NYC Correction officer faked training records at Rikers: Bronx DA

A Rikers Island correction officer was indicted for falsifying suicide prevention training records in 2021 because she was under pressure to increase the low percentage of officers who had received the training, Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said.

Vinette Tucker-Frederick, 41, was arraigned Friday on 74 counts each of first-degree tampering with public records, first-degree identity theft, and official misconduct.

Tucker-Frederick allegedly executed the 2021 scheme by giving a group of officers the ID and log-in information for 74 other officers who were on leave.

That group then took the mandatory online training course under false pretenses. None of the 74 officers were aware their names were being used.

Clark said Tucker-Frederick’s motive was pressure to increase the then-low training numbers amid a rash of suicides in the jails. There were six in all in 2021.

At Rikers Island’s Anna M. Kross Center, where Tucker-Frederick worked in the control room, about 5% of the staff had taken the training.

“In the first two weeks of May 2021, scores of officers unknowingly were credited with taking the training despite the fact that they weren’t even on Rikers Island,” Clark said.

“Some were in the hospital undergoing surgery, caring for seriously ill loved ones, or nursing their newborn children.”

The investigation was conducted by the Bronx DA’s Public Integrity Bureau and the city Department of Investigation.

“The Department of Correction’s suicide prevention training for officers is a critical part of the department’s efforts to prevent and to address self-harm by persons in custody,” Investigation Commissioner Jocelyn Strauber said.

The Daily News Flash

Weekdays

Catch up on the day’s top five stories every weekday afternoon.

“The alleged conduct placed persons in custody at risk.”

Tucker-Frederick, a nine-year veteran, has been suspended indefinitely without pay. The investigation is continuing.

The Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association said it will provide Tucker-Frederick with legal representation in the case.

“This act was the kind of egregious behavior that was tolerated in the past and has no place in this administration,” said Correctoin Commissioner Louis Molina, who began his tenure in January 2022.

“Suicide prevention training is critical for any public safety organization and especially for a correctional facility. We continue to push this important training to all of our employees and will hold everyone accountable.”

All correction officers get suicide prevention training in the academy, Correction Department officials said. Currently 68% of staff who work in the facilities has received the refresher course which is given on a rolling basis..

The Correction Department also offers mental health courses that touch on suicide, and a video shown at roll calls on spotting self harm.