RT America -- January 14, 2015

After several weeks of a work ‘slowdown’ by the New York City Police Department, the city is out nearly $10 million just from parking tickets that were not issued. To fill their coffers now that work has resumed, however, administrators are reportedly issuing quotas to police, requiring officers to ramp up their efforts and bring in more money through tickets and fines, else they will not be given promised vacation days and other benefits. RT’s Alexey Yaroshevsky takes a look at New York’s efforts to extract as much money as possible from its citizens.

For-profit prisons have created a “neo-slavery” in the US, according to award-winning journalist Chris Hedges. Inmates work eight hours per day for major corporations such as Chevron, Motorola, Nordstrom’s and Target, yet only have the possibility of making up $1.25 an hour. In addition, companies that provide services like phone calls overcharge prisoners on even the most basic services, making hundreds of millions in profits annually. RT’s Ben Swann speaks to Hedges, who explains how this shadowy system came into existence.