It is well know that prisons are inhabited by dangerous people that we, as a society, chose to separate from the general population for everyone’s safety. Insuring the incarceration of criminals while protecting prison employees is a big problem that management has to solve on a regular basis. Indeed, it is responsible for both inmates and prison staff. During this article, we will discuss what needs to be done to solve the prison security problem.
Prison Workers Must Receive Great Training
While great security systems are important in prisons (we will discuss prison security systems later in this article), if prison employees are not trained adequately to face difficult and dangerous situations, chaotic events are bound to happen.
This exposes the importance for prison managers to be able to count on a complete training program for their workforce that will go over every aspect of their job from relationships with inmates to protocols and actions to take when facing a dangerous situation. When considering that a lot of prison workers are lone workers, i.e that they work their shift alone, complete training is non-negotiable.
Inmate Management is a Complex Day to Day Task
Prison security guards must deal with many situations involving inmates, including insubordination, altercations and assault (both on inmates and employees) on a daily basis. They also have to know how to deal with prisoners in each situation : will they get put them back in their cell or will they opt for isolation?
This is important because inmates put in isolation are usually very hostile. Indeed, they will try to go against the rules to protest being isolated against their will, harm themselves or even try to commit suicide. Finding the balance between putting defiant inmates in isolation and giving them the opportunity to change their behavior is difficult. Will you risk another attack on inmates or prison workers by letting an aggressive inmate stay with the rest of the prisoners or do you send him straight to isolation, which will have good or bad results, depending on the person? These are the kind of tough decisions that the management team has to take everyday.
Prison Security Systems Support Employee and Management Efforts to Make Prisons as Safe as Possible
Once prison workers are properly trained and inmate management is under control, prison managers must make a decision regarding the prison security system that they will install in their facility.
A complete system must have electronic locks, motion detectors, cameras, etc. but most importantly, man down alarms, which are ultrasound alarms used by lone workers to request backup when they find themselves in highly dangerous situations.
This concludes our article on what needs to be done to solve the prison security problem. Good inmate training programs, great inmate management and the installation of a complete prison security system are all important aspects to consider when trying to solve such a complex problem.