Nantasha Williams says responsibility for care in custody is "too easy to ignore"
Nantasha M. WilliamsNew York City Council member for District 27 and sponsor of Int. 98-2024, at a Committee on Criminal Justice hearing
Council Member Nantasha Williams said deaths in custody follow a pattern, because each hand-off between precincts, jails, courts and hospitals makes the responsibility to provide care harder to track, harder to verify and easier to ignore.
“These may feel like isolated cases, but the patterns behind them are not. In New York City, our criminal legal system moves people consistently between precincts, jails, courts, and hospitals, and with each hand-off, the basic responsibility to provide care becomes harder to track, harder to verify and too easy to ignore.”
Original text
Where this statement fits
Is the NYPD failing people who fall ill in its custody?
At least six people have died in 2026 after medical emergencies in NYPD custody before arraignment, most recently Reginald Newkirk, who was returned to a Brooklyn precinct after a hospital visit and died the next morning. Public defenders and elected officials say the deaths reflect systemic failures in police custody and medical care. NYPD officials say the department investigates every death and that a death does not mean officers did something wrong, and a spokesperson said all but one of this year's detainees were sent to or cleared by medical facilities before they died. The question is whether the NYPD and the city are failing people who fall ill in police custody.
Source and context
Original text
About this source
Official transcript of the Criminal Justice Committee's hearing on a bill to require medical clinics in city criminal court facilities.
Before the quotation
Williams opened a Committee on Criminal Justice hearing on her bill to require a medical clinic in every city criminal court facility, citing the deaths of two men in courthouse cells in March 2025.
After the quotation
Correctional Health Services opposed the bill, saying emergencies in court are handled by calling 911.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The reference point is whether the NYPD and the city are failing people who fall ill in police custody. Williams says each hand-off between precincts, jails, courts and hospitals makes the responsibility to provide care "harder to track, harder to verify and too easy to ignore." That faults how the system cares for people in custody, so we labeled it Condemned. The closest competing label is Mixed or conditional, which would fit support for a narrow fix alone; she describes a pattern of failure.
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More from this case
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Brooklyn Defender Services
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Mamdani's spokesperson says the city is "reviewing every stage of the process" after deaths in custody
“The safety of every person in custody is a top priority for the Mamdani administration ... We are reviewing every stage of the process, from arrest through arraignment, to identify any changes needed to protect the health and safety of everyone who enters the system.”Read statement
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- Nantasha Williams says responsibility for care in custody is "too easy to ignore"
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The Dispute Index. "Nantasha Williams says responsibility for care in custody is "too easy to ignore"". First published: 2026-10-09. Last updated: 2026-10-09. https://disputeindex.com/events/5314-council-member-nantasha-williams-said-deaths-in-custody