New York City Department of Correction

New York City Department of Correction
Abbreviation	NYCDOC
Patch of the New York City Department of Correction
Shield of the New York City Department of Correction.
Flag of the New York City Department of Correction
Motto	New York's Boldest
Agency overview
Formed	1895
Employees	14,000
Legal personality	Governmental: Government agency
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdiction*	City of New York in the state of New York, USA
Map of New York City Department of Correction's jurisdiction.
Legal jurisdiction	New York State
Constituting instrument	New York City Charter
General nature	Law enforcement Civilian agency
Operational structure
Headquarters	Jackson Heights, Queens
Correction Officers	9,500
Commissioner responsible	Joseph Ponte
Agency executive	Martin Murphy, Chief of Department
Website
Official Site
Footnotes
* Divisional agency: Division of the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction.

The New York City Department of Correction (NYCDOC) is the branch of the municipal government of New York City responsible for the custody, control, and care of New York City's imprisoned population, housing the majority of them on Rikers Island. It employs 8,000 uniformed officers and 1,400 civilian staff, has 543 vehicles, and processes over 100,000 new inmates every year, retaining a population of inmates of between 13,000 and 18,000. Its nickname is New York's Boldest. Its regulations are compiled in title 39 of the New York City Rules. Previously located in Manhattan, the Department of Correction headquarters has now moved to the Bulova building in the northern section of Jackson Heights, Queens, minutes from Rikers Island. The agency is headed by the Correction Commissioner, who is chosen and appointed by the Mayor of New York City.

The New York City Department of Correction was first founded as a separate entity in New York City in 1895 after a split from the Department of Public Charities and Correction.Roosevelt Island, then called Blackwell's Island, was the main penal institution under the jurisdiction of the DOC until the 1930s when it was closed. The penal institutions moved to Rikers Island, which the city purchased for $180,000, where 10 prisons and 12,000 inmates are now held.

In 1995, the New York City jail system was one of the most violent in the United States, averaging more than 100 stabbings and slashings per month. Between January 1995 and January 2002, the department achieved a 93% reduction in inmate on inmate violence as a result of a management system recognized by Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, called Total Efficiency Accountability Management System (TEAMS). By 2007, the number of stabbings was reduced to 19, making that year the Department of Correction's safest on record, although the issue of underreporting of incidents has not been addressed.