Why NYC Blew $59K on Video Games for Prisoners

Recent news about the city's splurging on video games for inmates left many scratching their heads.Photo by(The author)

The city's Department of Correction spent almost 60K on video games

New York City — Wise indeed was whoever first said, "the more you live, the more you learn to 'expect what you don't expect.' "

Upon first hearing news NYC's Correction Department used a whopping $59,260 in taxpayer cash on prisoners, most think it's for "maintenance" on the prison.

Wrong!

According to a report, such funds were used to buy new “Playstation 4 and 5” games. Why? Quite simply, to keep the inmates in line.

Of the 1,247 games purchased, surprisingly dozens of copies included bloody fighting games. Mortal Kombat, in particular, is one of the most gruesome video games in history.

At the end of each match, Mortal Kombat's gameplayers are instructed to "finish" the opponent with a "fatality kill."

"How to dominate your enemies in the most creative way possible," a gamer writes about the Mortal Kombat experience. "Mortal Kombat is known for being disgusting."

In short, if the video games truly do "encourage good behavior among the inmates," especially among the more violent ones, perhaps the story isn't as "ridiculous" as it initially sounds.

As one officer puts it: by controlling who gets to play, we're "definitely holding the carrot over” inmates’ heads to get them to cut down on senseless violence.