Police Think Pink Holding Cells Make Inmates Passive

Why bother spending money on books and checkerboards to keep prisoners calm? The Police Department thinks pink is the answer.

The Police Department painted its drab, battleship-gray holding cells a shade that resembles a glossy version of Pepto-Bismol. Research indicates the rich pink color cools prisoners’ aggression.

“I thought it was supposed to be a combination of bubble gum and pencil-eraser pink,” chief of detectives Philip A. Ramunno said. “But it was more pink than that. It got my dander up when I saw it, but it should calm everyone else down.”

A study by the American Institute for Biosocial Research said several inmates placed in a pink holding cell in San Jose, Calif., showed no aggressive behavior.

The research also included examples of young criminals reduced to tears inside the soothing pink walls.

Buffalo’s cell walls were repainted last week. It is too soon to tell if the new color has any effect.

“If it helps calm the prisoners, that’s fine with me,” Police Commissioner R. Gil Kerlikowske said. “And if it shames them, that’s OK, too.”