An independent criminal justice reform commission in New York City has released a report with one simple conclusion: We must close the jail complex on Rikers Island . Period.

The Independent Commission on New York City Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform on Sunday officially released the blueprint for the citys 10-year plan to shut down Rikers Island, the citys notorious jail complex thats considered among the worst in the U.S.

With the dedicated efforts of this Commission, along with support from Mayor [Bill] de Blasio, today, we can say that the dream of closing Rikers Island will finally become a reality, New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito (D) said in a statement Sunday.

Mark-Viverito commissioned a report last year on the possibility of closing Rikers. The 146-page findings were posted Friday ahead of Sundays formal announcement.

The 10,000 inmates at the facility include men, women and juveniles. Many Rikers prisoners are pretrial detainees too poor to afford bail, or nonviolent offenders with sentences too brief to justify a transfer to a new facility.

Per the report, a crucial step to closing Rikers would be halving its population to less than 5,000 so it could be replaced by a smaller, borough-based jail system. The five facilities of that system would be located near various courthouses. Such a system would cost over $10 billion.

The commission offers a number of proposals to help cut the Rikers population in half, including an overhaul of the bail bonds process; investing in neighborhood crime prevention strategies; alternative sentencing for low-level offenses; job training and employment opportunities for people leaving jail; improved mental health access and treatment; and raising the citys age of criminal responsibility from 16 to 18.

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said on Sunday that shrinking the citys correctional footprint and maintaining public safety are not mutually exclusive goals.

Weve shown in the past several years you can do both: You can have a fair criminal justice system that protects the community with one stand of justice for everyone but also lower the number of people being incarcerated, Gonzalez said at a news conference. You dont have to incarcerate your way to public safety.