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New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision

The New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (NYSDOCCS) is the department of the New York State government[1] that maintains the state prisons and parole system. The New York State prison system encompasses 44 prisons funded by the state government.[2] This does not include other jails and prisons in New York State such as federal prisons, New York City jails, or county jails.

New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision
AbbreviationNYSDOCCS
Agency overview
Preceding agencies
Employees18,200
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdictionNew York, United States
General nature
Operational structure
HeadquartersAlbany, New York
Sworn members23,000
Agency executive
Facilities
Prisons44
Website
Official website
Former name:
NYS Dept. of Correctional Services
(1971–2011)

New York State currently incarcerates approximately 30,900 incarcerated people, and supervises approximately 28,200 parolees at seven regional offices as of 2022.[2] The department employs a staff of approximately 27,650 individuals,[3] including approximately 16,700 uniformed correction officers.[2] Its regulations are compiled in title 7 of the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. NYS DOCCS states that it is "responsible for the care, custody, and treatment" of the people held in the state prisons.

In response to falling crime rates and prison populations in New York State, the department has closed a number of facilities since 2009.[4] Since 2011, nearly 20 prisons have been closed, with plans for additional facility closures based on the continued decline in the number of incarcerated individuals in the state.[5][6] On April 1, 2011, the New York State Division of Parole merged with the New York State Department of Correctional Services to form the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.[7][8] As of 2016, New York, per state law, did not contract with private prison corporations.[9]

History

The New York State prison system had its beginnings in 1797 with a single prison called Newgate located in New York City. A second state prison opened 20 years later in Auburn in 1817, and in 1825 a group of Auburn prisoners made the voyage across the Erie Canal and down the Hudson River to begin building Sing Sing in the village of Ossining, New York.

Historians have not described the prison system of New York State in the 19th century in a favorable light - with employment positions being awarded based on the spoils system, employees being characterized as largely corrupt, and the use of prisoners to gain favorable manufacturing contracts.[10]

The state commissioned architect Alfred Hopkins to design three major institutions built between 1933 and 1935: Wallkill Correctional Facility, Woodbourne Correctional Facility and Coxsackie Correctional Facility. All three were designed on progressive principles, reflected a concern for aesthetics and a sense of place, and had no surrounding walls or fences.[11] That has changed.

Between its founding and the year 1973, New York had operated only 18 prisons. After the new focus on prison administration brought by the Attica Prison riot in September 1971, and a new influx of prisoners created by the new stricter Rockefeller Drug Laws starting in 1973, the corrections system was forced to expand dramatically.[12] Corrections acquired a number of older state-owned properties from other agencies during the 1970s, some with expansive acreage and Edwardian structures, such as the Adirondack Correctional Facility in 1971 (originally the Ray Brook Sanatorium, founded in 1904) the Otisville Correctional Facility in 1976 (on the grounds of a former tuberculosis sanitarium founded in 1906), and the Mount McGregor Correctional Facility in 1976 (with a varied history since its opening in 1913, operated from 1969 through 1976 as the Wilton State School by the New York State Department of Mental Hygiene).

The growth continued in another way through the 1980s. A huge prison construction initiative took the form of "cookie-cutter" facilities, fifteen different medium-security installations such as Washington Correctional Facility in 1985, built with the same blueprints,[13] the same dorms and mess halls, as Franklin, Mohawk, Bare Hill, etc. Many of the 15 opened in 1988. Two of these, Riverview and Cape Vincent, were initially funded and owned by New York City to shuttle city prisoners by air, as a way to address the city's jail overpopulation crisis.[14]

Demographics

Population size

 
New York State prison population, 1941-2022

The incarcerated population in New York State grew rapidly from the 1970-'90s, in line with the pattern of mass incarceration across the United States. This trend reversed during the first two decades of the 21st century. From its peak in 1999, at nearly 73,000, the total state prison population has fallen by more than 50 percent to fewer than 31,000 people as of August, 2022.[2] Although the total prison population has declined in recent years, the proportion of prisoners over age 50 has increased greatly in that period.[15] Rapidly declining numbers of inmates have led to prison closures and pressure to consolidate further. In some rural communities, this has meant a significant loss of jobs.[16][17] But the number of prison officers employed by the department has declined much more slowly than the number of incarcerated people in the state, by 17% since 1999 as compared to the 57% decline in incarcerated individuals through April 2021.[18] For every officer employed by the state prison system, there were 1.7 incarcerated people as of 2021, far below the 1999 ratio of 3.3 to 1. By comparison, the US Federal Bureau of Prisons currently has an inmate-to-officer ratio of 7.5 to 1.[19]

Gender distribution

There are far more men than women imprisoned in New York state prisons; about 1 in 20 incarcerated people are women (5%). Three facilities are designated women's prisons: Albion, Bedford Hills, and Taconic Correctional Facility. Currently, the department does not provide statistics on gender diversity to the public, other than designation of facilities as "male" and "female," so the proportion of incarcerated people who are transgender or non-binary is unknown. However, reports for the Prison Rape Elimination Act show that a number of prisons have transgender or nonbinary people among their populations.[20]

Recently, NYS DOCCS has revised policies to reflect transgender and nonbinary people's gender identities. In January 2022, New York Governor Kathy Hochul directed the prison administrators to let transgender people choose to be housed in a men's or women's facility, and to give access to appropriate medical and mental health care.[21] The New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision allowed the first transgender woman to transfer from a men's to a women's prison prior to gender reassignment surgery in 2019.[22] Incarcerated transgender people have access to clothing based on gender identity (although limited to binary male/female options), and to request that "pat frisks" be conducted by an officer of the gender that individual prefers (although only honored by DOCCS "when possible"), regardless of the gender designation of the prison.[23][24]

Age distribution

The population of New York State's prison system is aging, as is the population of New York State and of the United States overall. The average age of incarcerated people in the New York State prison system is 40 years old,As of 2021 up from 36 years in 2008.[25] The proportion of incarcerated people over age 50 in NYS DOCCS facilities is nearly 25% as of 2021, double the proportion in 2008.[26]

