New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani has appointed a formerly incarcerated man as the new Commissioner of the city’s Department of Correction. 64-year-old Stanley Richards will be the first person who has previously served time in prison to lead the department that runs the city’s jails.Mamdani announced the appointment at a press event earlier this week. He said Richards’ life experience will help guide changes in the city’s corrections system.Richards spent about two and a half years at Rikers Island and another four and a half years in state prison after being convicted of robbery in the late 1980s. He was released from prison in 1991.After his release, Richards began working with the Fortune Society, a nonprofit organisation (NPO) in New York City that helps people returning from jail and prison.
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He eventually became the president and chief executive officer of the organisation and has spent decades working on reentry programmes and advocacy. He has also been an advocate of prison reforms. In a statement, Richards said his appointment was an opportunity to lead from the top and work for both people in custody and correction officers. He said his own experience behind bars influenced his work and commitment to improving the justice system. The appointment comes as New York City’s jail system faces close attention. Rikers Island has had long-term problems with violence and management, and it has been under federal supervision for years. A federal judge recently hired an outside manager to help with reforms at the jail.Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, previously supported calls to defund the New York Police Department (NYPD) and criticised the NYPD as “racist” and a “major threat to public safety” in social media posts in 2020. He has since said he will not defund the police and has apologised to officers for past remarks.Meanwhile, several police officers have left the NYPD in recent months and union leaders have reported a rise in resignations and departures, partly linked to low morale.