Abbreviation NJDOC Population 8.899 million (2013) Number of volunteers 1,500 | Annual budget 1.076 billion (2013) Number of employees 24,000 | |
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Legal personality Governmental: Government agency Operations jurisdiction* State of New Jersey, USA Size 8,729 square miles (22,610 km) Headquarters Trenton, New Jersey, United States Motto Dedication, Honor, Integrity | ||
The New Jersey Department of Corrections (NJDOC) is responsible for operations and management of prison facilities in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The department operates 13 major institutions — seven adult male correctional facilities, three youth facilities, one facility for sex offenders, one women's correctional institution and a central reception / intake unit — and a Stabilization and Reintegration Program. The department is headquartered in Trenton.
Contents
- Departmental mission
- Bureaucratic structure
- Correctional officer training
- Other Officer Career Opportunities
- Jurisdiction and law enforcement authority
- Ranks
- Media campaigns
- Prison capacity and costs
- Death row
- References
The NJDOC's facilities house a combined total of 20,000 inmates in minimum, medium and maximum security levels. Approximately 1,200 inmates are incarcerated, and an equal number released each month. The median term for inmates is six years. 47% of inmates are serving terms of one-to-five years; 17% are serving terms of six-to-nine years; and 33% are serving maximum sentences of 10 years or more. As of January 2003, 984 offenders were serving life sentences, including 14 offenders under capital sentences (Note though that all of these have now been commuted; see New Jersey Capital punishment).
Departmental mission
The mission of the New Jersey Department of Corrections is to operate a safe, secure, and humane correctional facilities. The mission is realized through effective supervision, proper classification, appropriate treatment of offenders, and by providing services that promote successful reentry into society. The department's articulated goals are:
Bureaucratic structure
The Division of Programs and Community Services offers an array of institutional and community-based program opportunities for offenders, including community labor assistance, academic and vocational educational programs, recreational programs, library (lending and law) services, and substance abuse treatment. Other specialized services include victim awareness, chaplaincy services, county assistance quality assurance, liaison to Intensive Supervision Program and ombudsman services, which is a medium utilized by offenders to seek redress for problems and complaints. Additionally, the division contracts with private and nonprofit providers throughout the state to provide community-based residential treatment programs for offenders under community supervision. Public safety is enhanced through the development, coordination, administration and delivery of these institutional and community-based programs and services.
The Division of Administration is responsible for managing more than $880 million and employing nearly 10,000 persons, including 6,500 in custody positions to supervise approximately 27,000 inmates. The division provides administrative services to support the departmental mission in such major areas as Budget and Fiscal Management, Personnel, Policy and Planning and Information Systems.
The Division of Operations is responsible for 13 major institutions—11 adult male correctional facilities, one women's correctional institution and a central reception/intake unit—as well as a Stabilization and Reintegration Facility. These facilities collectively house approximately 27,000 inmates in minimum, medium, and maximum security levels. They are diverse and unique in their operations as well. For example, the maximum security New Jersey State Prison contains the state's Capital Sentence unit, for inmates under capital sentence. The Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center operates Corrections' rehabilitative program for habitual sex offenders. Northern State Prison contains the Security Threat Group Management Unit, which houses gang members considered a threat to the safety of the institutions and individuals. The Edna Mahan Correctional Facility, the state's only correctional institution for women, houses inmates at all levels of security.
Correctional officer training
Eligible Candidates will be appointed as Correction Officer Apprentice and will be required to satisfactorily complete a 16-week, in-residence NJ Police Training Commission course, at the Correctional Staff Training Academy. The Correctional Staff Training Academy conducts basic training for state correction officers, with instructors who are state certified. Training classes include arrest, search and seizure, use of force, criminal law, first aid/CPR, weaponry, un-armed defensive tactics, intensive physical conditioning, security concepts, human relations and professional development. Those who successfully complete the training program will be appointed as a correction officer recruit and will serve a one-year working test period. Upon satisfactory completion of the working test period, candidates will be promoted to senior correction officer and serve a four-month working test period. The academy training is divided into three areas of training:
Other Officer Career Opportunities
In addition to staffing 13 facilities throughout the state, the following positions are some of the career opportunities available to Senior Correction Officers within the Department of Corrections:
The Special Operations Group provides NJDOC facilities with the tactical and technical support that is required during a crisis situation. The unit is a liaison with the State of New Jersey’s Office of Emergency Management and maintains mutual aid agreements with local, state and federal law enforcements agencies.
The SID is responsible for investigations into violations of the laws of the State of New Jersey and violations of the administrative code for the NJDOC by inmates, employees and those individuals who visit NJDOC facilities.The SID is represented at each facility, where investigators not only conduct all criminal and some administrative investigations, but also act as NJDOC liaisons to all law enforcement agencies. SID investigators regularly conduct cooperative investigations in conjunction with federal, state, county and municipal law enforcement agencies, and are called on to provide expert witness testimony in state and federal courts on a regular basis.
Jurisdiction and law enforcement authority
New Jersey State Correction Officers, Parole Officers and Corrections Investigators are authorized to exercise peace officer powers statewide. With this authority, Correction Officers are required to enforce NJRS 2C (New Jersey Criminal Code) within the scope of their employment.
The New Jersey State Correction Officer is responsible, during an assigned tour of duty, to ensure the custody, safety and care of criminal offenders confined in State correctional facilities.
New Jersey State Corrections Officers are authorized to carry on duty the Heckler & Koch USP in .40 S&W. Correction Officers may optionally qualify to carry an authorized off-duty firearm. All off-duty firearms and ammunition must conform to the approved list provided by the New Jersey Department of Corrections.
Since the establishment of the New Jersey Department of Corrections, 24 officers have died in the line of duty.
Ranks
There are four sworn titles (referred to as ranks) in the New Jersey Department of Corrections:
Media campaigns
The New Jersey Department of Corrections established the "Be Smart Choose Freedom" television advertisement campaign in 2005. The State of New Jersey produced 30-60 second public service announcements to warn state residents against going to prison. The Mississippi Department of Corrections, the state corrections agency of Mississippi, decided to start its own "Be Smart Choose Freedom" campaign and use the commercials that aired in New Jersey. The NJDOC commercials were available in English, with one public service announcement also having a Spanish version.
Prison capacity and costs
According to the state budget for fiscal year 2016, the Department of Corrections has capacity to house 20,634 inmates and anticipates a daily average population of 18,894 inmates. It has 6,950 employees for a personnel ratio of 1 person for every 2.8 inmates. The state legislature appropriated $808.4 million to the Department of Corrections in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2014, of which $525 million was used in salaries and wages.
Death row
Prior to the 2007 repeal of the death penalty, the death row for men was in the Capital Sentence Unit (CSU) in the New Jersey State Prison. The same prison housed the death chamber, and the first death by electrocution occurred on December 11, 1907. This unit was first established in 1907. On December 17, 2007, Governor Jon Corzine signed a bill in which the New Jersey General Assembly passed which abolishes the death penalty, New Jersey became the first state to legislatively eliminate capital punishment since 1965. The day prior, December 16, 2007, Governor Corzine commuted the death sentences of the remaining eight men on death row to "life imprisonment without parole".