Amanda Jack
Role at the time: Policy director at The Legal Aid Society, speaking to Gothamist
Statement summary
Amanda Jack of the Legal Aid Society said that once the NYPD keeps someone in custody it is responsible for that person's well-being, and that people in a substance-use crisis or withdrawal need timely medical care and should not be held in prolonged police custody while awaiting arraignment on low-level offenses.
“Once the NYPD chooses to keep someone in custody, it assumes responsibility for that person's well-being ... People experiencing a substance-use crisis or withdrawal need timely medical care, and they should not remain in prolonged police custody while awaiting arraignment on low-level offenses.”
Gothamist report on medical examiner findings in the deaths of Vincent Thoms, Zamiqua Miller and Hector Sierra, with responses from City Hall, the NYPD and the Legal Aid Society.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Why we used this label
The reference point is whether the NYPD and the city are failing people who fall ill in police custody. Jack says that once the NYPD keeps someone in custody "it assumes responsibility for that person's well-being" and that people in withdrawal "should not remain in prolonged police custody while awaiting arraignment on low-level offenses." That faults how the NYPD holds people in that condition, so we labeled it Condemned. The closest competing label is Mixed or conditional, which would fit support for current screening with added safeguards; she rejects prolonged custody for them on low-level charges.