Department of Correction

Correction


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DOC FACT SHEET

REDUCING JAIL VIOLENCE

We take the issue of violence in our jails very seriously and have taken significant steps, as part of our 14-Point Anti-Violence Reform Agenda, to address the root causes of violence in our jails.

These steps have included:

Creating a new system, the Housing Unit Balancer (HUB), for classifying inmates based on their propensity for violence and housing them in ways that are designed to produce less conflict.

Offering more programming to reduce idleness and help inmates build skills inside the jails and upon release.

Installing cameras throughout our facilities to deter violence and aid in the investigation of violence; cameras have now been installed in all housing areas on Rikers Island.

Providing specialized training, including on crisis management and de-escalation, for staff who work with our most difficult populations – young adults, adolescents, the seriously mentally ill and those who are persistently violent.

Implementing new strategies to prevent and detect contraband, including uniforms, additional staff dedicated to search teams, and new scanners that can better detect the non-metal weapons that are increasingly used by inmates.

Restarting housing units with physical renovations, trained steady staff, inmates assigned with the HUB, and on-unit programming.

Though even one act of violence is unacceptable, as a result of these efforts, DOC has been able to drive down many measures of violence.

In 2016, DOC reduced total assaults on staff by 11% and serious assaults by 31%. We reduced our uses of force by 3% and uses of force involving serious injury by 35%.