New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday that the police union has agreed to close Rikers Island in the next 10 years.
"I would say I always know a conflict with the union [from] a conflict with the rank-and-file," he said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program, adding that "there really is a coming together."
De Blasio said that the police union can set aside their differences and work together to reduce crime, therefore reducing the need for the prison complex.
The mayor announced his intention to close Rikers Island at the end of March, saying, "It will take many years and it will take many tough decisions along the way, but it will happen," according to NBC 4 New York.
De Blasio said the population would first have to drop to half of what it's been in recent years, and that the city would need newer, smaller jails elsewhere, which could prove unpopular with the community.
"Countless failed attempts at incremental reform have proven that the only viable solution is to close Rikers," Glenn Martin, inmate advocate and president of JustLeadershipUSA, told NBC 4, calling de Blasio's plan "a step in the right direction."
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