NCJ Number
174646
Journal
American Jails Volume: 12 Issue: 1 Dated: March/April 1998 Pages: 30-32-34
Date Published
1998
Length
4 pages
Annotation
Seventeen years ago, Contra Costa County (California) introduced a direct-supervision jail program whose physical layout was designed to lower violence among inmates, reduce stress among officers, and create a more normative environment; the current news in this article is that it still works, not only in Contra Costa County, but in other jurisdictions that have adopted the direct-supervision facility design and program.
Abstract
The direct-supervision design uses the "lounge" interior design for the intake area to reduce stress for those being admitted. Contra Costa introduced carpeting, comfortable lounge seating (bolted to the floor), and a television set (secured to the wall) to normalize the experience at intake. Another crucial design introduction at Contra Costa was the housing unit's podular design. Back in 1981 when the jail was built, living quarters in the form of a pod, where all the cells opened onto a common area, were new to most corrections officials. Although Contra Costa is proud of its record of reduced violence, some of the most impressive results in reduced assaults from the Contra Costa model are found in other direct-supervision facilities throughout the Nation. Superintendent Peter Perroncello of the Norfolk County Correctional Center in Dedham, Mass., says that the use of the Contra Costa model for his jail has led to increased officer safety (less than one officer assault per year in the last 7 years). Although one of the arguments against direct-supervision design is that increased staff requirements and facility design cost more than traditional jails, Detention Director Ray Sabatini of Fayette County Juvenile Detention Center in Kentucky reports that direct supervision saves more than it costs. Savings are in the area of defense litigation or even litigation avoidance, as well as savings in building maintenance and repairs. Those involved in direct-supervision jails, however, advise that the key to its success is not so much the design itself, but rather they manner in which staff use the design to normalize staff-inmate interactions. This requires that staff be carefully selected and thoroughly trained to interact with inmates in a professional manner. Classification is also important, as it identifies those inmates at high risk for violence. These inmates are placed in a separate pod with an enclosed, protected area for supervising officers.