CA News

Revisiting Shock Incarceration: CA Releases Report Detailing Conditions at Lakeview Correctional Facility

September 2008

The CA’s Prison Visiting Project (PVP) has just published a new report detailing conditions at Lakeview Correctional Facility, a minimum security prison located 50 miles outside of Buffalo and about a quarter mile from Lake Erie.  The CA last visited the facility in 1996, noting then, as we did this time around, that Lakeview is not your average state prison.  So, what exactly makes this facility so different?

‘Shock Factor’ Sets Lakeview Apart
Shock Incarceration is a controversial, “boot-camp” style incarceration program that offers eligible inmates the option to reduce their prison sentences to six months.  The Shock program emphasizes substance abuse treatment, discipline and education in the context of a military-style environment and therapeutic community.  Lakeview is one of four Shock facilities in New York State, which has the largest Shock Incarceration program in the country.

Highlighted Findings
PVP’s Visiting Committee returned to Lakeview to reevaluate its 1996 findings and make new recommendations.  Overall, PVP found the conditions at Lakeview to be positive, with a staff that is highly dedicated and committed to the Shock program’s mission.  Inmates, in large part, benefit from the intensive programming and many affirmed their appreciation for the program’s rehabilitative components.  However, the Project was concerned about the apparent high level of physical and verbal confrontations between staff and inmates and among inmates, which exceeds that of many other facilities.  PVP also noted that inmates who were not accepted into or declined the Shock program would often wait months in the prison’s “Annex” before transferring to another facility.  Programs in the Annex were limited, leading to a significant degree of idleness and adversely affecting inmates’ ability to earn early release.

Monitoring Report
As with all its monitoring reports, PVP presented its finding to the facility’s superintendent and administrators, to New York State Department of Correctional Services officials, and to state legislators.  Based on PVP’s recommendations, Lakeview has already substantially reduced the Annex’s population, thereby effectively addressing the idleness problem we identified.  In drawing attention to both positive and negative aspects in New York’s prisons, such reports provide a means of improving conditions and programs and promoting best practices at individual facilities and system-wide.

Click here to download full report