2 Rikers Island guards charged after sweep for drugs, weapons

Tuesday, June 24, 2014 - NEW YORK (WABC) --

Authorities swept Rikers Island Monday, searching officers and inmates for drugs, weapons and contraband.

Sources say two correction officers were arraigned on drug charges afterwards.

Investigators combed through inmate cells and common areas, as well as lockers and break rooms used by workers.

They searched about 100 correction officers as they changed shifts at the George Motchan Detention Center, and authorities say up to a dozen of them are now under investigation.

The searches began at the afternoon shift Monday.

The sweep is part of an ongoing investigation by the city Departments of Investigation and Correction into violence and illegal conduct at Rikers Island that has resulted in more than a dozen arrests.

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Prison to Pipeline Program

PRI's Prison to College Pipeline (P2CP) Program was featured in the New York Times in late May. The piece, "Prison Program Turns Inmates Into Intellectuals," examines P2CP's approach to bringing higher education to Otisville Correctional Facility under the direction of Bianca van Heydoorn (PRI's Director of Educational Initiatives) and Baz Dreisinger (P2CP Academic Director and John Jay College English professor). Pictured above: P2CP's monthly Learning Exchange, which includes both inside (incarcerated) students, like Tomas Correa (left), and outside (community) students, like Ariana Castillo (right).

"Higher education should be available for everyone—for its own sake, not just because it has consistently been shown to reduce recidivism and help troubled youth become productive, contributing members of society. But numerous obstacles to higher education exist for that population. The few who traverse those obstacles are considered the lucky exceptions. Working at CASES enabled me to help bring down barriers to higher education for my students..." Click here to read this full reflection.

John Bae (pictured above) is a graduate of John Jay College and an alum of the Pinkerton Fellowship Initiative's first cohort. John's piece is part of an ongoing series of reflections by Pinkerton Fellows and alumni. John now works as a Data Manager for the College Initiative, a partner of PRI's P2CP program.

Pinkerton Alumni Lunch. This month Pinkerton Community Fellowship alumni met with incoming Fellows to share their insights and experiences. Pictured above: Cohort 2 Fellow Milton Pelotte (right) discusses his work at Doing Art Together with Cohort 3 Fellow Marilyn Alvarado. Ms. Alvarado is just beginning her Fellowship placement with Doing Art Together.

PRI was proud to host College Initiative's annual graduation this month to celebrate its participants' accomplishments. College Initiative (CI) enables individuals with criminal justice involvement to pursue higher education. Pictured above are Michael Carey (left), CI's Director, and Kirk James, Director of the Fortune Society's David Rothenberg Center and the first CI student to receive a PhD.