Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Prisoner Seat Belt And Public Safety

By Mattie Knight


Shuttling prison inmates between the detention center and the court house is inherently dangerous. Being outside the confining walls of the detention center presents a chance to escape, and many prisoners try to take advantage of it. Some plan ahead and involve their friends on the inside and on the outside, while others make the most of a fleeting moment of inattention on the part of the personnel who are escorting them. One way of keeping prisoners secure while they are being ferried about from one venue to another is to use equipment such as a specially designed and constructed prisoner seat belt.

There are loads of occasions when it is necessary to move someone. For instance, they are transported twice a day, to and from the courthouse, while they are on trial. Once convicted, they may be transferred to another institution. During the course of their incarceration, it may become necessary to take them to a hospital or on compassionate leave for a family occasion like a wedding or a funeral.

The best restraining equipment allows law enforcement officers to place the passenger in the vehicle securely without needing to reach over them. Physical proximity between detainee and his or her escort offers a serious risk of physical harm to both parties. At the very least, the subject should be handcuffed. If there is a known or suspected risk that the subject is violent, it is not uncommon to see them in leg irons especially if they are going to pass through an unsecured area.

It is imperative to contain the prisoner and keep them from grabbing an innocent bystander and creating a hostage situation. Specifically trained personnel like law enforcement officers, prison guards or specialized outside contractors are the only types of staff that should be allowed to transport prisoners. Management should always perform a risk assessment well in advance of the day of the actual transfer.

The transfer is likely to proceed much more smoothly if all parties are able to communicate in real time via a radio link. At all times, the sending and receiving institutions should be able to contact the inmate's escort team.

More than 300 escape attempts are made each year during prisoner transfers. Of these, more than two-thirds utilize a caged vehicle; in 84 percent of these instances, the inmate is able to escape from the back seat of the vehicle. More than 10 percent of officers are hurt and 3 percent are killed in the course of their transfer duties. However, several thousand detainees are moved without incident all over the country every day.

The prospect of spending the rest of their lives in custody is a powerful motivation for an inmate in transit to make a sudden violent move to gain control of the vehicle and cause an accident where they are likely to be killed. It is imperative to take all precautions necessary for an incident-free transfer.

It is not unusual for corrections officers or law enforcement personnel to think of escorting prisoners as drawing the short straw. Management should emphasize that this challenging and dangerous task is critical in the judicial process.




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