The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) is a government agency of the State of Maryland that performs a number of functions,[1] including the operation of state prisons. It has its headquarters in Towson, Maryland, an unincorporated community that is also the seat of Baltimore County, Maryland, United States, located north of Maryland's largest city of Baltimore. Additional offices for correctional institutions supervision are located on Reisterstown Road in northwest Baltimore.[2]
| Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| Operations jurisdiction | Maryland, USA |
 | |
| Map of Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services's jurisdiction | |
| General nature | |
| Operational structure | |
| Headquarters | Baltimore, Maryland |
| Agency executive |
|
| Website | |
| [1] | |
Organizational units
Some of the agencies contained within the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services include:
- Criminal Injuries Compensation Board
- Division of Capital Construction and Facilities Maintenance
- Division of Correction
- Division of Parole and Probation
- Division of Pretrial Detention and Services (operates the former Baltimore City Jail - now the Baltimore City Detention Center and the pre-trial release programs in the city of Baltimore)
- Emergency Number Systems Board[3]
- Handgun Permit Review Board
- Inmate Grievance Office
- Internal Investigative Division
- Information Technology and Communications Division
- Maryland Correctional Enterprises
- Maryland Parole Commission
- Office of the Inspector General
- Office of Planning, Policy, Regulations, and Statistics
- Office of the Secretary
- Police and Correctional Training Commissions
- Public Information Office
- Sundry Claims Board
Facilities
| Name | Security Level | County |
|---|---|---|
| Baltimore Central Booking and Intake Center | Intake | Baltimore City |
| Chesapeake Detention Facility | Maximum | Baltimore City |
| Maryland Reception, Diagnostic, and Classification Center | Intake | Baltimore City |
| Metropolitan Transition Center | Medium | Baltimore City |
| Youth Detention Center | Maximum | Baltimore City |
| Name | Security Level | County |
|---|---|---|
| Baltimore City Correctional Center | Minimum, Pre-Release, Work Release | Baltimore City |
| Central Maryland Correctional Facility | Minimum, Pre-Release | Carroll |
| Dorsey Run Correctional Facility | Minimum, Pre-Release | Anne Arundel |
| Eastern Correctional Institution | Medium | Somerset |
| Jessup Correctional Institution | Maximum | Anne Arundel |
| Maryland Correctional Institution–Hagerstown | Medium | Washington |
| Maryland Correctional Institution–Jessup | Medium | Anne Arundel |
| Maryland Correctional Institution for Women | Minimum, Medium, Maximum, Pre-Release | Anne Arundel |
| Maryland Correctional Transition Center | Minimum, Medium, Pre-Release | Washington |
| North Branch Correctional Institution | Maximum | Allegany |
| Patuxent Institution | Maximum | Anne Arundel |
| Roxbury Correctional Institution | Medium | Washington |
| Western Correctional Institution | Maximum | Allegany |
Closed facilities
- Herman L. Toulson Correctional Facility - Jessup
- Jessup Pre-Release Unit - Jessup
- Maryland House of Correction - Jessup
- Brockbridge Correctional Facility - Jessup
Proposed facilities
- New Youth Detention Facility (Baltimore City)
- New Women's Detention Facility (Baltimore City)
Death row
The "Death Row" for men was in the North Branch Correctional Institution in Western Maryland's Cumberland area. The execution chamber is in the Metropolitan Transition Center (the former Maryland Penitentiary). The five men who were on the State's "death row" were moved in June 2010 from the Maryland Correctional Adjustment Center.[4] In December 2014, former Governor Martin O'Malley commuted the sentences of all Maryland death row inmates to life sentences.[5]
Black Guerrilla Family
In 2009, a federal indictment under the RICO Act charges that the Black Guerrilla Family gang was active in a number of facilities, including North Branch Correctional Institution, Western Correctional Institution, Eastern Correctional Institution, Roxbury Correctional Institution, Maryland Correctional Institution – Jessup, Maryland Correctional Institution – Hagerstown, Baltimore City Correctional Center, and Metropolitan Transition Center, and the Baltimore City Detention Center (formerly and also known as the Baltimore City Jail).
The gang had a statewide "supreme commander" as well as subordinate commanders in each facility. These leaders were assisted by other gang officials dubbed ministers of intelligence, justice, defense and education. These organizations enforced a code of conduct and smuggled contraband into the facilities.[6]
Another prison gang, this one of mostly white prisoners, known as "D.M.I." Dead Man Incorporated was founded in Maryland prisons in 2001 or 2002 as an offshoot of the Black Guerrilla Family.
Fallen officers
Since the establishment of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, five officers have died while on duty.[7]
See also
National: