California Model Violence in CDCR

For the past few months, The Toughest Beat has been attempting to inform people of the increase of violence inside of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) prisons. Using data from CDCR, The Toughest Beat has shown a regular increase of violence from inmates against staff inside of CDCR’s facilities. Although CDCR refuses to report honestly about the real living and working conditions for the inmates and staff inside of prison walls, we hope making this information available helps lead to positive change.

After making a few posts trending the rising staff threats from inmate violence, many readers asked to compare this data against California Model prisons. This was found troublesome as the California Model of prison management is ill defined, using catchwords to describe vague policies to make prisoner’s lives happier. Although some prisons officially stated they are using the California Model, many CDCR prison managers in non-effected prisons implemented programs/polices they think were aligned with the California Model. For example, non-California Model Prisons are using the Model as an excuse to have inmate BBQs and game days with inmates.

Recently, CDCR announced issue#1 of the California Model Magazine. This propaganda device is an attempt to push the California Model to more prison staff. The magazine touted eight prisons as already implementing the California Model. The Toughest Beat went to the CDCR report statistics to measure any impact the California Model had on these prisons. We found that inmate population decreased state-wide but the documented use of force incidents In California Model prisons increased, additionally staff attacks increased slightly. It should be noted, violence in CDCR increased in every aspect to include non-California Model prisons during the same period.

This chart took the averages of documented incidents in California Model prisons where staff were required to use force and documented incidents where staff were attacked by inmates. The prisons used for this average were SVSP, VSP, CCWF, COR, RJD, SAC, SATF, and SQRC. These prisons were advertised by CDCR as being in the California Model. The data did show a decrease in violence form July 2024 to August 2024, but an increase of violence overall.

It is hard to find an official start date for California Model prisons as the policies are being made-up as they are implemented. Governor Newsom did officially announce a commitment to the California Model on March 17, 2023. According to the propaganda California Model Magazine, SVSP, VSP, and CCWF were the first Model sites, with COR, RJD, SAC, SATF, and SQRC starting in May 2023. In January 2024, all CDCR staff were forced to have training on the California Model. This author also attended this training where no policy specifics were given, only a strong message to be nicer to inmates and give inmates more freedoms.

The writers of The Toughest Beat have been very critical of the illogical rollout of the “California Model” of prison management. California attempted to sell the California Model to make inmate’s lives better. Later, after some backlash, CDCR management is now pretending the California Model is to make staff lives better. The California Model of prison management is not based on any real criminological studies and developed by people who only used a biased idea of what they understood of the Norway Model. The bias behind the California Model is to give inmates more freedom and give inmates more fun activities. Despite the deception by CDCR management, no other real processes were changed by the California Model of prison management.

After some backlash from the public, some calling the California Model “Prisneyland”, CDCR executives attempted to re-brand the California Model. Instead of turning to science to see how to run a rehabilitation program, CDCR instead gave inmates more happy activities and told staff this is better for them. CDCR staff have been subjected to increased attacks by inmates with a management who does not care to address the issue. It appears many CDCR managers are afraid to implement necessary security measures as to not offend the California Model ideals.

CDCR is using fancy words to explain how Prisneyland is supposed to work. Words like “dynamic security” are used to give inmates more freedoms, “normalization” to make inmates happier in prison, “peer support” to allow inmates to earn good-time credits, and “trauma-informed organization” to give inmates an excuse when they injure staff. Although these California Model catchphrases sound researched, they are not implemented with any type of criminological necessity or scientific backing. The California Model of prison management is only a political toy which is allowing for more violence in prisons and a poke in the eye for the victims of crime.

Below is a chart showing the decrease of inmate population in CDCR and the steady increase in attacks on staff members inside the same prisons. The rising trend of violence uses the combined numbers of documents assaults and batteries on staff members divided by inmate population.