Rikers Island jail inmate goes missing, complex locked down

New York City’s sprawling and troubled Rikers Island jail complex has been put on lockdown while authorities look for a missing inmate.

Department of Correction spokesman Peter Thorne says a search is underway in co-ordination with the New York Police Department. The inmate apparently went for outdoor recreation on Wednesday and didn’t return.

Staff members noted the inmate’s disappearance around 7:30 p.m. when the headcount of inmates was off by one.

The city’s jail system has been plagued for years by a culture of violence and corruption.

A lawsuit filed by lawyers for inmates who were beaten by jail guards and joined by federal prosecutors who investigated brutality against 16- to 18-year-old inmates resulted in 2015 in a consent decree mandating the city implement a series of wide-ranging reforms.