MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) – Inmate homicides are on the rise in Alabama’s prisons despite a national spotlight on its corrections system and an acknowledgement of the state’s crisis behind bars, according to numbers from the Alabama Department of Corrections.
Prison system statistics show 11 inmate-on-inmate homicides in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. That is more than any recent year – including the previous year, with seven reported – according to prison system reports.
The numbers do not include recent deaths announced by the department and two inmates who died after altercations with officers in incidents that prompted internal investigations.
The rise in inmate homicides comes despite a national spotlight on Alabama prisons and state officials’ promises for improvement. The U.S. Department of Justice this spring threatened to sue the state over its violent prison, and a federal judge ordered the state to add a many as 2,000 corrections officers.
Alabamians for Fair Justice, an advocacy group that includes inmate family members, told department officials earlier this month that the state has offered words, not substantial action, while deaths mount. The group sent a letter to the department seeking outside observers on a new internal task force on prison violence.