There are a number of causes of the shift towards an older population.[25] These include legislation that prohibits sending children under 18 years old to adult prisons (Raise the Age law);[27] declining rates of new incarcerations (which typically are among younger segments of the population); and population aging in the state, nationally, and globally. Another factor is the Rockefeller drug law reforms of 2009, which contributed to "significant declines in felony drug arrests, indictments on felony drug charges and prison commitments for felony drug crimes from 2010 through 2019."[25]: 5  The reforms amended the mandatory sentencing laws that had been in place for drug-related crimes since 1973.[25]

Race/ethnicity

As is true in the United States generally, New York incarcerates people at different rates when examined using gender and racial/ethnic categories. As of 2018, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's categorization system, about 48% of incarcerated individuals were Black or African American; 25% White; 25% Hispanic; and a small number belonging to other categories. In contrast, the largest group in the overall state population is non-Hispanic White. Thus, Black and Latinx/Hispanic men are disproportionately likely to be incarcerated in the state.[28]

State prison system characteristics

class=notpageimage|
Locations of state correctional facilities within New York
See main List of New York state prisons[29]

As of 2022, New York State maintains forty-four state prisons, down from sixty-eight in 2011.[30] By design, inmates are moved with some frequency between prisons, based on the belief that inmate–staff friendships that might lead, for example, to drug smuggling by staff.[citation needed]

In part as a response to the Attica Prison uprising of 1971, a number of measures were taken to avoid future confrontations and reduce tensions between guards and prisoners. All New York State correctional facilities have monthly meetings between elected prisoner representatives and the prison administration, at which prisoners may present their concerns. A grievance process was instituted, by which prisoners may grieve any employee whom they feel is acting in violation of regulations.[citation needed] Other prison uprisings occurred across the country during the 1970s, spurred by poor prison conditions and demanding reforms.

At Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, a maximum security women's prison, the August Rebellion led to greater protection of the rights of incarcerated people in the United States. Following the prison riot the women filed and won the class-action lawsuit Powell v. Ward. The lawsuit ended in a legally binding pledge by prison guards to conduct disciplinary proceedings fairly and to only send truly mentally ill prisoners to psychiatric hospitals.[31]

Facilities and communication policies

Prisons are required to have law libraries, and most prisons have a general library, with a professional librarian. Incarcerated people usually have a limited amount of time to be outdoors (in 'the yard'). Incarcerated people have access to telephones, which requires recording and monitoring of calls, and some email access. Calls can be made and emails sent only to pre-approved numbers and addresses. A prisoner lawsuit about 2010[citation needed] reduced dramatically the very high charges per minute telephone service provider charged. New York has instituted a package policy, effective August 15 2022, that allows incarcerated people to receive only two packages per year from friends or family. All other packages— e.g., books, clothes, packaged foods, and other allowed items— must be purchased and shipped directly from vendors (such as Amazon).[32] The policy prohibits visitors from bringing gifts of any kind to the prison, whereas visitors were allowed to bring gifts and drop them off at the package room in the past.[32]

Prisons generally have on their staff a chaplain, and a rabbi and imam, who usually visit several different prisons on different days of the week. At some medium-security prisons, facilities for conjugal visits are available for carefully selected inmates, including same-sex married couples. New York State is one of only four states with conjugal visits in 2014. They typically take place in trailers within the prison grounds, and some spouses bring children along, so sex offenders are not eligible for conjugal visits. No women's prison in New York has conjugal visits.[citation needed]

Work assignments

Each prisoner is assigned a staff member ("counselor") who assists inmates in navigating the complicated institutional and external program rules. In addition to checking each inmate's telephone and email lists, the advisor assigns each inmate a job, which is typically paid at well under 50¢. Typically there are more inmate workers than work to do, but policy is that every inmate in "population"—the main class of inmates, without special conditions—must have a job.[citation needed] Incarcerated people generally either work running or maintaining the facility, or work for "prison industries." Facility jobs pay 10-26¢ per hour (from 60¢ to $1.56 per day), as of data from 2017.[33]

Death row

Prior to the 2007 repeal of the death penalty, the male death row was at the Clinton Correctional Facility and the female death row was at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility.[34] The execution chamber was located at the Green Haven Correctional Facility.[35] Previously, inmates had been executed at the Sing Sing Correctional Facility.[36]

Capital punishment was banned following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling declaring existing capital punishment statutes unconstitutional in Furman v. Georgia (1972), but was reinstated in New York in 1995 when Governor George Pataki signed a new statute into law, which provided for execution by lethal injection. On June 24, 2004, in the case People v. LaValle, the New York Court of Appeals struck down the statute as unconstitutional under the New York Constitution (at the time, only two individuals were under a sentence of death). Although seven individuals were sentenced to death, no one was executed, and the Court of Appeals later commuted the sentence of the final individual under a sentence of death in New York on October 23, 2007, in the case People v. John Taylor. In July 2008, Governor David Paterson issued an executive order requiring the disestablishment of death row and the closure of the state's execution chamber at Green Haven Correctional Facility.[37]

COVID-19 response

DOCCS reports that 45 incarcerated individuals have died of COVID-19, as well as 18 DOCCS staff members and 9 people on parole (a more difficult number for the department to track).[38] The department reported 11,270 positive cases among incarcerated people and over 14,000 cases among staff as of October, 2022, but due to lack of testing availability, especially early in the pandemic, these are underestimates of the true number of cases.[38]

Visiting at New York State prisons was completely suspended during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, from March to August, 2020.[39] After reopening in August, DOCCS imposed more restrictions on family and others visiting the prisons, including two-hour maximum visits, a ban on physical touch, and required pre-registration.[39] As COVID-19 cases surged in fall 2021, DOCCS imposed a requirement that visitors show proof of vaccination or a negative test result.[40] DOCCS stated that they would provide test kits at facilities for visitors who arrived without proof of vaccination or a negative test result within the prior 48 hours.[40]

As of December 2021, approximately 70% of DOCCS staff reported that they had been vaccinated against COVID-19, and 52% of incarcerated individuals have been partially or fully vaccinated.[40]

Correction Officers and Parole Officers

In labor negotiations, the officers are represented by the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association (NYSCOPBA).[41] The union has been vocal in its opposition to prison closures. Professional, Scientific and Technical Services Unit (PS&T)- Represent Parole officers.

