
NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A New York City corrections officer was indicted Friday for faking suicide training for 74 other officers on Rikers Island in 2021, according to the Bronx District Attorney’s Office.
In the spring of 2021, Vinette Tucker-Frederick, a 41-year-old control room officer who determines assignments for other personnel, allegedly gave some officers the login information for others and told them to take the online training in their absence.
Her decision to bypass the suicide training came amid a crisis of violence, neglect and absenteeism at Rikers that was marked by at least 13 suicides since 2021.
“During the growing crisis of inmate suicides in 2021, apparently amid pressure to increase the number of officers taking a suicide prevention refresher course, the defendant allegedly provided a group of officers the personal identification and log-in information for scores of officers on leave and allegedly directed them to take the training for their colleagues,” said Bronx DA Darcel Clarke. “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, some were in the hospital undergoing surgery, caring for seriously ill loved ones, or nursing their newborn children.”
The nine-year veteran of the New York City Department of Correction was indicted on 74 counts of public record tampering, 74 counts of identity theft and official misconduct.
She is due back in court on Sept. 12.