# A Simple Message for the GDC > 🚨 Want to immediately reduce violence in Georgia prisons? Separate gangs, bring back tablets, provide daily yard time, end triple bunking, fix the food, and indict in-prison murders. Until this happens, the bloodshed will continue. #PrisonReform  **Published**: 2025-02-03 **Source**: https://gps.press/a-simple-message-for-the-gdc/ **Author**: Admin --- 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.**