NYC Jails head of security Ronald Brereton ousted in latest Correction Department upheaval

Ronald Brereton, the head of security for the city’s jails, was let go Tuesday morning and walked out of the Correction Department’s headquarters in Queens, sources told the Daily News.
Brereton was appointed deputy commissioner of security operations in May 2022 despite a controversial track record during a long career with the state prison system, as previously reported in The News.
At the city Correction Department, he was in charge of a broad array of key divisions, including central operations, security intelligence, the correction industries division, fire safety and the compliance office, a bio states.
The reason behind his departure from his city role was not entirely clear. He had been under fire of late from the Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association following the slashing of an officer by a detainee.
Fights between detainees have been rising since February 2023, when 280 were recorded, compared with 649 this September, city comptroller records show.
The number of stabbings and slashing had been falling until the past three months, when they rose from 15 in July to 30 in September, the records show.
Assaults on staff had been rising from 36 in January to 72 in August, until the total fell to 53 in September, the figures show.
The Correction Department did not immediately reply to requests for comment, but Benny Boscio, president of the correction officers union, immediately took credit for the ouster in an Instagram video.
The Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association “has zero tolerance for incompetent [Correction Department] Managers,” Boscio wrote. “We will continue to hold anyone who threatens the safety and security of our members fully accountable for their actions.”
In the Instagram video, the union accused Brereton of: “depleting emergency services manpower, failing to step up search for weapons and contraband, and bringing too many officers up on frivolous disciplinary charges”
Correction Commissioner Lynelle Maginley-Liddie recently returned to duty retired Chief of Department Eric Taylor, whose responsibilities may have overlapped with those of Brereton.
In the state prison system, Brereton had been a supervisor in five facilities, including the Edgecombe Residential Treatment Facility and the Lincoln Correctional Facility, both in Manhattan.
The News previously reported that Brereton was suspended at Lincoln while facing a misconduct investigation alleging misappropriation of funds, abuse of authority and workplace retaliation.
He was also accused of making inappropriate remarks, The News story reported. The state prisons agency and city Correction Department declined to share the outcome of internal investigations he faced.
In response to News stories about his tenure with the state, Brereton, who is Black, claimed he was the victim of racism while working for the state prison system. He said a “good old boys club” targeted him after he sounded the alarm on their “widespread misconduct.”