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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 6, 2021

CONTACT: pressoffice@doc.nyc.gov

@CorrectionNYC NYC DOC TV

City Identifies Site for New Correction Academy

The much-anticipated training facility is planned for College Point

Photo credit: DDC

East Elmhurst, NY – August 6, 2021 — New York City will have a first-rate training facility for its correction professionals. The City has identified a site for a new Correction Academy: College Point, Queens, right next door to the Police Academy.

The new training facility is planned for 30,000 square feet of currently unused space adjacent to the Police Academy’s track field. The abundant space, and the fact that the land is already utilized for the proposed use, make the site ideal. Subject to the appropriate environmental review, the academy is expected to be completed in 2027, with an estimated cost of $225 million.

New York City has long needed a modern academy designed around best correctional training practices. Since 1985, DOC recruits and officers have been training in a repurposed space, which was not built as an academy. New York City, in fact, established the very first correction academy in the United States. The future academy would once again bring the department to the forefront of modern facilities for correctional training.

“A new, modern correction academy is what our recruits and our staff deserve, and I am extremely pleased to see this plan on its way to becoming a reality,” said DOC Commissioner Vincent Schiraldi. “The new academy will move the department further along the path of positive change by facilitating state-of-the-art training for a reform-minded, modern workforce. Our staff deserves a world class academy. This new academy will be a major step forward.”

“I am simply elated that we are taking further steps and reaching this next, critical milestone toward the establishment of a new Correction Academy building,” said DOC Chief of Department Kenneth Stukes. “Better training facilities mean better learning environments for our staff, and more effectively prepared personnel in our jails. The development of this new academy and all that it means for training will help smooth the transition to Borough Based Jails, and it will go a long way towards facilitating culture change.”

“DDC is already deeply engaged in creating a more equitable, fair and modern justice system, designing and building the City’s new and more humane borough-based jails and developing new police precincts that are generating connections between law enforcement and the communities they serve,” said NYC Department of Design and Construction (DDC) Commissioner Jamie Torres-Springer. “The new Correction Academy will carry on this tradition adjacent to the Police Academy that NYPD and DDC opened in 2015, while being designed to rigorous environmental standards to help the City meet its climate change goals.”

The proposed program area features 114,000 programmable square feet of space. The proposed building constructed for the academy will be four stories tall, and the project is expected to include 240 parking spaces, enough to avoid having to park in the surrounding community.

Furthermore, the City is committed to assessing the infrastructure needs in the surrounding area, including accessibility ramps and potential street redesigns.

The origins of the Correction Academy date to 1927, when DOC Commissioner Richard C. Patterson called for the creation of the forerunner of the current Correction Academy, the Prison Keepers School, which became the first correction officer training school in the United States. The school’s first graduation occurred in 1931 with 50 new officers as part of the inaugural class.

The classes were taught by NYPD until the 1930s when the Correction Department began teaching its own curriculum.

Over the years, the school has called many places its home: Roosevelt Island, the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Manhattan and various locations on Rikers Island.

All along the Department has continued to modernize its curriculum to teach skills to appropriately care for those in custody, and today these include de-escalation techniques and mental health first aid to recognize signs of distress in individuals.

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The New York City Department of Correction (DOC) is dedicated to creating a safe and supportive environment while providing individuals in our care with a path to successfully re-enter their communities. The Department provides for the care and custody of people ordered held by the courts and awaiting trial or who are convicted and sentenced to one year or less of jail time. DOC manages 8 facilities housing people in custody, 7 of which are located on Rikers Island. The Department also operates two hospital wards (Bellevue and Elmhurst hospitals) and court facilities in each borough. Our dedicated workforce of both uniformed and non-uniformed staff members represents the city’s Boldest.

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