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Rikers officials hope earlier curfew will curb crime

Some Rikers’ bosses are worried the early bedtime will have the opposite effect and initiate riots

By Reuven Blau
NY Daily News

RIKERS ISLAND — Curfew’s coming early for Rikers Island inmates. Starting Monday, lights will go out at 9 p.m. and inmates will be locked inside their cells for the night, the Daily News has learned.

The new curfew is a full two hours earlier than bedtime of 11 p.m. Jail honchos hope locking inmates in their cells for most of the night will help stem the spike in stabbings and slashings plaguing the jail.

But some Rikers’ bosses are worried the early bedtime will have the opposite effect.

“We’re expecting pushback … maybe riots,” a top jail supervisor said. “All it will do is change the time the acts of violence occurs.”

Full Story: Curfew moved up two hours early to 9 p.m. on Rikers Island in bid to stop spike in violence: sources