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An investigation revealed routine, brutal attacks by guards on inmates, many of them mentally ill, at Rikers Island in New York City, the nation's second-largest jail, and profound dysfunction at the city agency that oversees the jail. It exposed a flagrant cover-up of wrongdoing by ranking supervisors who, instead of being disciplined, were promoted. Though Rikers officials fought the investigation at every turn, with great patience Times reporters developed a web of confidential informants who told them the true state of affairs.