THE INMATES ARE IN CONTROL’: DOC COMMISSIONER CONFIRMS REPORT ON RIKERS CRISIS

NEW YORK — A day after a federal report described “dangerous” and “gravely concerning” conditions at Rikers Island, Department of Correction Commissioner Vincent Schiraldi told PIX11 News’ Dan Mannarino the prison has “been at a crisis level for years.” “For anybody who thinks that things were going well a year ago or two years ago […]

FEDERAL MONITOR: JAILS TEEMING WITH ‘DISORDER AND CHAOS’

A “pervasive high level of disorder and chaos” is plaguing city jails, according to a Federal watchdog. In a status report addressed to a U.S. District Judge, Steve Martin, the monitor charged with cataloging the Department of Correction’s efforts to mitigate what for decades has been one of the nation’s most stubbornly violent jail systems, […]

NYC CORRECTION OFFICER FRACTURES SKULL IN VIOLENT ATTACK BY INMATE ON RIKERS ISLAND

A New York City correction officer was hospitalized with a fractured skull after a violent attack by an inmate on Rikers Island on Monday. The officer was assaulted just after 9 a.m. on Monday morning in the prison’s George R. Vierno Center, according to the Department of Correction. He received a fractured skull, a fractured […]

6,500 ACCUSED FELONS GO SCOT-FREE AS NYC DAS DECLINE TO PROSECUTE

District attorneys across the Big Apple last year declined to prosecute accused felons at nearly twice the rate of 2019 — letting more than 6,500 suspects off the hook, The Post has learned. Prosecutors dropped all charges in 16.9 percent of the 38,635 felony cases that were closed in New York City during 2020, according […]

NYC MAYOR DE BLASIO ‘CRIMINALLY NEGLIGENT’ FOR DANGEROUS RIKERS ISLAND CONDITIONS, CORRECTIONS UNION BOSS SAYS

Conditions for correction officers guarding inmates on New York City’s notorious Rikers Island have deteriorated so significantly over the past year – and have allegedly left personnel understaffed, overworked and vulnerable – that it has become “impossible” for them to do their jobs, a union official tells Fox News. Inmate housing arrangements, understaffing of correction officers and lack of […]

YES, NYC’S RIKERS ISLAND IS AWFUL, BUT MAYOR DE BLASIO HAS FEW SOLUTIONS

Mayor de Blasio on Wednesday acknowledged the developing crisis on Rikers Island, but that’s about it. “These are serious problems that need to be be addressed,” the mayor said. “The whole culture of the Department of Correction needs a lot of change.” De Blasio blamed the problems on the pandemic, but offered no solutions or […]

HELL ON RIKERS ISLAND — BUT DE BLASIO DOESN’T CARE

Hell has broken loose in city jails on Rikers Island as inmates run wild and guards fear for their lives. It’s another massive fail by Mayor Bill de Blasio and his team down at City Hall. Though the jail population is at an all-time low, conditions for both correction officers and inmates are worse than […]

OUT-OF-THEIR-MIND POLICY AT OUT-OF-SIGHT AGENCY

About an hour into the rally by jail-officer unions just outside the Hazen Street Bridge to Rikers Island Aug. 16, Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association President Benny Boscio accused the de Blasio administration of trying to make conditions there worse: “‘Let’s let Rikers Island fall apart so we can have a narrative that says we gotta […]

AN ‘ABSOLUTE EMERGENCY’ ON RIKERS ISLAND AS VIOLENCE INCREASES

A detainee was stabbed. A correction officer was slashed. And another person imprisoned on Rikers Island had scalding water thrown on him, causing second-degree burns all over his body. Those episodes were included in a letter that a federal monitor filed with a court on Tuesday that described “unreasonably high” levels of violence inside the […]

DE BLASIO TOUTS END OF SOLITARY CONFINEMENT IN NYC JAILS

Making his announcement on national television Wednesday, Mayor de Blasio will end solitary confinement at Rikers Island this fall — as part of a broader plan to change the way discipline is meted out in city jails. “Solitary confinement corrodes the human soul and creates immense mental health challenges,” de Blasio said on CNN. “It […]

LETTER FROM BENNY BOSCIO
President

Welcome to the official website of The Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association (COBA). COBA is the second-largest law enforcement union in the City of New York. Our members are New York City Correction Officers, also known as New York City’s Boldest, who supervise the second-largest municipal jail system in the nation. COBA is committed to advocating for safer working conditions, wage increases, and excellent benefits for all our members.

Our website was designed to provide helpful information on the latest issues impacting our members and their families. You can also find our official union publications, news clips, and learn about upcoming events.

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STATEMENT FROM COBA PRESIDENT BENNY BOSCIO ON THE FEDERAL MONITOR'S SPECIAL REPORT RELEASED ON MAY 26, 2023

“After being appointed nearly 8 yrs ago and receiving some $20 million in consulting fees by NYC taxpayers, the latest Federal Monitor’s biased and one-sided “special report” is no different than the nearly 36 reports that came before it.

If the Monitor is interested in cherry picking data in a two week period, why then does he exclude the brazen assaults on our officers committed by repeat violent offenders in that same period? Or why does he exclude the numbers of inmates whose lives have been saved thanks to Correction Officers? The reality is that the Federal Monitor and his team have strayed very far from their original mission and this new report conveniently excludes key data showing any progress that is being made to combat jail violence, which is largely the result of the dedication and hard work of our officers serving on the frontlines.

These reports now serve only to provide politically-driven talking points for the City Council and the Board of Correction so they can continue to second guess and scapegoat our members, instead of providing oversight over the monitoring team and asking them what have they really accomplished in eight years to make our jails safer? It’s time for the Monitoring team to go!’

Benny Boscio
COBA President