Of the 4,363 individuals, who would present less of a risk to public safety?

According the attached fact sheet from the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice, the number of people held in NYC jails has decreased by 20% since March 16 in the face of COVID-19. This is a steeper decline than in all of last year. The jail population of 4,363 people on April 6, 2020 was the lowest since 1949. Nevertheless, the infection rate on Rikers Island remains 5 times higher than that of New York City and 7 times higher than that of New York State.Mayor DeBlasio has asked you to prepare a policy brief recommending how the city could shrink the population by another 1,000 individuals without compromising public safety. Who would you release and why? Of the 4,363 individuals, who would present less of a risk to public safety? In a paper of roughly 1,000 words, discuss and defend your Rikers reduction strategy. Keep in mind that the size of any jail population is a function of three things: admissions, length of stay and releases. Other factors you may want to consider are inmate demographics (i.e. gender, age) classification status (i.e., sentenced, pre-trial, technical parole violator), how people land on Rikers in the first place, which has to do with arrests and bail, and needs upon reentry. There is no right or wrong answer – discuss a logical, realistic strategy that could shrink the population by another 1,000 people with the least impact on public safety. Be sure you justify your strategy based on research and include bibliography. Be specific. Be creative.The attached fact sheet provides information about the current Rikers population.