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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
Time: 10:35 pm
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Results for correctional facilities
7 results foundAuthor: U.S. Government Accountability Office Title: Bureau of Prisons: Evaluating the Impact of Protective Equipment Could Help Enhance Officer Safety Summary: The Department of Justice's (DOJ) Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) manages more than 209,000 inmates, up 45 percent between fiscal years 2000 and 2010. As the prison population grows, so do concerns about correctional officer safety. As requested, GAO examined the (1) equipment that BOP and selected state departments of corrections (DOC) provide to protect officers, and the officers' and other correctional practitioners' opinions of this equipment; (2) extent to which BOP has evaluated the effectiveness of this equipment, and factors correctional equipment experts consider important to the acquisition of new equipment; and (3) institutional factors correctional accrediting experts reported as impacting officer safety, and the extent to which BOP has evaluated the effectiveness of the steps it has taken in response. GAO reviewed BOP policies and procedures; interviewed BOP officials and officers within BOP's six regions, selected based on such factors as the level of facility overcrowding; interviewed officials at 14 of the 15 largest state DOCs; and surveyed 21 individuals selected for their expertise in corrections. The results of the interviews cannot be generalized, but provide insight into issues affecting officer safety. BOP and 14 state DOCs included in GAO's review provide a variety of protective equipment to officers, but BOP officers and management have different views on equipment. BOP generally provides officers with radios, body alarms, keys, flashlights, handcuffs, gloves, and stab-resistant vests while on duty, but prohibits them from storing personal firearms on BOP property, with limited exceptions. DOC officials in 14 states GAO interviewed provided examples of equipment they allow officers to carry while on duty that BOP does not--such as pepper spray--and officials in 9 of the 14 states reported allowing officers to store personal firearms on state DOC property. BOP and states provide similar equipment to protect officers in an emergency, such as an inmate riot or attack. Most BOP officers with whom GAO spoke reported that carrying additional equipment while on duty and commuting would better protect officers, while BOP management largely reported that officers did not need to carry additional equipment to better protect them. BOP has not evaluated the effectiveness of equipment it provides in ensuring officer safety, and correctional equipment experts report that BOP needs to consider a variety of factors in acquisition decisions. Neither the officials nor the experts with whom GAO spoke reported that they were aware of or had conducted evaluations of the effectiveness of equipment in ensuring officer safety, although BOP tracks information necessary to do so in its data systems. By using information in these existing systems, BOP could analyze the effectiveness of the equipment it distributes in ensuring officer safety, thus helping it determine additional actions, if any, to further officer safety and better target limited resources. All of the correctional equipment experts GAO spoke with reported that BOP would need to consider factors such as training, replacement, maintenance, and liability, as well as whether the equipment met performance standards, if it acquired new equipment. These experts suggested that any decision must first be based upon a close examination of the benefits and risk of using certain types of equipment. For example, while state officials reported that pepper spray is inexpensive and effective, a majority of the BOP management officials we spoke with stated that it could be taken by inmates and used against officers. Correctional accrediting experts most frequently cited control over the inmate population, officer training, inmate gangs, correctional staffing and inmate overcrowding as the institutional factors--beyond equipment--most impacting officer safety. These experts suggested various strategies to address these factors, and BOP reported taking steps to do so, such as conducting annual training on BOP policies, identifying and separating gang members, and converting community space into inmate cells. BOP has assessed the effectiveness of steps it has taken in improving officer safety. For instance, a 2001 BOP study found that inmates who participated in BOP's substance abuse treatment program were less likely than a comparison group to engage in misconduct for the remainder of their sentence following program completion. BOP utilizes such studies to inform its decisions, such as eliminating programs found to be ineffective. GAO recommends that BOP's Director assess whether the equipment intended to improve officer safety has been effective. BOP concurred with this recommendation Details: Washington, DC: GAO, 2011. 70p. Source: Internet Resource: GAO-11-410: Accessed April 12, 2011 at: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d11410.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United States URL: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d11410.pdf Shelf Number: 121313 Keywords: Correctional FacilitiesCorrectional PersonnelCorrections OfficersPrisonsRisk AssessmentRisk ManagementWeapons |
