A.T. Wall, director of the R.I. Department of Corrections, has been named as the Outstanding Director of Corrections for 2008 by the Association of State Correctional Administrators. Wall – who served as the department’s assistant director for policy development, and later was promoted to assistant director of administration, before being named director – is the third-longest tenured director in the country.
PBN: What has motivated you throughout your career?
WALL: Throughout my career, I have been motivated by the challenge of the following problem: What to do with people who have trouble abiding by the law. The answer is a combination of providing public protection through incarceration and supervision, and also the provision of programs to assist offenders in becoming productive and law-abiding citizens. My work has been dedicated to striking the right balance among these interests.
ISO 9001:2026: A Practical Opportunity to Build for What’s Next
For Rhode Island manufacturers, ISO 9001 has been much more than a certificate on the…
Learn More
PBN: What would you say was the height of your accomplishments?
WALL: In corrections, we often measure success by what doesn’t happen.
During my tenure as director, I am proud that our system has seen no disturbances, no successful escapes from secure facilities, no homicides of staff or inmates and no intervention in our operations by the federal courts. It is a record that is the envy of many states. While I receive credit, the real success is that of our staff.
PBN: You previously served as assistant district attorney in Manhattan and director of the Manhattan Community Service Sentencing Project for the The Vera Institute of Justice. Was working within the Manhattan correctional system different from Rhode Island’s?
WALL: The most significant difference was in the numbers.
New York City’s main jail at Riker’s Island housed some 23,000 inmates at the time and the courts worked around the clock every day of the year simply processing cases. In contrast, our overall inmate population here in Rhode Island is about 3,900 inmates on any given day.
Meaningful interventions were very difficult to achieve with such an enormous volume of people. …
In addition, the culture of New York is different than that of Rhode Island. It tends to be more confrontational and in-your-face, whereas here in Rhode Island, my native state, it is easier to problem solve through relationships and collaboration. •
