By Michele Evans
The debate over the word inmate is back in the headlines after New York City’s Board of Correction proposed removing the term from its rules in favor of phrases like person in custody. Supporters argue that person-first language is more respectful and less stigmatizing. The proposal continues a policy shift that has already spread through New York State government.
On paper, that sounds compassionate.
In practice?
The reality inside New York City’s jails tells a very different story.
I Heard Something Worse
During my years incarcerated on Rikers Island, I heard correction officers use radio terminology that made my stomach turn.
Instead of saying an inmate was being moved, officers would announce:
“Your package is ready.”
A package.
Not a person.
Not a human being.
A package.
That wasn’t a one-time slip. It was part of everyday jail operations.
The irony is impossible to ignore.
We’re told the word inmate is offensive because it strips away humanity.
Yet reducing a living person to an object that can be picked up, delivered, and moved around like freight is somehow considered acceptable?
If given the choice, I would rather be called an inmate than a package every single day.
Words Matter—But So Does Reality
Changing regulations and rewriting policy manuals is easy.
Changing institutional culture is hard.
If government agencies truly believe language shapes dignity, then they should examine every word used inside their own facilities—not just the ones that appear in public documents.
Calling someone a “person in custody” in an official report means very little if, over the radio, that same person becomes “a package.”
That’s not progress.
That’s rebranding.
The Conversation We Should Be Having
The public debate has become fixated on one word: inmate.
Meanwhile, far more degrading language—and far more serious problems—receive little attention.
People in custody continue to face violence, understaffing, inadequate medical care, mental health crises, and dangerous living conditions. Those realities cannot be solved by editing a rulebook.
Respect isn’t measured by vocabulary alone.
It’s measured by how human beings are actually treated.
Don’t Confuse Semantics With Reform
If officials want to replace inmate with person in custody, that’s their choice.
But don’t pretend the work ends there.
Because if someone can still be reduced to “a package” over the radio, the system hasn’t become more humane.
It has simply found a different word to hide behind.
Author’s note: The account of hearing people referred to as “packages” over correction department radio communications is based on my own firsthand experience while incarcerated at Rikers Island.
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