Author: U.S. Government Accountability Office Title: Bureau of Prisons: Improved Evaluations and Increased Coordination Could Improve Cell Phone Detection Summary: BOP's rates for inmate telephone calls typically are lower than selected state and military branch systems that also use telephone revenues to support inmate activities; lowering rates would have several implications. Inmates would benefit from the ability to make cheaper phone calls, but lower rates could result in less revenue and lower profits, and therefore fewer funds available for inmate wages and recreational activities. According to BOP officials, when inmates have fewer opportunities for physical activity, idleness increases, and the risk of violence, escapes, and other disruptions also rises. BOP and selected states confiscated thousands of cell phones in 2010, and these entities believe that rising inmate cell phone use threatens institutional safety and expands criminal activity. All of the BOP officials, as well as officials from all eight of the state departments of correction with whom GAO spoke, cited cell phones as a major security concern, given the potential the phones provide for inmates to have unmonitored conversations that could further criminal activity, such as selling drugs or harassing other individuals. BOP and selected states have taken actions to address contraband cell phone use in their correctional institutions, but BOP could better evaluate existing technologies to maximize its investment decisions. BOP screens visitors and staff to detect contraband and has also tested multiple cell-phone detection technologies. However, BOP has not developed evaluation plans for institutional use to measure the effectiveness of these tests, which could help ensure that such tests generate information needed to make effective policy decisions. Moreover, while BOP has shared detection strategies with state agencies to some extent, BOP's regional offices have only had limited interaction with states, and could increase coordination and knowledge sharing to better identify and benefit from other strategies being used. This is a public version of a sensitive but unclassified - law enforcement sensitive report that GAO issued in July 2011. Information that the Department of Justice deemed sensitive has been omitted. GAO recommends that BOP's Director formulate evaluation plans for cell phone detection technology to aid decision making, require use of these plans, and enhance regional collaboration with states. The Department of Justice concurred with GAO's recommendations. Details: Washington, DC: GAO, 2011. 44p. Source: Internet Resource: GAO-11-893: Accessed September 7, 2011 at: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d11893.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United States URL: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d11893.pdf Shelf Number: 122673 Keywords: Cellular TelephonesCorrectional FacilitiesPrison ContrabandPrison SecurityPrisonersRisk ManagementSmuggling |
Author: Feldbaum, Mindy Title: The Greening of Corrections: Creating a Sustainable System Summary: Although the primary goal of corrections is safety for the community and for those housed and working within the facilities, increasingly, sustainability goals and strategies are being integrated into policies and plans within the corrections community. Accordingly, more and more leaders within corrections are evaluating the long-term impacts of its buildings, operations, and programs on the environment, community, and economy, and are making decisions on management, resource allocation, and programming based on green principles and practices. The greening of corrections provides an extraordinary opportunity to create more efficient, resilient, and sustainable prisons and jails, with benefits that include reducing the financial and human capital costs of prisons through reduced energy and resource consumption and engaging inmates in hands-on work experiences and education and training to prepare them for jobs in the emerging green economy. The paper focuses on the greening of correctional facilities and their operations; the education and training of inmates to prepare for reentry, including environmental literacy; the current landscape of the greening of correctional industries through processes, products and partnerships; and the greening of reentry programs. Details: Washington, DC: U.S. National Institute of Corrections, 2012. 75p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 27, 2012 at: http://static.nicic.gov/Library/024914.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://static.nicic.gov/Library/024914.pdf Shelf Number: 126122 Keywords: Correctional FacilitiesCorrectional ProgramsEmployment ProgramsPrisoner ReentryPrisons |
