Prison Inmates in New York Treated to Pizza When They Behave Well

The inmates of New York’s Rikers Island prison have a big incentive to behave well and not fight amongst each other: They receive slices of Dominos pizza when they play nice.

Two dozen pizzas were reportedly delivered to the Otis Bantum Correctional Center, which houses the city’s 400 worst prisoners in its “Central Punitive Segregation Unit,” according to The New York Post.

The pizza came from a nearby Domino’s in New York’s Queens district and, according to the prison’s correctional department, cost about $400 and provided two slices to each of the 75 inmates who “reached a key milestone” in a “work skills program.” 

Spokesman Peter Thorne said, “We gave a couple of slices each to inmates participating in a program that helps reduce violence. And we’d do it again, because these programs are working.”

However, not everyone was thrilled about feeding pizza to prisoners for not beating each other up.

A Rikers union leader criticized the move, saying, “I’m not a fan of rewarding inmates when they don’t beat the crap out of one another.”

Patrick Ferraiuolo, president of the Correction Captains’ Association, also said the door-to-door delivery violated the rules at the infamous prison and amounted to contraband.

The official figures, however, show that serious attacks on Rikers correction officers have gone down 65 percent from 92 to 32 annually since 2014.