Above is a sepia image of the heading atop Page 17 of the report. CRISI5 UPON CRISIS has been the pervasive correctional lot of this Administration in the years since the beginning of 1951. Correction Commissioner Anna M. Kross served all 12 years of Mayor Wagner's administration. His image above was scanned from his photo on the report's first page. AMK also served the first few months of John V. Lindsay's first term as mayor until George F. McGrath could leave his position as Massachusetts State Correction Commissioner to accept appointment as NYC Dept. of Correction Commissioner. AMK's image at the top of this web page was scanned from her report Page 2 photo. But sometimes these crises have been followed by a speeding up of remedial measures. Therein lies the story of PROGRESS THROUGH CRISIS in penology. The close of twelve years of application toward the attainment of our goal is a time for stock-taking -- for a look backward and a look forward. In spite of our daily crises, we are pleased to be able to report that we have made progress in many areas. Among knowledgeable modern penologists, the New York City Department of Correction is now recognized as outstanding among short-term institutions. In contrast, the Department was rated far down on the scale of modern penological standards on the first day of January in 1954 when this Administration took office. Photo portraits of Frederick C. Rieber and Irma V. Santaella, Kross' two Deputy Commissioners when the report was published, appear on its Page 4. Rieber had been a deputy commissioner from the start of AMK' 12+ years as Commissioner. One of the few times he held the spotlight occurred July 6, 1962. He presided at promotion ceremonies in one of AMK's rare absences. The occasion marked the inauguration of a new DOC uniformed rank --"assistant deputy superinterdent." He swore six female officers into that title, including Jessie L. Behagen who later became superintendent (aka warden) of the Women's House of Detention in Greenwich Village. Santaella served as deputy commissoner during the last few Kross years. Internet sites highlighting achievements of those with Puerto Rican heritage note that Irma Vidal Santaella was the first Puerto Rican woman admitted to the New York State Bar. She also later chaired the NY State Human Rights Appeal Board, served as a Democratic National Convention delegate in 1980, and became the first Puerto Rican from the Bronx to sit as a NY State Supreme Court Justice. Almost immediately we began a survey in depth of the situation in our correctional system. Our appraisal and our recommendations were contained in our First Transmittal Letter, preface to the previous administration's Annual Report, issued and prepared by the present Administration during our first several months with only meager recorded data available. We were faced, among other difficulties, with an over-whelming situation of demoralization: The entire custodial staff had been deprived, by the preceding administration, of its insignia of authority, its badge. A backlog of over two hundred and fifty untried charges hung over all ranks. In view of the realities of the situation, the Commissioner’s first official act was to sit as Trial Commissioner and to hear and evaluate the charges, to restore the badges, and in general to set about raising the morale and the status of the uniformed forces -- an ongoing process whereby, as of the first of July of this year (1965), our Correction Officers at long last have achieved complete parity in pay and pension rights with all other uniformed forces of New York City. The above group image and sign close-up image were scanned and cropped from the same Page 180 photo. Its caption reads: In 1957: The Commissioner and her staff at the first graduation cemeonies of the Correction Academy on Nov. 29, 1957. The image below was scanned and cropped from another Page 180 photo. Its caption reads: In 1957: Mayor Robert F. Wagner, Commissioner Anna M. Kross, her staff and invited dignitaries at the dedication of the Correction Academy on July 3, 1957 Both those 1957 photos were taken in front of and beneath the overhead Correction Academy sign at the entrance of its red brick building on Rikers. The professionalization of the custodial force has also been considerably advanced, practically from scratch. Whereas in 1954 no prerequisites of education or experience were required for Correction Officer candidates by the Civil Service Commission, at our request the very next examination provided new requirements: an academic minimum of a High School Diploma, plus a psychological examination and a police investigation. We effected the first of our several liaisons with schools of higher education, and our own Correction Academy was opened in 1957 on Rikers Island. Since the fall of 1961, in conjunction with the City University of New York and the Borough of Manhattan Community College, the Correction Center that we have established on Rikers Island has been able to offer courses leading to an Associate in Applied Science ( A.A.S.) degree in Correction Administration. We are very proud to be able to announce that the best students, making the best grades, have been our own Correction Officers, many of whom are voluntarily preparing themselves for the true professional status that will be theirs when they have first earned their bachelor’s degrees and have then attained their master’s degrees. It is our plan and our hope that in the not too distant future all Correction Officers will be required to have this same graduate status, on a professional par with that of their Parole, Probation, and Social Work colleagues. [In printed book, the text continues on Page 18.] Next: ===>>