Phil in Paris
11-23-2004, 05:09 PM
November 9, 2004, 12:51 PM EST
ALBANY, N.Y. -- New York's "shock" incarceration program, which allows selected felons to serve shorter, program-intensive sentences, has saved the state more than $1 billion since its 1987 debut, prison officials reported Tuesday.
More than 31,200 prisoners have "graduated" from New York's shock camps in 14 years. Since shock programs shave time off prison sentences, officials estimate that New York saved $878 million in operating costs over that period.
The state avoided another $126 million in capital construction costs because the program alleviated the need for new prison beds, according to the state Department of Correctional Services.
New York runs shock programs at four sites for up to 2,820 nonviolent offenders a year. The highly regimented, six-month program includes military-style exercise, physical labor, academics and intensive substance abuse treatment. The program, which can reduce minimum sentences by up to 30 months, is designed to build character and self-esteem.
Slightly less than a third of shock graduates return to prison within three years of their release. That compares to a 40 percent recidivism rate among inmates who were eligible for shock but did not participate.
"Every study has shown that what we created has stood the test of time," Corrections Commissioner Glenn Goord said.
Felons must be under 40 years old and convicted of a nonviolent offense to be considered for the shock program. About two-thirds of inmates selected for the program graduate.
The state has 1,290 shock beds for men in camps at Lakeview, Monterey and Moriah and another 120 slots for women at Lakeview.
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ny--shockincarceratio1109nov09,0,3262159.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire
ALBANY, N.Y. -- New York's "shock" incarceration program, which allows selected felons to serve shorter, program-intensive sentences, has saved the state more than $1 billion since its 1987 debut, prison officials reported Tuesday.
More than 31,200 prisoners have "graduated" from New York's shock camps in 14 years. Since shock programs shave time off prison sentences, officials estimate that New York saved $878 million in operating costs over that period.
The state avoided another $126 million in capital construction costs because the program alleviated the need for new prison beds, according to the state Department of Correctional Services.
New York runs shock programs at four sites for up to 2,820 nonviolent offenders a year. The highly regimented, six-month program includes military-style exercise, physical labor, academics and intensive substance abuse treatment. The program, which can reduce minimum sentences by up to 30 months, is designed to build character and self-esteem.
Slightly less than a third of shock graduates return to prison within three years of their release. That compares to a 40 percent recidivism rate among inmates who were eligible for shock but did not participate.
"Every study has shown that what we created has stood the test of time," Corrections Commissioner Glenn Goord said.
Felons must be under 40 years old and convicted of a nonviolent offense to be considered for the shock program. About two-thirds of inmates selected for the program graduate.
The state has 1,290 shock beds for men in camps at Lakeview, Monterey and Moriah and another 120 slots for women at Lakeview.
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ny--shockincarceratio1109nov09,0,3262159.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire