NCJ Number
191535
Journal
Corrections Today Volume: 63 Issue: 6 Dated: October 2001 Pages: 90-93,109
Editor(s)
Susan L. Clayton
Date Published
2001
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This article examined correctional staff safety.
Abstract
The personal safety and wellness of corrections’ staff have never before been more important to correctional managers. Staff safety is a relatively new source of concern for corrections officials. Due to the nature of the business, correctional staff are regularly placed in positions that are dangerous. Correctional officers continue to get wounded or killed while providing security or transporting inmates. This article reviews the dangers posed by gangs and correctional officer complacency. Prison gangs constitute a persistently disruptive force in correctional facilities because they interfere with correctional programs, threaten safety of inmates, and erode the quality of life. Correctional staff who are unaware of the immediate danger to themselves or others posed by prison gangs or who view portions of their jobs as routine or boring, should be reminded of the penalties for complacency in correctional facilities. The fact is that today’s inmates are more violent than they were 10 years ago. Officials have structured a progressive officer safety program, which includes the following suggestions: create an environment that promotes sound operational practices based on best practices derived from past experiences; review lessons learned from good and bad experiences; implement and practice recognized professional standards of conduct that promote optimum safety and sound best practices in the corrections workplace; periodically review operational practices to search for ways to improve the work environment of staff; improve prison facilities using new technologies, with staff safety an integral part of the planning process; design and build new institutions that incorporate staff-efficient designs and improved safety features; promote communication among all staff; review, assess, and implement new technologies that offer practical methods of improving staff safety; and, implement a staff safety action plan.