It Was My Job to Tell the Truth About Jails
“Anyone not touched by the system was unlikely to understand: Going to jail actually marks a story’s beginning.”
I used to be the “press liaison”—later director of media relations—for the New York City Department of Correction. For nearly three years, whenever reporters thought they had a story involving the city’s jails, including about Rikers Island, I was the person they called.
Life Inside Perspectives from those who work and live in the criminal justice system. Related Stories
Having spent the preceding decade working in criminal-justice advocacy, I thought I knew a few things about jails. But joining the DOC was like picking up a hockey puck for the first time: Although you knew what the thing looked like, it felt a lot harder and heavier in your hand.
In those early days, nearly all the media calls I got
