City Council Faults Norman Seabrook For Rikers Violence
Ross Barkan
A couple of City Council members today blamed Norman Seabrook, the president of the correction officers union, for stonewalling reforms at the violence-plagued Rikers Island.
Queens Councilman Daniel Dromm and Bronx Councilman Andy King each took aim at Mr. Seabrook at a City Hall press conference dedicated to ending the “mistreatment” of inmates at the jail.
“Norman Seabrook needs to stand up and take accountability for some of what’s going on at Rikers Island,” Mr. Dromm told the Observer. “In fact, I’d say a lot of this started under the Bloomberg administration and if a leader of a union can start a screaming and yelling match with me, a council member, and Dr. Mary Bassett as well … if he feels free enough to treat elected officials like that, the message filters down to other corrections officers that it’s okay to treat inmates as well like that.”
Read more at http://observer.com/2014/08/city-council-faults-norman-seabrook-for-rikers-violence/#ixzz3Am9UofxO