoren Complex.
6.	 http://www1.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/259-14/de-blasio-administration-task-force-behavioralhealth-the-criminal-justice-system.

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ClaimStat Alert

www.comptroller.nyc.gov

NEW YORK CITY COMPTROLLER

SCOTT M. STRINGER
MUNICIPAL BUILDING • 1 CENTRE STREET, 5TH FLOOR • NEW YORK, NY 10007
PHONE (212) 669-3500 FAX (212) 669-8878
WWW.COMPTROLLER.NYC.GOV
Office of the Comptroller • City of New York • One Centre Street, New York, NY 10007 • Phone: (212) 669-3500 • comptroller.nyc.gov
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