Since 1861, 28 New York state correction officers have died as a result of violence in the line of duty or a duty-related illness (e.g., tuberculosis).[42] The last death by violence was in 1981.[42] Eight others have died by accidents, heart attack or other cause while working.[42] In the uprising at Attica in 1971, forty-three people were killed; eleven were state workers (eight guards and three civilian workers) and thirty-two incarcerated men.[43] The majority of the deaths were caused by gunfire from law enforcement: ten state workers and twenty-nine incarcerated men were fatally shot.[44]

Mission and training

 

The current stated mission of NYSDOCCS is: "to provide for public protection by administering a network of correctional facilities that:

  • Retain inmates in safe custody until released by law;
  • Offer inmates an opportunity to improve their employment potential and their ability to function in a non-criminal fashion;
  • Offer staff a variety of opportunities for career enrichment and advancement; and,
  • Offer stable and humane "community" environments in which all participants, staff and inmates, can perform their required tasks with a sense of satisfaction."

To be eligible to work as a corrections officer in New York State, individuals must be citizens of the United States, at least 21 years old and have earned a high school diploma or equivalent.[45] Recruits complete 12 months of training, including eight or more weeks of formal training. Recruits are paid to attend a paramilitary training program at the DOCCS Training Academy, which includes taking courses in emergency response procedures, interpersonal communications, firearms, unarmed defensive tactics, and legal rights and responsibilities.[45] They also undergo physical training to develop fitness, strength and stamina. There are physical qualification standards for becoming a corrections officer; the trainees must be able to perform seven sequential job-related tasks in two minutes and fifteen seconds or less. Failure in any of the tasks results in the recruit failing to meet the agency qualification standards and, accordingly, being dismissed from the academy.[46]

Some correctional officers work in specialized units, including: Correctional Emergency Response Team (CERT); Crisis Intervention Unit (CIU); Hostage Rescue Team (HRT); Fire Brigade (NYS Facility Firefighter); Office of Special Investigations (OSI); Employee Investigation Unit (EIU); and D.O.C.C.S. K-9 Unit.

Power and legal authority

New York State Correction Officers have peace officer status statewide under Criminal Procedure Law § 2.10; this authorizes them:

  • The power to make warrantless arrests pursuant to Criminal Procedure Law § 140.25[47]
  • The power to use physical force and deadly physical force in making an arrest or preventing an escape pursuant to Penal Law § 35.30[48]
  • The power to carry out warrantless searches whenever such searches are constitutionally permissible and acting pursuant to their duties, in accordance with Criminal Procedure Law § 2.20[49]
  • The power to possess and take custody of firearms not owned by the peace officer, for the purpose of disposing, guarding, or any other lawful purpose, consistent with his or her duties as a peace officer, pursuant to Criminal Procedure Law § 2.20[49]
  • The power to issue certain summonses and appearance tickets when acting pursuant to their duties, in accordance with Criminal Procedure Law § 2.20[49]

New York State Correction Officers are also authorized to carry firearms unrestricted off-duty.

From highest to lowest title, the command structure for correction officers and their civilian administrators is as follows:

Title Insignia
Commissioner
 
Deputy Commissioner
 
Superintendent
 
Deputy Superintendent for Security/Colonel
 
Captain
 
Lieutenant
 
Sergeant
 
Correction Officer
Correction Officer - Trainee

Parole Officers

New York State Division of Parole are law enforcement officers within the department who aid, assist and supervise offenders released from correctional facilities to serve a period of post-release supervision. Parole Officers are responsible for providing public safety and community protection, while working with community-based organizations to deliver needed services and supervision to releasees. Parole Officers perform both social work and law enforcement functions, and work to develop a supervision plan for each releasee; they also assess and evaluate the adequacy of each releasee's community adjustment and intervene when the releasee's behavior threatens that adjustment. The parole officer, in consultation with his or her supervisor, determines when and under what circumstances delinquency action is warranted. The parole officer works to ensure that individuals released from prison by order of the Board of Parole and by statute live and remain at liberty in the community without violating the law. When a parolee or conditional releasee violates their conditions of release, the parole officer may take the subject into custody with or without a warrant, and will typically return them to the nearest correctional facility. Parole Officers are usually assigned to area field offices, which are located in many of the major cities throughout New York State. Parole Officers have peace officer status statewide pursuant to Criminal Procedure Law § 2.10.

