Recently released video footage from the hours leading up to her death show that the staff at the women's facility of the notoriously troubled jail did not give Polanco lifesaving care.
But a new report from the New York City Board of Corrections shows that staff did not take Polanco’s mental health into consideration when they placed her in solitary confinement.
Polanco was ineligible for "a cell housing placement" because of her history of seizure disorder, but a correctional health services doctor cleared her for solitary confinement because he claimed her condition had been stable.
Polanco was left alone for long periods of time including for 57 minutes, 47 minutes and 41 minutes on the day she died, despite DOC policy stating that people in solitary confinement need to be checked on every 15 minutes.
In the report, the Board of Corrections outlines 25 recommendations for practices that were not used in Polanco’s situation and that would prevent another death in this fashion, including a process for rehousing due to interpersonal conflicts and the placement of transgender women in general population with cisgender women, according to NBC.
