CorrectionsOne Columnist Articles

The economics of contraband: Systems and specialist

Joe Bouchard — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 22:37:32 UTC

Corrections professionals are increasingly preoccupied with the economics of budgeting. But while our own operational and fiscal concerns run deep, very few consider the underground economy of prisoners. How does it all work? What can we do to increase safety amid the overwhelming forces of supply and demand? The underground market is far more complex than the individual activities performed by unconnected ...

Successful steps to a career in correctional leadership

Cpl. Warren E. Price — Tue, 9 Mar 2010 22:34:00 UTC

How building strong professional relationships can help you achieve career goals

Dirty deeds: How to catch corrupted staff members

Barry Evert — Tue, 2 Mar 2010 22:43:32 UTC

Inmates know how to spot corruptible prison staff... but do you?

Speed, power, and repetition: Successful physical skills training

Capt. Perry Mendenall — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 23:09:11 UTC

I don�t fear the man who knows 10,000 techniques, but rather the man who practices one technique 10,000 times."

He's faking it: How to spot inmates' invented illnesses

Lorry Schoenly, PhD, RN, CCHP — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 21:43:57 UTC

An inmate in segregation calls out for help. He is having trouble breathing. The corrections officers and even the nurse on duty think he’s faking and do not respond. Not long after, he is dead on arrival at the local hospital. Now everyone’s job is on the chopping block. Faking illness, also called malingering, is a real issue in your corrections work life. How do you respond appropriately ...

2 things to avoid in prisoner hospital visits: Complacency and Pepper Spray

Joel Lashley — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 23:04:26 UTC

When it comes to maintaining the security of your patient prisoner, no one can do it for you - not the hospital security staff, the nurse, an EMT or anyone else. A prisoner in your care and custody is your sole responsibility. Here are some tips for getting it right everytime.

Prison gang codes: Looking beyond the graffiti

Gary S Klivans — Tue, 2 Feb 2010 22:50:41 UTC

Officers working in a Virginia correctional facility found fifteen pages of an encoded document. One of the pages contained the picture below (Illustration #1).Illustration #1:Because the picture had notes indicating 166th Street, Bronx, NY, the material was forwarded to the New York City Police Department (NYPD). They sent it to me. As you look at the picture you may also see what appears to be “cross ...

The correctional officer fast track to the E.R.

John Stanley — Tue, 2 Feb 2010 21:51:27 UTC

Every rookie officer knows that their chances of being home for the holidays are remote. Unless, of course, you get your face busted up on Christmas Eve

Why and when to review your facility policies

Marty Drapkin — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 23:14:43 UTC

Review of jail or prison policies and procedures is a critically important element of correctional management. But it can also be a complex and overbearing process that, if mishandled, can lead to devastating mistakes.This article will look at why certain policies deserve more attention than others, when to review them and how to best execute the review process.Why you should review policies The main ...

Corrections professionals need time for themselves

Laura E. Bedard, Ph.D. — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 23:40:04 UTC

We work amongst the worst of the worse; surrounded daily with negativity. We listen to the despair of the inmates and the complaints of the staff. We need a vacation!

The wrong way to break up a fight

Rory Thelen — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 23:10:39 UTC

An inmate at the end of the line of 7 noticed that there were only 6 servings of strawberry shortcake left. Next thing I knew, it was on: Both inmates were standing toe to toe, swinging away at each other.

Striking shields: An impact training necessity

Gary T. Klugiewicz — Wed, 6 Jan 2010 19:38:08 UTC

Striking shields enable safe and effective simulation training. Although often misunderstood and underutilized, striking shields will speed training, improve confidence, and add to the overall quality of your training program.

Breaking rules to change criminals: Does the end justify the means?

Dr. Bruce Bayley — Tue, 5 Jan 2010 22:57:19 UTC

What is ideologically more important to you, the processes used to solve an issue or the end result?

Innocents are victims when perpetrators aren’t held to account

Bob Walsh — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 20:15:52 UTC

A World War II veteran named Isaac Hudson should be alive today, but he isn’t.Although 20-year-old Arthur Lee Clark Jr. (aka A.J.) was no stranger to the wrong side of the law, for years he kept slipping through the fingers of the system until, finally, fatally, it was too late. Why wasn’t he locked away earlier? Was it a really stupid system? Was it really stupid judges? Well, here are ...