Commissioners

See also

References

  1. ^ Correction Law § 5(1). "There shall be in the state government a department of corrections and community supervision. The head of the department shall be the commissioner of corrections and community supervision[...]"
  2. ^ a b c d "DOCCS Fact Sheet August 1, 2022" (PDF). NYS Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. Retrieved August 23, 2022.
  3. ^ "State of New York Comprehensive Annual Financial Report" (PDF). State of New York Office of the Comptroller. Retrieved August 23, 2022.
  4. ^ "NYS Department of Corrections and Community Supervision". www.doccs.ny.gov.
  5. ^ Kate Lisa and Alex Gault (February 15, 2021). "New York reps criticize Corrections Department for closure of facilities". Livingston County News. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
  6. ^ Robert Harding (April 5, 2021). "NY budget allows Cuomo to expedite more prison closures". Retrieved April 26, 2021.
  7. ^ "NYS Department of Corrections and Community Supervision". www.doccs.ny.gov.
  8. ^ "Data" (PDF).
  9. ^ "Corrections statue section 121". New York State Senate. Retrieved August 6, 2016.
  10. ^ Timothy J. Gilfoyle (2006). A Pickpocket's Tale: The Underworld of Nineteenth-Century New York. W. W. Norton Company. ISBN 978-0393329896.
  11. ^ Joseph F., Spillane (May 9, 2014). Coxsackie: The Life and Death of Prison Reform. JHU Press. p. 48. ISBN 9781421413228. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
  12. ^ Pfeiffer, Mary Beth (October 2, 2011). "Analysis: NY Prison Population's Dramatic Drop". nbcnewyork.com. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
  13. ^ "Washington Correctional Facility". No. Prison Monitoring Report. Correctional Association of New York. January 12, 2011. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
  14. ^ Fine, Thomas (January 4, 1992). "NYC Offers to Resell Prisons". Syracuse Post-Standard. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
  15. ^ Oladipo, Gloria (August 20, 2022). "New York's ageing prisoners languish with poor medical care and little hope". www.theguardian.com. Retrieved August 20, 2022.
  16. ^ Spector, Joseph (May 9, 2011). "Study Shows NY Corrections Running 88% Capacity". corrections.com. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
  17. ^ Herbert, Geoff (December 22, 2020). "3 Upstate NY prisons to close in early 2021; nearly 1,000 jobs affected". syracuse.com. Retrieved June 7, 2021.
  18. ^ "DOCCS Fact Sheet April 1, 2021". NYS Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
  19. ^ "Federal Bureau of Prisons Program Fact Sheet". US Federal Bureau of Prisons. October 31, 2020. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
  20. ^ PREA Facility Audit Report - Taconic (Report). New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. November 11, 2021.
  21. ^ Campanile, Carl (January 19, 2022). "Hochul wants transgender inmates to choose where they're housed in prisons". New York Post. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
  22. ^ Sosin, Kate (July 23, 2019). "How A Women's Facility Gave This Trans Prisoner a Future". them. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
  23. ^ Directive - Incarcerated Individual Clothing Issue (PDF) (Report). March 2, 2022. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
  24. ^ "What You Need to Know About the Treatment of Transgender Persons in Custody". Legal Aid Society. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
  25. ^ a b c d New York State's Aging Prison Population - Share of Older Adults Keeps Rising (PDF) (Report). Office of the New York State Comptroller. January 2022. Retrieved August 23, 2022.
  26. ^ "2021 Financial Condition Report - Public Safety". Office of the New York State Comptroller. Retrieved August 23, 2022.
  27. ^ "Raise the Age". New York State Unified Court System. Retrieved August 23, 2022.
  28. ^ "2018 Annual Report Standing Committee on Correction" (PDF). New York State Assembly. December 15, 2018. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
  29. ^ https://doccs.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2019/12/facility-map-2019.pdf[bare URL PDF]
  30. ^ "DOCCS Fact Sheet November 2022" (PDF). NYS DOCCS. November 1, 2022. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  31. ^ Powell v. Ward, 542 F 2d. 101 (U.S. 17 Sept 1976).
  32. ^ a b "Mail and Packages". NYS DOCCS. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  33. ^ "State and federal prison wage policies and sourcing information". Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  34. ^ "" (Archive). New York State Department of Correctional Services. Retrieved on September 2, 2010. "Repeal regulations requiring death sentence warrants to be provided to the Commissioner and persons sentenced to death to be delivered to Clinton and Bedford Hills Correctional Facilities (death row)[...]"
  35. ^ "" (Archive). New York State Department of Correctional Services. Saturday January 16, 1999. Retrieved on September 2, 2010."Monroe County Sheriff's Department officers transported Mateo at 4:45 a.m. today to the maximum-security Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora in Clinton County, location of the Unit for Condemned Prisoners (UCP) who are male[...]The UCP at Clinton has been physically operable for use since August 31, 1995, the day before the death penalty law took effect, as has a similar three-cell UCP for females at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in Westchester County plus the single-cell death house at Green Haven Correctional Facility in Stormville in Dutchess County. Neither of the two latter units will be staffed until there are inmates on them."
  36. ^ "Department Receives First Death Penalty Inmate." New York State Department of Correctional Services. July 22, 1998. Retrieved on September 2, 2010.
  37. ^ Scott, Brendan. "GOV PULLS SWITCH ON DEATH CELL" (). New York Daily News. July 24, 2008. Retrieved on September 2, 2010. "The Department of Correctional Services has quietly struck from the books a 40-year-old rule that designated the upstate Green Haven Correctional Facility the state's "Capital Punishment Unit."[...] Although seven defendants were sentenced to death after then-Gov. George Pataki, a Republican, signed the law, the death house has never hosted an execution.[...]"
  38. ^ a b "DOCCS COVID-19 Report". Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. October 14, 2022. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  39. ^ a b Marcius, Chelsea Rose (July 23, 2022). "'It was a slap in the face': Prison visits expected to resume in August, but inmate families oppose new NYS guidelines". New York Daily News. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  40. ^ a b c Lisa, Kate (December 24, 2021). "DOCCS mandates COVID test, vaccination for visitors at state prisons". Livingston County News. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  41. ^ Schwirtz, Michael; Winerip, Michael; Gebeloff, Robert (December 3, 2016). "The Scourge of Racial Bias in New York State's Prisons". New York Times. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  42. ^ a b c "New York State Department of Correctional Services, NY". The Officer Down Memorial Page (ODMP).
  43. ^ Thompson, Heather Ann (2016). Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy. Pantheon. p. 207. ISBN 978-0375423222.
  44. ^ (PDF). New York: Bantam Books. 1972. p. 456 (digital page 496). OCLC 601935. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 4, 2012. Retrieved December 1, 2011.
  45. ^ a b "Correction Officer Trainee". NYS Department of Civil Service.
  46. ^ "NYS Department of Corrections and Community Supervision".
  47. ^ "Arrest without a warrant; by peace officer". NY State Senate. December 21, 2019.
  48. ^ "Justification; use of physical force in making an arrest or in preventing an escape". NY State Senate. December 14, 2019.
  49. ^ a b c "Powers of peace officers". NY State Senate. December 21, 2019.
  50. ^ "NYS Department of Corrections and Community Supervision".
  51. ^ New York Legislative Manual (118 ed.). Albany: The Secretary of State of New York. 1944. p. 630.