Author: Porter, Nicole D. Title: On the Chopping Block 2012: State Prison Closings Summary: The Bureau of Justice Statistics recently reported that the overall state prison population declined for the third consecutive year in 2011. State sentencing reforms and changes in parole revocation policies have been contributing factors in these reductions. As a result, state officials are now beginning to close correctional facilities after several decades of record prison expansion. Continued declines in state prison populations advance the narrative that the nation’s reliance on incarceration is largely a function of policy choices. In 2012, at least six states have closed 20 prison institutions or are contemplating doing so, potentially reducing prison capacity by over 14,100 beds and resulting in an estimated $337 million in savings. During 2012, Florida led the nation in prison closings with its closure of 10 correctional facilities; the state’s estimated cost savings for prison closings totals over $65 million. This year’s prison closures build on closures observed in 2011 when at least 13 states reported prison closures and reduced prison capacity by an estimated 15,500 beds. Details: Washington, DC: The Sentencing Project, 2012. 14p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 24, 2012 at: http://www.sentencingproject.org/doc/publications/On%20the%20Chopping%20Block%202012.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://www.sentencingproject.org/doc/publications/On%20the%20Chopping%20Block%202012.pdf Shelf Number: 127391 Keywords: Correctional FacilitiesPrisonersPrisons (U.S.) |
Author: van Doorn, Eric Title: Time Difference of Arrival System for Cell Phone Localization in Correctional Facilities Summary: In this cell phone tracking project, both hardware and software were developed. We completed the design of portable hardware, and made progress towards integration of the hardware components. Finally, we filed a patent in order to protect the intellectual property developed under this project. From the software side, we finished the development of a RF-fingerprinting approach to locating cell phones in prison. We also developed a GUI for the final demo, and performed extensive experiment testing. The hardware is using a single data collection unit and multiple cabled antennas that extend from the receive ports to antennas located at the corners of a prison facility building. We redesigned the hardware to make it compatible with sensing phones in all three cell phone bands used in the US. This was performed using the four channel FPGA-based hardware designed for the multiple bands (CDMA2000, WCDMA and GSM). During the subject period of performance, we performed extensive testing of the developed system at the IAI office site for the 850MHz, 1700MHz and 1900MHz bands. From the software side, we examined the use of a classification-type approach to locating cell phones in prison. Extensive data was collected in IAI’s facilities and analyzed in an office environment and the testing results are very encouraging. These data were collected to train and optimize the detection and localization algorithms. The date was also used in an analysis to estimate the maximum coverage area that could be achieved with the current hardware. Details: Rockville, MD: Intelligent Automation Incorporated, 2015. 72p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 8, 2015 at: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/248828.pdf Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/248828.pdf Shelf Number: 135964 Keywords: Cell Phones Computer Software Correctional FacilitiesPrison Contraband Prisons |
Author: Sabot Consulting Title: Sacramento County Sheriff's Department Correctional Services. Americans with Disabilities Act Assessment (ADA) Summary: Sabot Consulting was retained by the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of their Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) programs, policies, procedures, practices, forms, and architectural access for disabled inmates in their two Sacramento County detention facilities. At the outset, we would like to commend the Sacramento County Sheriff, Undersheriff, the Chief Deputy, Correctional Services, the executive management staff, rank and file officers, support staff and contractors for their welcoming, transparent, candid, and cooperative interactions with our experts. We recognize that we added significantly more work to and took valuable time away from these consummate professionals during our time on this project, but because of the unfettered access, cooperation, and transparency of the Chief of Correctional Services and his staff, we were able to complete a far more detailed review in less time than that which could have been accomplished otherwise. As a result, Sabot Consulting is pleased to provide this independent comprehensive evaluation of the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department (SCSD) detention facilities ADA program and the architectural accessibility of the two detention facilities for inmates with disabilities. The facilities include, the Sacramento Main Jail (MJ) located at 651 I Street in downtown Sacramento and the Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center (RCCC) located at 12500 Bruceville Road, about 10 minutes south of Elk Grove. The MJ houses nearly all the County's pretrial population, and a number of federal pretrial prisoners. RCCC primarily houses overflow pretrial detainees, those inmates who are "post-trial" and have been sentenced to serve jail time in a County facility, and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainees. This comprehensive assessment included a field review performed from August 10, 2016 through September 16, 2016, as well as a review and analysis of all relevant existing policies, procedures, forms, logs, training records, processes and practices implemented by both the Sacramento County Sheriff and the Sacramento County Correctional Health Services (CHS). An architectural accessibility survey was also conducted from October 17, 2016 through October 18, 2016, to identify accessibility barriers for mobility impaired inmates as defined by the 1991 Americans with Disabilities Act Standards for Accessible Design (Revised July 1, 1994), and the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG) including the 2010 amendments to the Americans with Disabilities Act Standards (ADAS). As part of the field review, team members from Sabot Consulting (Assessment Team) conducted interviews of a large number of staff members assigned to the SCSD detention facilities, CHS, Jail Psychiatric Services (JPS), and Elk Grove Unified School District (EGUSD), as well as a large number of selected and randomly chosen inmates incarcerated at the two SCSD detention facilities. The specific scope of the review was to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the SCSD detention facilities and programs with respect to access by inmates with disabilities. The assessment consisted of a full review of policies, procedures and practices, which include but was not limited to: - All policies, procedures and practices regarding inmates with disabilities; - All policies, procedures and practices regarding the classification and/or housing of inmates with disabilities; - All policies, procedures and practices regarding inmates requiring Health Care Appliances (HCAs)/Assistive Devices (ADs)/Durable Medical Equipment (DME); - All policies, procedures and practices regarding out-of-cell time as they relate to disabled inmates as well as all other inmates incarcerated within the SCSD detention facilities; - All policies, procedures and practices regarding the provision or access to programs, services and activities offered at the SCSD detention facilities, i.e., the MJ and RCCC, to inmates (including those with physical, intellectual, and mental health disabilities), including but not limited to; those currently assigned to work assignments, formally organized programs, services or activities; - All policies, procedures and practices regarding staff training; - With respect to addressing the needs of inmates with disabilities; - All policies, procedures and practices regarding the identification and tracking of inmates with disabilities; and - All policies, procedures and practices regarding the grievance process as it relates to inmates with disabilities, including but not limited to requests for accommodations (e.g., disability-related accommodation requests and allegations of discrimination). The Assessment Team's approach was to observe all processes and practices at the SCSD detention facilities that impact (or may impact) disabled inmates. This included: Intake and Booking Process; Classification Process; Health Care Services (including Disability Identification); HCA/AD/DME; Housing Units; Orientation; Library Services; Religious Services/Activities; Telecommunications; Academic Education; Work Assignments; Vocational Assignments; Transportation; Inmate Release Process; Application of Reasonable Accommodations; Work Order Requests; Training; Out-of-Cell Time; Infraction Process (and other due process events); Grievances; Tracking System; All buildings to which inmates had access including the ingress and egress of those buildings and the facility paths of travel utilized by inmates. In addition, the Assessment Team interviewed staff throughout the SCSD detention facilities directly involved in the processes and practices listed above including a minimum of one staff member assigned to each respective housing unit or pod area. The Assessment Team also interviewed approximately 179 inmates with representatives selected from each respective housing unit area. Inmates selected and interviewed included those with identified or possible/potential disabilities as well as individuals who were randomly chosen. In most cases, between two to four inmates were selected from every housing unit or separate dorm or pod area. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act as well as the United States Constitution protect the rights of individuals with disabilities including those housed in correctional facilities. Details: Folsom, CA: Sabot Consulting, 2016. 488p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 1, 2018 at: https://www.disabilityrightsca.org/system/files/file-attachments/%5B001-5%5D_Exhibit_E-Sabot_Report_2018-07-31.pdf Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: https://www.disabilityrightsca.org/system/files/file-attachments/%5B001-5%5D_Exhibit_E-Sabot_Report_2018-07-31.pdf Shelf Number: 150992 Keywords: Correctional FacilitiesDisabled Inmates Disabled Persons Discrimination Jail Administration Jail Conditions Jail Inmates Mental Health Services Solitary Confinement |
Author: Cruz-Rivera, Luis Jose Title: Preventing Contraband Cellular Phone Use in Prisons: A Technical Response to NTIA Summary: Overview From correctional facilities within the United States (U.S) and throughout the world to homeland defense and scenarios taking place on battlefields, illicit cellular phone use and unauthorized mobile data systems access is impacting mission safety at many levels. As evidenced by recent congressional activities and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's (NTIA) Notice of Inquiry (NOI) regarding technical solutions to detect and prevent illegal use of cellular phones in correctional facilities, this problem is a growing threat to the security of our nation and its citizens. Too often, solution are designed to control threats, such as the growing cellular contraband problem and other major safety concerns, focus on the technology component , and fails to consider the