The Georgia Department of Corrections has been asking gang leaders and dorm reps for solutions to prevent violence and murders inside state prisons.
We have some suggestions. The most effective way to reduce violence isn’t more lockdowns or harsher conditions—it’s fixing the underlying issues that drive prison violence in the first place.
Immediate Reforms to Reduce Murders in Georgia Prisons
1. Separate gangs from each other and from civilians. Housing rival gangs together is a recipe for violence.
- Housing rival gangs together guarantees violence. Gangs should be separated into different buildings, and eventually, different facilities.
- Separating gangs would immediately reduce the number of violent altercations and make it harder for them to maintain control over facilities.
- Non-gang-affiliated inmates (“civilians”) should never be housed with gangs where they can be extorted, assaulted, or forced into affiliation.
2. Provide daily recreation and yard time. Lack of movement builds aggression and increases fights.
- Inmates who are locked inside all day build frustration and tension, which leads to more fights. Allowing them structured time outside lets them burn off excess energy and aggression in a controlled environment, reducing stress and violence inside the dorms.
- If security is a concern putting multiple dorms on the big yards, then open the small yards.
3. Improve food quality and portions. Malnutrition contributes to aggression and desperation.
- Food impacts mental health, aggression levels, and overall well-being.
- Poor nutrition has been linked to increased aggression and impulsivity. Inmates who aren’t constantly hungry or sick from spoiled food are less likely to engage in fights or contraband trade just to survive.
- Providing nutritionally balanced meals that actually fill a grown man’s stomach would reduce tensions that fuel fights and violence.
4. Return the tablet program. It kept inmates occupied and out of trouble.
- Tablets were one of the most effective tools for keeping inmates occupied, reducing violence, and allowing productive use of time.
- Tablets gave inmates access to movies, music, and educational content, which helped pass the time productively. Inmates who are watching a movie in their room are not stabbing someone in the hallway.
- Don’t worry about jail-broken tablets, those are what kept the violence down during Covid-19, and the could help again. After all when tablets quit working or were taken by staff, inmates turned to cell phones anyway.
5. Enforce real consequences for murder and stabbings. Too often, these crimes go unpunished.
- Right now, inmates know they can get away with murder. Many who kill or stab others inside face no new charges or serious consequences. If inmates knew they would actually get more time or new charges for in-prison murders, it would act as a deterrent.
- Without real consequences, violence will continue unchecked.
6. Improve classification of violent offenders. Place them in Close Security Level 5 prisons based on behavior, not just DRs.
- The current system, which relies on a computer algorithm, isn’t working.
- Classification should be based on actual violent behavior, not just disciplinary reports.
- Prisoners who commit violence should be moved to Level 5 Close Security prisons and should remain there until they demonstrate otherwise.
- Georgia’s classification system is broken, relying on computer algorithms that don’t account for real violence. Someone with a minor DR or a DR from 5 years ago might get classified as a high-security inmate, while someone who has repeatedly stabbed others is placed in medium security. This system needs human oversight and a focus on actual violent behavior.
Long-Term Fixes to Reduce Overcrowding & Violence
7. End Triple Bunking in Medium-Security Prisons.
- Many Georgia prisons—especially medium-security facilities—are forcing three inmates into cells designed for one. This overcrowding leads to more fights, increased tensions, and dangerous living conditions. Reducing cell overcrowding will immediately improve safety, lower stress levels, and reduce violence.
8. Expand work and education programs. Idle time leads to more violence.
- Idle prisoners = violent prisoners. Work details, GED programs, and vocational training keep people busy and reduce recidivism.
- If inmates have a reason to stay out of trouble, they will. Work and education programs keep people busy and give them a reason to focus on their future instead of prison politics.
- Other states have successfully used work and education programs to reduce prison violence. Georgia should do the same.
9. Push the parole board to release older and low-risk prisoners. Overcrowding makes every issue worse.
- Overcrowding makes every single issue in Georgia prisons worse.
- Many inmates—especially elderly and long-serving offenders—should be released to ease the population crisis. Fewer people inside means fewer conflicts, fewer fights over resources, and a safer environment for both staff and inmates.
Conclusion
The murders will not stop until these fundamental problems are addressed. Instead of responding to violence after the fact, GDC leadership must take proactive steps to prevent it. The cycle of overcrowding, neglect, and gang control has created a system where violence is inevitable—but it doesn’t have to be.
These are real, actionable solutions cost little or nothing that would immediately reduce violence and killings inside Georgia’s prisons. Until changes like these are made, the bloodshed will continue.