External links

  • New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision
  • Department of Corrections and Community Supervision in the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations
  • Department of Corrections and Community Supervision in Open NY <https://data.ny.gov/>
  • Department of Corrections and Community Supervision contracts on Open Book New York from the State Department of Audit and Control
  • New York State Department of Correctional Services (Archive)
  • New York State Jail Facilities by County
  • Corrections History Website
  • Inside the Walls- Corrections Documentary (NYS Correction officer video)

york, state, department, corrections, community, supervision, nysdoccs, department, york, state, government, that, maintains, state, prisons, parole, system, york, state, prison, system, encompasses, prisons, funded, state, government, this, does, include, oth. The New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision NYSDOCCS is the department of the New York State government 1 that maintains the state prisons and parole system The New York State prison system encompasses 44 prisons funded by the state government 2 This does not include other jails and prisons in New York State such as federal prisons New York City jails or county jails New York State Department of Corrections and Community SupervisionAbbreviationNYSDOCCSAgency overviewPreceding agenciesNYS Board of PrisonsNYS Division of Parole absorbed 2011 Employees18 200Jurisdictional structureOperations jurisdictionNew York United StatesGeneral natureCivilian policeOperational structureHeadquartersAlbany New YorkSworn members23 000Agency executiveAnthony J Annucci Acting CommissionerFacilitiesPrisons44WebsiteOfficial websiteFormer name NYS Dept of Correctional Services 1971 2011 New York State currently incarcerates approximately 30 900 incarcerated people and supervises approximately 28 200 parolees at seven regional offices as of 2022 2 The department employs a staff of approximately 27 650 individuals 3 including approximately 16 700 uniformed correction officers 2 Its regulations are compiled in title 7 of the New York Codes Rules and Regulations NYS DOCCS states that it is responsible for the care custody and treatment of the people held in the state prisons In response to falling crime rates and prison populations in New York State the department has closed a number of facilities since 2009 4 Since 2011 nearly 20 prisons have been closed with plans for additional facility closures based on the continued decline in the number of incarcerated individuals in the state 5 6 On April 1 2011 the New York State Division of Parole merged with the New York State Department of Correctional Services to form the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision 7 8 As of 2016 New York per state law did not contract with private prison corporations 9 Contents 1 History 2 Demographics 2 1 Population size 2 2 Gender distribution 2 3 Age distribution 2 4 Race ethnicity 3 State prison system characteristics 3 1 Facilities and communication policies 3 2 Work assignments 3 3 Death row 4 COVID 19 response 5 Correction Officers and Parole Officers 5 1 Mission and training 5 2 Power and legal authority 5 3 Parole Officers 6 Commissioners 7 See also 8 References 9 External linksHistory Edit Sing Sing Correctional Facility The New York State prison system had its beginnings in 1797 with a single prison called Newgate located in New York City A second state prison opened 20 years later in Auburn in 1817 and in 1825 a group of Auburn prisoners made the voyage across the Erie Canal and down the Hudson River to begin building Sing Sing in the village of Ossining New York Historians have not described the prison system of New York State in the 19th century in a favorable light with employment positions being awarded based on the spoils system employees being characterized as largely corrupt and the use of prisoners to gain favorable manufacturing contracts 10 The state commissioned architect Alfred Hopkins to design three major institutions built between 1933 and 1935 Wallkill Correctional Facility Woodbourne Correctional Facility and Coxsackie Correctional Facility All three were designed on progressive principles reflected a concern for aesthetics and a sense of place and had no surrounding walls or fences 11 That has changed Attica Correctional Facility Between its founding and the year 1973 New York had operated only 18 prisons After the new focus on prison administration brought by the Attica Prison riot in September 1971 and a new influx of prisoners created by the new stricter Rockefeller Drug Laws starting in 1973 the corrections system was forced to expand dramatically 12 Corrections acquired a number of older state owned properties from other agencies during the 1970s some with expansive acreage and Edwardian structures such as the Adirondack Correctional Facility in 1971 originally the Ray Brook Sanatorium founded in 1904 the Otisville Correctional Facility in 1976 on the grounds of a former tuberculosis sanitarium founded in 1906 and the Mount McGregor Correctional Facility in 1976 with a varied history since its opening in 1913 operated from 1969 through 1976 as the Wilton State School by the New York State Department of Mental Hygiene The growth continued in another way through the 1980s A huge prison construction initiative took the form of cookie cutter facilities fifteen different medium security installations such as Washington Correctional Facility in 1985 built with the same blueprints 13 the same dorms and mess halls as Franklin Mohawk Bare Hill etc Many of the 15 opened in 1988 Two of these Riverview and Cape Vincent were initially funded and owned by New York City to shuttle city prisoners by air as a way to address the city s jail overpopulation crisis 14 Demographics EditPopulation size Edit New York State prison population 1941 2022 The incarcerated population in New York State grew rapidly from the 1970 90s in line with the pattern of mass incarceration across the United States This trend reversed during the first two decades of the 21st century From its peak in 1999 at nearly 73 000 the total state prison population has fallen by more than 50 percent to fewer than 31 000 people as of August 2022 2 Although the total prison population has declined in recent years the proportion of prisoners over age 50 has increased greatly in that period 15 Rapidly declining numbers of inmates have led to prison closures and pressure to consolidate further In some rural communities this has meant a significant loss of jobs 16 17 But the number of prison officers employed by the department has declined much more slowly than the number of incarcerated people in the state by 17 since 1999 as compared to the 57 decline in incarcerated individuals through April 2021 18 For every officer employed by the state prison system there were 1 7 incarcerated people as of 2021 far below the 1999 ratio of 3 3 to 1 By comparison the US Federal Bureau of Prisons currently has an inmate to officer ratio of 7 5 to 1 19 Gender distribution Edit See also Incarceration of women in the United States and LGBT people in prison There are far more men than women imprisoned in New York state prisons about 1 in 20 incarcerated people are women 5 Three facilities are designated women s prisons Albion Bedford Hills and Taconic Correctional Facility Currently the department does not provide statistics on gender diversity to the public other than designation of facilities as male and female so the proportion of incarcerated people who are transgender or non binary is unknown However reports for the Prison Rape Elimination Act show that a number of prisons have transgender or nonbinary people among their populations 20 Recently NYS DOCCS has revised policies to reflect transgender and nonbinary people s gender identities In January 2022 New York Governor Kathy Hochul directed the prison administrators to let transgender people choose to be housed in a men s or women s facility and to give access to appropriate medical and mental health care 21 The New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision allowed the first transgender woman to transfer from a men s to a women s prison prior to gender reassignment surgery in 2019 22 Incarcerated transgender people have access to clothing based on gender identity although limited to binary male female options and to request that pat frisks be conducted by an officer of the gender that individual prefers although only honored by DOCCS when possible regardless of the gender designation of the prison 23 24 Age distribution Edit The population of New York State s prison system is aging as is the population of New York State and of the United States overall The average age of incarcerated people in the New York State prison system is 40 years old As of 2021 update up from 36 years in 2008 25 The proportion of incarcerated people over age 50 in NYS DOCCS facilities is nearly 25 as of 2021 double the proportion in 2008 26 There are a number of causes of the shift towards an older population 25 These include legislation that prohibits sending children under 18 years old to adult prisons Raise the Age law 27 declining rates of new incarcerations which typically are among younger segments of the population and population aging in the state nationally and globally Another factor is the Rockefeller drug law reforms of 2009 which contributed to significant declines in felony drug arrests indictments on felony drug charges and prison commitments for felony drug crimes from 2010 through 2019 25 5 The reforms amended the mandatory sentencing laws that had been in place for drug related crimes since 1973 25 Race ethnicity Edit See also Race in the United States criminal justice system As is true in the United States generally New York incarcerates people at different rates when examined using gender and racial ethnic categories As of 2018 according to the U S Census Bureau s categorization system about 48 of incarcerated individuals were Black or African American 25 White 25 Hispanic and a small number belonging to other categories In contrast the largest group in the overall state population is non Hispanic White Thus Black and Latinx Hispanic men are disproportionately likely to be incarcerated in the state 28 State prison system characteristics Edit class notpageimage Locations of state correctional facilities within New York See main List of New York state prisons 29 As of 2022 New York State maintains forty four state prisons down from sixty eight in 2011 30 By design inmates are moved with some frequency between prisons based on the belief that inmate staff friendships that might lead for example to drug smuggling by staff citation needed In part as a response to the Attica Prison uprising of 1971 a number of measures were taken to avoid future confrontations and reduce tensions between guards and prisoners All New York State correctional facilities have monthly meetings between elected prisoner representatives and the prison administration at which prisoners may present their concerns A grievance process was instituted by which prisoners may grieve any employee whom they feel is acting in violation of regulations citation needed Other prison uprisings occurred across the country during the 1970s spurred by poor prison conditions and demanding reforms At Bedford Hills Correctional Facility a maximum security women s prison the August Rebellion led to greater protection of the rights of incarcerated people in the United States Following the prison riot the women filed and won the class action lawsuit Powell v Ward The lawsuit ended in a legally binding pledge by prison guards to conduct disciplinary proceedings fairly and to only send truly mentally ill prisoners to psychiatric hospitals 31 Facilities and communication policies Edit Prisons are required to have law libraries and most prisons have a general library with a professional librarian Incarcerated people usually have a limited amount of time to be outdoors in the yard Incarcerated people have access to telephones which requires recording and monitoring of calls and some email access Calls can be made and emails sent only to pre approved numbers and addresses A prisoner lawsuit about 2010 citation needed reduced dramatically the very high charges per minute telephone service provider charged New York has instituted a package policy effective August 15 2022 that allows incarcerated people to receive only two packages per year from friends or family All other packages e g books clothes packaged foods and other allowed items must be purchased and shipped directly from vendors such as Amazon 32 The policy prohibits visitors from bringing gifts of any kind to the prison whereas visitors were allowed to bring gifts and drop them off at the package room in the past 32 Prisons generally have on their staff a chaplain and a rabbi and imam who usually visit several different prisons on different days of the week At some medium security prisons facilities for conjugal visits are available for carefully selected inmates including same sex married couples New York State is one of only four states with conjugal visits in 2014 They typically take place in trailers within the prison grounds and some spouses bring children along so sex offenders are not eligible for conjugal visits No women s prison in New York has conjugal visits citation needed Work assignments Edit See also Penal labor in the United States and Prison industrial complex Each prisoner is assigned a staff member counselor who assists inmates in navigating the complicated institutional and external program rules In addition to checking each inmate s telephone and email lists the advisor assigns each inmate a job which is typically paid at well under 50 Typically there are more inmate workers than work to do but policy is that every inmate in population the main class of inmates without special conditions must have a job citation needed Incarcerated people generally either work running or maintaining the facility or work for prison industries Facility jobs pay 10 26 per hour from 60 to 1 56 per day as of data from 2017 33 Death row Edit Main article Capital punishment in New York state Prior to the 2007 repeal of the death penalty the male death row was at the Clinton Correctional Facility and the female death row was at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility 34 The execution chamber was located at the Green Haven Correctional Facility 35 Previously inmates had been executed at the Sing Sing Correctional Facility 36 Capital punishment was banned following the U S Supreme Court s ruling declaring existing capital punishment statutes unconstitutional in Furman v Georgia 1972 but was reinstated in New York in 1995 when Governor George Pataki signed a new statute into law which provided for execution by lethal injection On June 24 2004 in the case People v LaValle the New York Court of Appeals struck down the statute as unconstitutional under the New York Constitution at the time only two individuals were under a sentence of death Although seven individuals were sentenced to death no one was executed and the Court of Appeals later commuted the sentence of