There's another investigation for the Department of Correction. This time into the practice of involuntarily locking in detainees with mental illness in their cells for days or weeks at a time.

The commissioner has referred the matter to the city’s Department of Investigation.

“In response to these troubling allegations, I immediately referred the matter to the Department of Investigation for further independent investigation,” Commissioner Lynelle Maginley-Liddie said on Tuesday.

What You Need To Know

  • Last month, a whistleblower uncovered the practice of locking seriously mentally ill detainees in their cells for extended periods on Rikers Island    

  • Now the Department of Investigation is looking into the matter

  • The correction commissioner says she requested the independent probe 

The Department of Investigation confirmed they are looking into it.

It was a practice uncovered by a former Department of Correction social worker Justyna Rzewinski last month, who detailed widespread use of the practice of locking in seriously mentally ill detainees for weeks or months at a time in their cells.

The practice is commonly referred to as deadlocking.

The board passed a resolution condemning the practice.

This controversy continues as the city's jails to be under stress.

When Mayor Eric Adams first took office, the jail population was 5,354. According to the Board of Correction, that population has risen to more than 6,600.

Dorms on Rikers Island are already crowded.

But to address the increased population, the department is planning to increase the number of people in dorms at one of its jails on Rikers Island from 50 to 60 people. The increase will apply to 10 dorms.

The department is planning to increase its bed capacity elsewhere as well, including putting beds in programming rooms at other facilities.

The move sparked this reaction from the city's correction officer's union.

"If we're not going to have more staff on the floor, how can we make it safe for the PICs [persons in custody] or the staff members?" asked Antoinette Anderson of the Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association.

The city is supposed to close Rikers Island by 2027, but the plan to replace it with four borough-based jails has been bogged down by delay.

Last week, the city did confirm it is in final negotiations with Tutor Perini and O&G Industries for the construction of its new Manhattan jail. Those negotiations will continue for several months.

That was the final facility that needed a contractor.