NORWICH – Judge Frank B. Revoir, Jr. sat down to discuss New York’s Shock Incarceration program. Revoir said that he used to dismiss offenders’ requests to enter the Shock program as an attempt to serve less prison time. After visiting a Shock facility last month, he changed his mind and now thinks the program has the potential to reform offenders. He plans to consider the Shock program as a sentencing option earlier in offenders’ criminal history, rather than only using it as a last resort.
“The Shock program is based on idea that a person can be rehabilitated. Those that developed and supported the Shock program accept and believe in this idea,” said Revoir. “The Shock program is often mischaracterized as simply a ‘boot camp,’ but it is a much more comprehensive program than that.”
The New York Shock Incarceration program was established in 1987. There are now four Shock Incarceration correctional facilities in the state of New York and one facility will be closed. The Shock program is a six-month rehabilitation program that includes 500 hours of physical training, 600 hours of a therapeutic approach to treating addiction, a minimum of 260 mandatory hours of academic education, and more than 650 hours of hard labor. Once inmates complete the program, they undergo six months of an intensive “After Shock” parole program in their county and continue to follow up parole supervision for the remainder of their sentence.
According to the Shock Incarceration Procedural Manual, any male or female inmate from the ages of 16 to 49 years old can apply to the Shock program if they meet the following criteria: they are physically and mentally qualified, this is their first sentence to State prison, they are within three years of parole eligibility and they are not serving a sentence for a violent offense.
“I think the reason that violent offenders are not allowed to enter the program is to ensure the safety of its participants. The other criteria for eligibility are based on who has the most potential to benefit from the program. Shock is not for everyone. It is one tool in the toolbox of effective strategies to reduce crime and protect the community,” said Revoir.
According the Shock Incarceration Procedural manual, the rate of return post-release continues to be less than 10 percent and a majority of inmates become more effective and never return to prison after completing the program. As of 2009, more than 39,497 inmates, including 2,884 women, have graduated from the program. The manual additionally states the Shock Incarceration program has saved the State of New York more than 13 billion dollars.
Judge Revoir said that the military discipline and training helps inmates to become more effective citizens. “Studies show that military obedience helps to improve inmates attention, promotes harmony with others in the community, develops them physically, quickens them mentally, and gives them clearer insight into the meaning and benefits of discipline,” said Revoir.
Inmates are required to carry a booklet entitled “S.M.A.R.T. Book” with the program’s guidelines, expectations and teachings. It is a helpful reminder of the values and skills the inmates are learning in the program.
Judge Revoir said that inmates enter the program in groups called “platoons” and spend seven days a week and most hours of each day with those same individuals until graduation. “They live, eat, sleep and train together,” said Revoir. He described a day in the life of a Shock program inmate’s seven-day week. He said that the inmate’s day begins at 5:30 a.m. and ends at 9:30 p.m. Their day starts with military calisthenics, drills, physical training and a two to three mile run. Next, inmates have seven hours of hours of intensive labor, including community service, landscaping, construction and maintenance of the facility they are incarcerated in.