appropriate combination of skills, processes, and technologies to enable a comprehensive solution. In the case of contraband of cell phone use within correctional facilities, the solution lays in the architecture, addressing and combating the root cause of the problem. The effective use of technology can combine intelligence gathering with analysis to support the security mission. Effective operating scenario knowledge, decision-making capabilities, and goal attainment need to ultimately control and deny this contraband issue. Commercial off the shelf (COTS) standalone systems do not offer a complete and satisfactory solution to the contraband cell phone challenge detailed in the NTIA request. Consideration of unified operational requirements, concepts of operations and functional requirements must be applied to the selection of available systems or development of an effective system of systems appropriate to address the mission space. This facilitates the deployment of an intelligent architecture for centralized and regional environments alike with a comprehensive affordable solution. The commercial market space has recognized this disparity and as the NTIA NOI identifies several point solutions or technologies have been developed within the current regulatory environment to address the known cellular contraband issues. For the purposes of this paper these solutions fall into two general categories - active radio-frequency (RF) systems and passive RF systems. While there are hybrid scenarios (a solution using both active and passive RF), this document will focus only on the solutions that fall into the active RF category and the passive RF category; hybrid solutions are excluded from this analysis. Furthermore, this document intends to elucidate a comprehensive approach for managing the operational data needs of several layers of the U.S. Government and other key stakeholders affected by illicit use of cellular phones in prisons. This document will discuss the two solution types and provide details regarding several technology and deployment considerations to address the architecture of the solution. Figure 1 depicts the two mission areas in which all of the possible solutions fall - contraband-based solutions and intelligence-based solutions. The contraband-based solution addresses the short-term need for denial by jamming or detection and monitoring for manual control. The intelligence-based solution provides varying capabilities of C3I (Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence) interface and allows stakeholder operations to address criminal or other activities of interest within stakeholder jurisdictions. This capability can bridge other additional security needs to the solution, thus enabling the correctional community to utilize data sharing with law enforcement and judicial stakeholders to maintain a holistic view of criminal network communications and contraband management activities within the target locations. The level of metadata attainable in these transactions provides a large data-mining capability, which can interface with other operating scenario data sources and provide a new appreciation for connection networks. Within the scope considered by NTIA, solutions to this problem will serve the following primary stakeholders: - Prisons and correctional institutions that want the technology to solve the problem - Commercial operators who have paid millions and in some cases billions of dollars for spectrum and equipment and do not want their coverage of valid users impacted - The general public who wants a solution to stop the criminal activities but without impact to their use of devices on the outside of the correctional institution location Other stakeholders include: - State and local law enforcement agencies requiring increased insight and awareness of activities linked with illicit communications - Department of Homeland Security (DHS) data fusion centers, Department of Justice (DOJ), National Institute of Justice (NIJ), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and other law enforcement (LE) entities - Government and industry associations responsible for overseeing the use of spectrum and wireless technology that want a solution that can operate within the boundaries of the law and regulations The opportunity to solve this problem using technology addresses a broad market segment, which also needs to coexist with other security efforts and data-sharing initiatives among the stakeholders. Strategic acquisition and integration work will be critical to deploying a given solution in order to avoid reengineering of design due to technology fluctuations, obsolescence, and total cost of ownership. If a rigorous solution development process is not followed, correctional institutions run the risk of committing and expending unnecessary resources and funds resulting to system implementation defects, technical capability gaps, and system suitability inadequacies within a constantly changing wireless environment. Details: Fairfax, VA: ManTech International Corporation, 2010. 17p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 16, 2019 at: https://www.ntia.doc.gov/files/ntia/mantech_response_to_ntia_inquiry_v1.01.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: https://www.ntia.doc.gov/files/ntia/mantech_response_to_ntia_inquiry_v1.01.pdf Shelf Number: 154226 Keywords: Cell PhonesContrabandCorrectional FacilitiesIllicit Cellular Phone UseMobile Data Systems AccessPrison ContrabandPrisoner Misconduct |