NYC's Annual Cost Per Inmate Is $168,000, Study Finds

``The city paid $167,731 to feed, house and guard each inmate last year, according to a study the Independent Budget Office released this week... Michael P. Jacobson, the director of the City University of New York Institute for State and Local Governance and a former city correction and probation commissioner, said part of the reason the city's cost was so high was because it had a richly staffed system. "The inmate-to-staff ratio probably hovers around two prisoners for every guard," he said... The budget office said 83 percent of the expense per prisoner came from wages, benefits for staff and pension costs.'' -- Ah! So the NYC prison (and criminal justice system) is to a large extent a patronage/vote-buying outfit! Surprise... of course this sort of graft is now being recognized for its role in bankrupting cities across the country.