Prisoners are also people: in New York prisons, convicts will be obliged to call by name
'13.10.2019'
Source: nydailynews.com
In New York, corrections officers will not be allowed to call prisoners slang words like “package” or “body,” according to a new decree aimed at creating a “culture of mutual respect” in city prisons. This publication writes Daily News.
In an order sent out on October 8, DOC head Hazel Jennings said prison staff should "refrain from colloquial terminology when referring to people under our care."
Instead, prison staff will be required to name prisoners by name or preferred pronoun.
“This announcement reinforces existing policies and advances our goal of creating a culture of mutual respect. This is part of our ongoing commitment to making our prisons national models for modern correctional practice, ”said DOC spokesman Peter Thorne.
City council member Keith Powers also praised the rule change.
“This is a small but encouraging step to humanize detainees,” he said. "The policy reflects the legislation that I introduced this month that requires inmates to be named - we're talking about people here."
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At the same time, some correctional staff do not welcome the change. One of them said that calling prisoners “packages” or “bodies” “does not dehumanize. It's just radio etiquette. ”
And the head of the Association of Charitable Workers of Correctional Facilities, Elias Husamudin, said that the new procedure is “redundant”, since employees are already addressing employees by their names.
“What worries us is the city council's apparent emphasis on growing kinship rather than addressing prison violence, which the administration has reported has increased significantly over the past year,” Khusamudin said.
The prisoners' lawyers, on the other hand, welcome the new policy.
“It has been a long time and we thank New York City Council for taking decisive action on this critical issue,” said Tina Luongo, attorney in charge of criminal defense practice at the Legal Aid Society. "We now urge NYPD and court officials to do the same."
