Right-Sizing Corrections in New York

• Author: Bert Useem
• Published date: 01 June 2010
• Date: 01 June 2010
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3818/JRP.12.1.2010.89
• Subject Matter: Special Issue on Sentencing and Corrections in the States

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Right-sizing Corrections in New York

Bert Useem

Purdue University

* Abstract

Over the last decade in New York State, the crime rate has declined, the rate of im-

prisonment has decreased, and violence behind bars has dropped. This essay examines

the role played by the state’s correctional agency in effecting these trends. The analysis

focuses on the agency’s efforts to right-size, to respond to circumstances with agility,

to maintain professionalism, and to use success to build success. Recent sentencing

reforms in New York are also considered.

JUSTICE RESEARCH AND POLICY, Vol. 12, No. 1, 2010

© 2010 Justice Research and Statistics Association

Sp e c i a l iS S u e o n Se n t e n c i n g a n d co r r e c t i o n S i n t h e St a t e S

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Over the last several decades, U.S. corrections harbored two ambitions. One was

to reel in crime. The national crime rate rose sharply beginning in the mid-1960s,

reaching a peak in 1991. In 1965, there were 200 violent crimes per 100,000

residents; in 1991, there were 758 violent crimes per 100,000. The violent crime

rate has since fallen more than halfway back to its earlier levels. According to the

Uniform Crime Reports (UCR), in 2008 there were 454 violent crimes per 100,000

(FBI, 2009). The property crime rate followed the same general pattern. A telling

statistic is that the United States now has a lower rate of property crime than does

England; it was the reverse in earlier decades (Wilson 2008, p. 477). The U.S.

prison buildup accounts for a signif‌icant portion of the crime decline, perhaps as

much as a quarter (Levitt, 2004; Spelman, 2008). The streets are safer.

A second ambition was the restoration of order behind bars. There were more

than 90 prison riots in 1972. By 2005, prison riots had become rare, almost to the

point of disappearing (Useem & Piehl, 2008, p. 94). The inmate homicide rate fell

from 54 deaths per 100,000 inmates in 1980 to 4 deaths per 100,000 inmates in

2003 (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2009). Staff killed by inmates decreased from 9 in

1982 to 2 in 1999, and 0 in 2000 and 2001. Prison suicide rates also dropped sharp-

ly. In 1980, there were 34 inmate suicides per 100,000 inmates. This rate decreased

to 16 suicides per 100,000 in 1990, and has remained stable. Prisons are safer.

These two crime declines, the f‌irst on the streets and the second behind bars,

suggest that corrections may be turning a corner. This essay examines the efforts

by corrections in New York (New York State Department of Correctional Services

(NYSDOCS) and the broader polity in New York concerned with crime and cor-

rectional policy) to execute this turn. What direction and how far has it gone, and

with what effect? First, three broad trends in New York will be considered: the

prison rate, the crime rate, and the rate of violence in prison. Then four distinctive

features of NYSDOCS will be considered. They can be summarized in terms of

the acronym RAPS: Right-Sizing, Agility, Professionalism, and Success-to-Success.

Finally, recent sentencing reforms in New York will be considered.

To frame the analysis more broadly, the course and consequences of U.S. correc-

tions can be analyzed at different levels of aggregation. One is the correctional sector

as a whole; a second level is specif‌ic correctional agencies; a third level is specif‌ic cor-

rectional institutions. Most work on U.S. corrections focuses on either the f‌irst or third

level. (For a recent exception, see Petersilia, 2008.) The lack of attention to the second

level is signif‌icant because correctional agencies exercise the core legal, administrative,

and f‌inancial authority for the care and custody of prisoners. The buck stops there,

within the constraints of Constitutional law. This essay seeks to help f‌ill the gap.

* Three Trends in New York State: Imprisonment, Crime, and

Prisoner Violence

Measuring the success of a correctional agency is inherently problematic, because

bottom-line indicators are a product of multiple processes and forces. For example,