Understanding overcrowding: Looking at the past to make sense of the future

Luke Whyte — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 20:18:06 UTC

We all know prisons are crowded and budgets are tight. The question now is: Why did this happen and how do we fix it?

The Tipping Point: How can community corrections possibly handle more cases?

Brad Drown — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:12:08 UTC

It is frequently assumed by politicians � and much of the public � that although it costs a lot of money to house an inmate, it will cost very little to supervise that same inmate in the community. But is this really true? ...

Tactical empathy: Safety is all in the approach

Dr. George Thompson — Tue, 6 Oct 2009 22:34:38 UTC

The greatest human act, I think, is to change someone’s mind so that you change their behavior for the better. Peace officers do that routinely and never think much about it! In 1983 I wrote my first book, Verbal Judo: Word as a Force Option (Charles C. Thomas), because I had discovered as an officer on the streets that the greatest “rhetoricians” in the country are correctional and ...

Playing offense: Contraband phones as a tool not a threat

Bill Teel — Wed, 5 Aug 2009 15:32:40 UTC

What if we could use contraband phones against them?

This article looks at how the field of mobile device forensics could use contraband phones to solve crimes

Why cell phone jamming alone won't win this war

Terry L. Bittner — Wed, 5 Aug 2009 15:30:43 UTC

The growing problem of cell phones in prisons is one of the most alarming issues in modern criminal justice.

The trouble, however, is that signal jamming simply isn�t the long-term answer

What will the budget crisis ultimately mean?

Robert Hood — Tue, 7 Jul 2009 21:49:54 UTC

Part II of C1's exclusive interview with ex-'Supermax' warden Robert Hood:

With costs so high, budgets so low and cell blocks so full, something has got to give. The questions is, what?

Who should be padded up with protection?

Dave Young — Tue, 7 Apr 2009 21:24:50 UTC

All too often I hear about administrations that care more for their public image than for their officers� safety. This is a dangerous mistake.

Frequently, officers on the floor will recognize the need for personal protection when administrators cannot. And the bottom line is officer safety should always come before public relations

Prisoner transports, officer safety & liability issues

Dr. Darrell L. Ross — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 13:37:01 UTC

Regardless of the purpose, transporting a prisoner can be a potentially dangerous assignment for police or correction officers and adherence to proper safety protocols are obviously critical. While a majority of prisoner transports are accomplished without incident prisoners have escaped killing or injuring an officer, injured themselves or been killed, and harmed or killed innocent citizens.

A guide to personal survival basics, Part 2: Countermeasures

John D. Williams — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 19:39:37 UTC

By John Williams, LASD
Understanding your strengths and your opponent's weakness are crucial to success. There are many elaborate systems of defensive techniques involving complicated wrist locks, holds, and such. But for officers with limited practice time and physical skill, what's offered next is much more practical for situations where you are a victim of a surprise assault.

Keeping the 'God Complex' at bay

Tracy Barnhart — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 20:21:19 UTC

Sometimes when I read headlines from the world of corrections in a local newspaper, I’ll think to myself, What drives an officer to use force excessively or unnecessarily? I remember when I was young talking to my grandfather about life during the Great Depression. These discussions were fascinating, but one particular story stuck with me. Back then, whenever a man came and knocked on the door ...

Are we breeding a police culture of “additional victims?”

Charles Remsberg — Sun, 22 Oct 2006 21:48:13 UTC

Part 1 of a 2-part series By Chuck Remsberg Senior PoliceOne.com Contributor Sponsored by Blauer Law enforcement agencies "should build a police culture that accepts, validates and rewards a fighting spirit." Instead too many are creating "additional victims," hesitant officers who shy from using deadly force when it�s legal and urgently needed. The result: "Some officers today are more afraid of being ...

The Deadly Moment: Lessons learned in one of the nation's deadliest prisoner escapes

Joseph Garcia — Tue, 22 Mar 2005 07:00:00 UTC

After his deadly rampage and escape and an extensive manhunt, Brian Nichols surrendered to police on March 12. Nichols is accused of killing a judge and three other people in Atlanta. Law enforcement officers can learn a great deal from the events that led to Nichols' escape and his subsequent apprehension. By addressing the issues and tactics that courtroom officials and CERT operators can take to ...