the final individual under a sentence of death in New York on October 23 2007 in the case People v John Taylor In July 2008 Governor David Paterson issued an executive order requiring the disestablishment of death row and the closure of the state s execution chamber at Green Haven Correctional Facility 37 COVID 19 response EditDOCCS reports that 45 incarcerated individuals have died of COVID 19 as well as 18 DOCCS staff members and 9 people on parole a more difficult number for the department to track 38 The department reported 11 270 positive cases among incarcerated people and over 14 000 cases among staff as of October 2022 but due to lack of testing availability especially early in the pandemic these are underestimates of the true number of cases 38 Visiting at New York State prisons was completely suspended during the first months of the COVID 19 pandemic from March to August 2020 39 After reopening in August DOCCS imposed more restrictions on family and others visiting the prisons including two hour maximum visits a ban on physical touch and required pre registration 39 As COVID 19 cases surged in fall 2021 DOCCS imposed a requirement that visitors show proof of vaccination or a negative test result 40 DOCCS stated that they would provide test kits at facilities for visitors who arrived without proof of vaccination or a negative test result within the prior 48 hours 40 As of December 2021 approximately 70 of DOCCS staff reported that they had been vaccinated against COVID 19 and 52 of incarcerated individuals have been partially or fully vaccinated 40 Correction Officers and Parole Officers EditIn labor negotiations the officers are represented by the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association NYSCOPBA 41 The union has been vocal in its opposition to prison closures Professional Scientific and Technical Services Unit PS amp T Represent Parole officers Since 1861 28 New York state correction officers have died as a result of violence in the line of duty or a duty related illness e g tuberculosis 42 The last death by violence was in 1981 42 Eight others have died by accidents heart attack or other cause while working 42 In the uprising at Attica in 1971 forty three people were killed eleven were state workers eight guards and three civilian workers and thirty two incarcerated men 43 The majority of the deaths were caused by gunfire from law enforcement ten state workers and twenty nine incarcerated men were fatally shot 44 Mission and training Edit The current stated mission of NYSDOCCS is to provide for public protection by administering a network of correctional facilities that Retain inmates in safe custody until released by law Offer inmates an opportunity to improve their employment potential and their ability to function in a non criminal fashion Offer staff a variety of opportunities for career enrichment and advancement and Offer stable and humane community environments in which all participants staff and inmates can perform their required tasks with a sense of satisfaction To be eligible to work as a corrections officer in New York State individuals must be citizens of the United States at least 21 years old and have earned a high school diploma or equivalent 45 Recruits complete 12 months of training including eight or more weeks of formal training Recruits are paid to attend a paramilitary training program at the DOCCS Training Academy which includes taking courses in emergency response procedures interpersonal communications firearms unarmed defensive tactics and legal rights and responsibilities 45 They also undergo physical training to develop fitness strength and stamina There are physical qualification standards for becoming a corrections officer the trainees must be able to perform seven sequential job related tasks in two minutes and fifteen seconds or less Failure in any of the tasks results in the recruit failing to meet the agency qualification standards and accordingly being dismissed from the academy 46 Some correctional officers work in specialized units including Correctional Emergency Response Team CERT Crisis Intervention Unit CIU Hostage Rescue Team HRT Fire Brigade NYS Facility Firefighter Office of Special Investigations OSI Employee Investigation Unit EIU and D O C C S K 9 Unit Power and legal authority Edit New York State Correction Officers have peace officer status statewide under Criminal Procedure Law 2 10 this authorizes them The power to make warrantless arrests pursuant to Criminal Procedure Law 140 25 47 The power to use physical force and deadly physical force in making an arrest or preventing an escape pursuant to Penal Law 35 30 48 The power to carry out warrantless searches whenever such searches are constitutionally permissible and acting pursuant to their duties in accordance with Criminal Procedure Law 2 20 49 The power to possess and take custody of firearms not owned by the peace officer for the purpose of disposing guarding or any other lawful purpose consistent with his or her duties as a peace officer pursuant to Criminal Procedure Law 2 20 49 The power to issue certain summonses and appearance tickets when acting pursuant to their duties in accordance with Criminal Procedure Law 2 20 49 New York State Correction Officers are also authorized to carry firearms unrestricted off duty From highest to lowest title the command structure for correction officers and their civilian administrators is as follows Title InsigniaCommissioner Deputy Commissioner Superintendent Deputy Superintendent for Security Colonel Captain Lieutenant Sergeant Correction OfficerCorrection Officer TraineeParole Officers Edit New York State Division of Parole are law enforcement officers within the department who aid assist and supervise offenders released from correctional facilities to serve a period of post release supervision Parole Officers are responsible for providing public safety and community protection while working with community based organizations to deliver needed services and supervision to releasees Parole Officers perform both social work and law enforcement functions and work to develop a supervision plan for each releasee they also assess and evaluate the adequacy of each releasee s community adjustment and intervene when the releasee s behavior threatens that adjustment The parole officer in consultation with his or her supervisor determines when and under what circumstances delinquency action is warranted The parole officer works to ensure that individuals released from prison by order of the Board of Parole and by statute live and remain at liberty in the community without violating the law When a parolee or conditional releasee violates their conditions of release the parole officer may take the subject into custody with or without a warrant and will typically return them to the nearest correctional facility Parole Officers are usually assigned to area field offices which are located in many of the major cities throughout New York State Parole Officers have peace officer status statewide pursuant to Criminal Procedure Law 2 10 Commissioners EditAnthony J Annucci 2013 to present acting 50 Brian Fischer 2007 to 2013 Glenn S Goord 1996 to 2006 Philip Coombe Jr 1994 to 1996 Thomas A Coughlin 1979 to 1994 John A Lyons 1939 reappointed 1944 51 Raymond Francis Charles Kieb appointed 1927See also EditList of New York state prisons List of United States state correction agencies List of law enforcement agencies in New York ParoleWatchReferences Edit Correction Law 5 1 There shall be in the state government a department of corrections and community supervision The head of the department