On Saturday, a fourth inmate held on Rikers Island died in Department of Correction custody this year. A new report from a jails oversight body released Monday examined the first three deaths at the facility in 2022 and found systematic failures in each case.

Dr. Robert Cohen, a member of the oversight Board of Correction, joined Errol Louis on “Inside City Hall” Tuesday to offer his insight and propose solutions to what he calls “a critical and deadly situation.”

“The purpose of the Department of Correction — their mission — is to maintain care, custody, and control. And they’re really not able to do any of those things right now,” Cohen said. “The care is not available, and the custody is not being supported.”

Cohen served on the eight-member board since 2009 as one of three City Council appointees. The council reappointed twice him. In the 1980s, he worked as Rikers Island’s director of medical facilities.