by Ralph Ortiz
From my time working as a corrections officer on Rikers Island, there’s one afternoon in 2016 that comes to mind, even almost 10 years since I left my post.
Something in the air was not right that day as I watched over the facility.
Usually, inmates can be found throughout the housing area talking, playing cards, or watching television. But on this day, they were congregating by the front of the housing area, next to my desk.
I followed my feelings, got up, and being the only officer there, began patrolling the area. That’s when I noticed it: a newer version of David and Goliath, only there was no stone, but a shank. I watched one man leap and slap another. By the time I arrived, silence had turned into chaos. One of them had been passed a weapon and slashed the other, splitting wide open both of his cheeks.
The inmate involved was punished and transferred to a floor that houses all inmates who committed crimes inside Rikers Island. This housing area is called the Central Punitive Segregation Unit, CPSU to the officers, “the box” to the inmates, and “solitary” to civilians.
As a Catholic and someone who has seen what harm to others — inmates and officers — looks like inside of Rikers Island, it’s hard to “pick a side” when it comes to the idea that Mayor Zohran Mamdani is discontinuing solitary confinement in Rikers Island and other New York City facilities.
Under the current rules, those sent to CPSU are released after four hours — just four hours for slashing, stabbing, or assaulting someone.
But on the flip side, being locked up 23 hours a day takes a toll on an already incarcerated inmate’s mental health.
When I checked on the inmates throughout my time there, I was often reminded of Romans 12:19: “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head.”
Rikers can blur the lines between divine justice and human retribution. I feel for the inmates who are locked in CPSU. The cries for help, the suicide attempts, and as someone who believes in Jesus’ teachings of love and forgiveness, I want that even for them in their times of crisis.
And if anybody else is reading this news and is unsure what stance to take on the issue, know you are not alone.
Ralph Ortiz, a parishioner of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Ridgewood, New Jersey, is a former corrections officer at Rikers Island who is now pursuing his master’s degree in public administration from Seton Hall.