shall be the commissioner of corrections and community supervision a b c d DOCCS Fact Sheet August 1 2022 PDF NYS Department of Corrections and Community Supervision Retrieved August 23 2022 State of New York Comprehensive Annual Financial Report PDF State of New York Office of the Comptroller Retrieved August 23 2022 NYS Department of Corrections and Community Supervision www doccs ny gov Kate Lisa and Alex Gault February 15 2021 New York reps criticize Corrections Department for closure of facilities Livingston County News Retrieved April 26 2021 Robert Harding April 5 2021 NY budget allows Cuomo to expedite more prison closures Retrieved April 26 2021 NYS Department of Corrections and Community Supervision www doccs ny gov Data PDF Corrections statue section 121 New York State Senate Retrieved August 6 2016 Timothy J Gilfoyle 2006 A Pickpocket s Tale The Underworld of Nineteenth Century New York W W Norton Company ISBN 978 0393329896 Joseph F Spillane May 9 2014 Coxsackie The Life and Death of Prison Reform JHU Press p 48 ISBN 9781421413228 Retrieved September 3 2016 Pfeiffer Mary Beth October 2 2011 Analysis NY Prison Population s Dramatic Drop nbcnewyork com Retrieved September 3 2016 Washington Correctional Facility No Prison Monitoring Report Correctional Association of New York January 12 2011 Retrieved September 3 2016 Fine Thomas January 4 1992 NYC Offers to Resell Prisons Syracuse Post Standard Retrieved September 2 2016 Oladipo Gloria August 20 2022 New York s ageing prisoners languish with poor medical care and little hope www theguardian com Retrieved August 20 2022 Spector Joseph May 9 2011 Study Shows NY Corrections Running 88 Capacity corrections com Retrieved September 3 2016 Herbert Geoff December 22 2020 3 Upstate NY prisons to close in early 2021 nearly 1 000 jobs affected syracuse com Retrieved June 7 2021 DOCCS Fact Sheet April 1 2021 NYS Department of Corrections and Community Supervision Retrieved April 26 2021 Federal Bureau of Prisons Program Fact Sheet US Federal Bureau of Prisons October 31 2020 Retrieved April 26 2021 PREA Facility Audit Report Taconic Report New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision November 11 2021 Campanile Carl January 19 2022 Hochul wants transgender inmates to choose where they re housed in prisons New York Post Retrieved March 20 2022 Sosin Kate July 23 2019 How A Women s Facility Gave This Trans Prisoner a Future them Retrieved March 20 2022 Directive Incarcerated Individual Clothing Issue PDF Report March 2 2022 Retrieved March 20 2022 What You Need to Know About the Treatment of Transgender Persons in Custody Legal Aid Society Retrieved March 20 2022 a b c d New York State s Aging Prison Population Share of Older Adults Keeps Rising PDF Report Office of the New York State Comptroller January 2022 Retrieved August 23 2022 2021 Financial Condition Report Public Safety Office of the New York State Comptroller Retrieved August 23 2022 Raise the Age New York State Unified Court System Retrieved August 23 2022 2018 Annual Report Standing Committee on Correction PDF New York State Assembly December 15 2018 Retrieved April 26 2021 https doccs ny gov system files documents 2019 12 facility map 2019 pdf bare URL PDF DOCCS Fact Sheet November 2022 PDF NYS DOCCS November 1 2022 Retrieved November 17 2022 Powell v Ward 542 F 2d 101 U S 17 Sept 1976 a b Mail and Packages NYS DOCCS Retrieved November 17 2022 State and federal prison wage policies and sourcing information Retrieved November 17 2022 Repeal of Death Sentence Regulations Section 103 45 of 7 NYCRR Archive New York State Department of Correctional Services Retrieved on September 2 2010 Repeal regulations requiring death sentence warrants to be provided to the Commissioner and persons sentenced to death to be delivered to Clinton and Bedford Hills Correctional Facilities death row Inmate 99 B 0067 Archive New York State Department of Correctional Services Saturday January 16 1999 Retrieved on September 2 2010 Monroe County Sheriff s Department officers transported Mateo at 4 45 a m today to the maximum security Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora in Clinton County location of the Unit for Condemned Prisoners UCP who are male The UCP at Clinton has been physically operable for use since August 31 1995 the day before the death penalty law took effect as has a similar three cell UCP for females at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in Westchester County plus the single cell death house at Green Haven Correctional Facility in Stormville in Dutchess County Neither of the two latter units will be staffed until there are inmates on them Department Receives First Death Penalty Inmate New York State Department of Correctional Services July 22 1998 Retrieved on September 2 2010 Scott Brendan GOV PULLS SWITCH ON DEATH CELL Archive New York Daily News July 24 2008 Retrieved on September 2 2010 The Department of Correctional Services has quietly struck from the books a 40 year old rule that designated the upstate Green Haven Correctional Facility the state s Capital Punishment Unit Although seven defendants were sentenced to death after then Gov George Pataki a Republican signed the law the death house has never hosted an execution a b DOCCS COVID 19 Report Department of Corrections and Community Supervision October 14 2022 Retrieved October 14 2022 a b Marcius Chelsea Rose July 23 2022 It was a slap in the face Prison visits expected to resume in August but inmate families oppose new NYS guidelines New York Daily News Retrieved October 14 2022 a b c Lisa Kate December 24 2021 DOCCS mandates COVID test vaccination for visitors at state prisons Livingston County News Retrieved October 14 2022 Schwirtz Michael Winerip Michael Gebeloff Robert December 3 2016 The Scourge of Racial Bias in New York State s Prisons New York Times Retrieved December 4 2016 a b c New York State Department of Correctional Services NY The Officer Down Memorial Page ODMP Thompson Heather Ann 2016 Blood in the Water The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy Pantheon p 207 ISBN 978 0375423222 Attica The Official Report of the New York State Special Commission on Attica PDF New York Bantam Books 1972 p 456 digital page 496 OCLC 601935 Archived from the original PDF on June 4 2012 Retrieved December 1 2011 a b Correction Officer Trainee NYS Department of Civil Service NYS Department of Corrections and Community Supervision Arrest without a warrant by peace officer NY State Senate December 21 2019 Justification use of physical force in making an arrest or in preventing an escape NY State Senate December 14 2019 a b c Powers of peace officers NY State Senate December 21 2019 NYS Department of Corrections and Community Supervision New York Legislative Manual 118 ed Albany The Secretary of State of New York 1944 p 630 External links EditNew York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision Department of Corrections and Community Supervision in the New York Codes Rules and Regulations Department of Corrections and Community Supervision in Open NY lt https data ny gov gt Department of Corrections and Community Supervision contracts on Open Book New York from the State Department of Audit and Control New York State Department of Correctional Services Archive New York State Jail Facilities by County Corrections History Website Inside the Walls Corrections Documentary NYS Correction officer video Portals New York state Law Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision amp oldid 1141778183, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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