NYC Rakes In Cash From Inmates' Phone Calls, Advocates Say

NEW YORK, NY — People jailed on Rikers Island shouldn't have to line the city's pockets just to call their loved ones, advocates argued Monday. A City Council bill would require the Department of Correction to provide free phone calls at city jails and give up the $5 million a year that advocates say the city earns from phone fees.

"People should not have to choose between making phone calls and caring for their families," said Dwayne Lee, a formerly incarcerated community leader with the activist group VOCAL-NY.

Securus, the private company that provides phone services in city jails, charges inmates fees to make phone calls. A portion of the fees goes to the city's general fund through a revenue-sharing agreement, Timothy Farrell, the senior deputy corrections commissioner, told the Council's Committee on Criminal Justice on Monday.

Advocates said the fees put an unnecessary burden on incarcerated people who need to keep in touch with their lawyers or family members — especially since the city already offers free phone calls on its LinkNYC internet kiosks.

Anna Pastoressa spent thousands of dollars to stay in touch with her son during his six-year stay on Rikers Island. She wanted to hear from him every day to be sure he wasn't hurt in jail, she said.

"It is a terrible punishment to regular working-class people and poor people, because people that have money, wealthy people, do not go through this," said Pastoressa, a member-leader with JustLeadership USA.

The DOC provides three free phone calls a week to detainees and two calls a week to inmates serving sentences, Farrell said. Calls to certain specific numbers are also always free, he said.

But the calls city inmates do pay for are nearly five times as expensive as calls from state prisons, said Bianca Tylek of the Corrections Accountability Project.

Securus also records phone calls, a practice that violates inmates' rights and makes it hard for attorneys to communicate confidentially with their clients, advocates said.

But Farrell said the recordings help the DOC investigate incidents and prevent future violence. Inmates' calls to their attorneys are not recorded, officials said.

The DOC is open to eliminating phone call fees, but that could require changes to the city's contract with Securus or a new contract altogether, officials said.

"We would like to work with the Council to figure out how to make our telephone system as fair as possible, while maintaining the necessary services and safety features the contract provides," Farrell said.

(Lead image: Dwayne Lee, a formerly incarcerated activist, calls for New York City to provide free phone calls to people in city jails on Monday. Photo by Noah Manskar/Patch)