Violence in Mississippi prisons are on a downward trend

According to a post by the Mississippi Department of Corrections, violence is down in Mississippi prisons.

MDOC states that violence at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman is down by 52% according to year-over-year statistics.  The trends are measured using a “Rules Violation Report” (RVRs), which are filed for each infraction. When all the reports, both serious and minor, are totaled together, the total RVRs at Parchman showed a 63% decrease from 2019 to 2020.

The Central Mississippi Correctional Facility showed a 23% decline and an 8% decline at the South Mississippi Correctional Institute.

MCODC Commissioner Burl Cain was surprised at the trend, as the COVID-19 situation kept prisoners in continual lockdown.

“But this time,” said Commissioner Cain, “we started making major improvements in their living areas and they saw that the new regime was serious about cleaning up our prisons, making repairs, making the food better, and treating them better. We asked them to tell us what was wrong so they told us and we listened.”

“We are also working to get violence down by resolving inmate problems more peaceably,” stated Deputy Commissioner of Institutions Jay Mallet. “And we are better managing our prison populations by housing inmates in situations more appropriate to their classifications. That makes prisons safer.” Added Commissioner Cain, “In short, we are running Mississippi prisons like good prisons should be run and everybody’s benefitting as a result. Half of my inmate letters now –over a thousand- are thanking me for restoring order and safety. And we’ve just begun.”