Vinette Tucker-Frederick falsified records as Rikers staff were under pressure to stop a rash of suicides, prosecutors said. Her lawyer said she is innocent.
Darcel Clark is running for a third term, emphasizing a balance between public safety and justice. Her opponent, Tess Cohen, is focused on alternatives to incarceration.
The federal court appointee will likely try to force Louis A. Molina, head of the Department of Correction, to increase openness about the Rikers jail complex.
Louis A. Molina, the jails commissioner, has failed to stop rampant violence, and officials have shut down avenues of information about what happens behind bars, according to a report filed in federal court.