Deuel Vocational Institution
Encyclopedia
Deuel Vocational Institution (DVI) is a state prison located in unincorporated
San Joaquin County
, California
, near Tracy
.
Today the primary purpose of DVI is to serve as a reception center for newly-committed prisoners to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
from northern California county jails. The facility also houses a small number of minimum- and low-security inmates (classified by CDCR as levels I and II) and provides some Prison Industries Authority (PIA) facilities at a dairy and a furniture fabrication plant. As of January 2006, the total count of prisoners at DVI was 3,748, with 3,162 of that number assigned to the reception center.
As a result of DVI's primary function as a reception center, in which a large number of felons of different propensities for violence, disciplinary and security issues pass through before being classified and transferred to other facilities, DVI has a long-standing reputation for being violent and dangerous. The facility used to be referred to as "gladiator school" by inmates and staff, because the DVI was widely known for the fights and homicides that took place within the prison walls.
As recently as June 2010, an inmate murder in the facility has been recorded.
DVI also has a 110-inmate farm and operate a 1200 cow dairy. They grow cattle grain and supply milk to other state prisons and tax supported public agencies.
Unincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...
San Joaquin County
San Joaquin County, California
San Joaquin County is a county located in Central Valley of the U.S. state of California, just east of the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2010 census, the population was 685,306. The county seat is Stockton.-History:...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, near Tracy
Tracy, California
Tracy is the second most populated city in San Joaquin County, California, United States and an exurb of the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 82,922 at the 2010 census.-History:...
.
Facilities
DVI opened in 1953 and named for the late California state senator Charles H. Deuel who sponsored legislation establishing the institution. The facility has been expanded and reorganized several times, in 1959, 1981 and 1993. Its current head warden is S. M. Salinas.Today the primary purpose of DVI is to serve as a reception center for newly-committed prisoners to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is responsible for the operation of the California state prison and parole systems. CDC&R is the second largest law enforcement or police agency in the United States behind the New York City Police Department which employs approximately...
from northern California county jails. The facility also houses a small number of minimum- and low-security inmates (classified by CDCR as levels I and II) and provides some Prison Industries Authority (PIA) facilities at a dairy and a furniture fabrication plant. As of January 2006, the total count of prisoners at DVI was 3,748, with 3,162 of that number assigned to the reception center.
As a result of DVI's primary function as a reception center, in which a large number of felons of different propensities for violence, disciplinary and security issues pass through before being classified and transferred to other facilities, DVI has a long-standing reputation for being violent and dangerous. The facility used to be referred to as "gladiator school" by inmates and staff, because the DVI was widely known for the fights and homicides that took place within the prison walls.
As recently as June 2010, an inmate murder in the facility has been recorded.
DVI also has a 110-inmate farm and operate a 1200 cow dairy. They grow cattle grain and supply milk to other state prisons and tax supported public agencies.