NCJ Number
130750
Date Published
1991
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This program audit describes how the New York State Department of Correctional Services (DOCS) currently manages inmate movement and assesses DOCS efficiency in implementing this task.
Abstract
The audit conducted interviews with DOCS officials, fieldwork, data verification and analysis, and a review of documentation. Issues analyzed were the cost of inmate movement, the adequacy of information for this function, and criteria for transfer decisions. The first section of the report discusses interfacility and local movement in terms of logistics and rationale for making these moves. The next section provides an overview of the costs associated with interfacility movement and admissions and then estimates the cost of all inmate movement. The final section discusses what DOCS has done to evaluate and improve its system and suggests directions for further analysis by DOCS. The audit concludes that DOCS currently has limited control over inmate transportation costs. Escalating costs result from an inefficient "on-demand" system of moving inmates. The audit recommends that the entire system be systematically reviewed from an operations-research perspective. Consideration should be given to increasing the centralization of the transportation function by using hub facilities more extensively. A rational framework for considering transportation problems would stimulate better planning and more capacity to project and control costs. 4 charts, 1 table, and an appended description of inmate-transfer procedures