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Wednesday's Hotlinks - March 17, 2010

Tracy Barnhart at Corrections.com has identified thirteen tactics gang members will use on law enforcement and corrections officers to impede investigations and trials. 

Inmates that participated in the Northpoint Training Center riots are about to learn what charges they're going to face stemming from the riots. In all, a total of 174 are being disciplined.

The Governor of Illinois, Pat Quinn, has let go three top administrators who were employed with the Illinois Department of Corrections, although no formal reason has been given by the Governor's office.

A Connecticut judge is allowing the Connecticut Department of Corrections to continue force feeding an inmate who went on a hunger strike in 2007. The inmate claims he was convicted on a fabricated sexual harassment charge and argues that the feedings violate his right of free speech.

Several county corrections facilities in Florida are upgrading the way inmates visit their family and friends in this article by The Ledger. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said "In the new jail, they (the inmates) won't ever have to be moved to the visitation area. It enhances security and ultimately saves supervision costs."

As always, if have any newsworthy articles, post them below in the comments section below!!

Preventing Correctional and Law Enforcement Officer Suicide

It’s no secret that corrections and law enforcement officers work in hostile environments day in and day out. On top of their work, they come home and face the same daily domestic pressures of home life as the rest of us, such as financial, family, and personal issues. 

According to this corrections.comarticle; here are the suicide rates for males ranging from age 25-64, per 100,000:

Corrections Officers – 34.8

Police Officers – 15.1

General Population – 14.0

These staggering numbers for corrections officers transcend geography, race, and age. In fact, suicide amongst C.O.’s is even high across the world, in countries such as Canadaand South Africa. 

Thankfully, there is an outlet for corrections and law enforcement personnel. If you are having thoughts of suicide, please talk to somebody. This can include your jail commander, spiritual leader, or even professional help. You can also contact the Ventline, a place where C.O.’s can call anonymously and vent their frustrations, at 866-YOU-VENT, or place an email at youvent@desertwaters.com.

 

And if you work with somebody who may be contemplating suicide, please take a proactive stance and make sure they get help, even if it’s just lending an ear from time to time. 

Wednesday’s Hotlinks – March 10, 2010

 Time again for this week's edition of Wednesday's Hotlinks:  

A death row inmate in Ohio attempted suicide on the day of his execution. Officials have given him a one week reprieve. Many taxpayers are upset that the corrections facility saved his life, since the state will have to pay for the medical treatment given to the inmate. 

A suburban Philadelphia woman has been arrested and charged for using the Internet to recruit jihadist fighters and help terrorists overseas. She even traveled to Europe to kill a Swedish citizen on orders from unnamed terrorists.

Rapper Lil Wayne is heading to jail to serve a one year sentence on gun charges. How does a corrections facility handle high profile inmates?  This article explains that high profile celebrities shouldn't ask for special privileges.  

Contrary to popular misconception, Islam as a whole is a peaceful religion. According to data from the South Carolina DOC, inmates claiming Islam as a religion grew 9%. Corrections.com investigates how the SCDC is handling Muslim inmates.

Correctionsone.com launched a new section called "Mentor Series", a place where veterans can share personal experiences with rookie officers. In this post, John Stanley writes about the time he had an interesting encounter with a frequent flier inmate.   

 

As always, faithful readers, if you have any interesting news links to share, post them in the comments section below!

Wednesday’s Hotlinks – March 3, 2010

   How do you know when an inmate is faking an illness? Why is he faking it? Lorry Schoenly, PhD,RN, CCHP at correctionsone.com writes about how to spot malingering and some tips on how to handle it.

The Maryland Division of Corrections is looking into deploying biometric identification devices, like iris scanners, to ensure that its prisons are releasing the right inmate. Melanie Welte of the AP reports on how various law enforcement agencies are approaching this subject. 

Are your training programs for officers a little bloated? William Sturgeon over at corrections.com gives some tips on how to train your staff for real world applications. One tip is to keep history of organization and personnel organization to one hour increments.

New York State Senator John Bonacic has introduced legislation that would allow counties in NY State to build, finance, and maintain regional jails instead of requiring each county to maintain one. That is good news for Sullivan County, who has been forced to ship inmates to other counties due to the closure of one of the sections of their jail.

Finally, a weird (and sad) news story of the week, which involves a couple accused of going on a home break-in spree while brining along their 4-month old child.

 

Have any other news stories you wish to share? Post them below in the comments section!

Counting Inmates in Census 2010 Debate

  The debate on how to count inmates for the 2010 Census project is heating up across the country. If you recall, I touched on this subject a few weeks ago. Well, over in Illinois, Chicago Democrat Rep. La Shawn Ford has sponsored HR4650, which in effect would count inmates from their last known current address, instead of the place where they're housed at. According to Rep. Ford, about 45,000 of the state inmate population come from Cook County (Chicago).

In Minnesota, State Senator Linda Higgins is planning on introducing a bill that would exclude counting inmates during the legislative redistricting process. "Part of the reason we do a census every 10 years is for the allocation, particularly for federal funds, and it's based on the population" quoted Sen. Higgins.

 

Here are few other hotlinks on the inmate census issue:

The Utica Observer-Dispatch writes in this editorial why the Census shouldn't count prisoners with voters.

The New York Times writes about a new option the Census Bureau is giving to states about how to exactly identify group quarters, such as inmates, for the May 2011 Congressional and legislative reapportionment.

The Iowa Independent reports on the effect of this new option (see above) on Iowan communities.

 

So, what are your thoughts?  How should your state count inmates? Let your thoughts and opinions be heard in the comments section below!

Knowing is Half the Battle

  Human history can be defined by its contribution to the advancement of civilization. For example, we have had eras such as the Bronze Age, the Enlightenment, and the Industrial Revolution. Currently, we are living the Information Age (and some even say MISinformation Age). In no other time in history has the human race have had this amount of access to information. The rise of the internet has contributed greatly to that advancement.

For corrections authorities, this means having access to stats, tips, and other miscellaneous information at their fingertips.  Today I thought I would create a roadmap to help you navigate the sketchy waters of the internet for jail authorities:

The Department of Justice has one of the most comprehensive online databases for anything corrections related. Here you can find information such as HIV in Prisons, Prisoners in 2008, and the National Corrections Reporting Program. Be warned, however, that once going down this rabbit hole, one never knows when he or she will be getting out.

So you want learn more about a specific hate group that's been popping up in your area and jail. Where should you look first? Well, a great start would be heading over to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which is committed to fighting and identifying hate and threats. They have a comprehensive list of hate groups working in America.

Here are a few websites that provide corrections news and articles for corrections professionals. Corrections.com, Correctionsone.com, and Officer.com.  These are a definite must read must read for any corrections professional. 

Need to brush up on corrections law?  The Prison Law Office keeps a current events webpage to keep everyone up on what's happening in the prison law realm. However, this mainly a California centric site.

Two other great sites to keep up on current corrections events and training sessions are at the American Jail Association (AJA) website and the American Correctional Association (ACA) website.

The Crime & Justice Institute runs a Corrections News blog and catches news articles that other places may miss.

Lastly, and certainly not last, make sure to stop by our blog everyday and check in with the employees here at Digital Solutions/Inmate Telephone. 

 

As always, if you would like to submit your own links, just post them below in the comments section!

Wednesday’s Hotlinks:

 Now for today's Hotlinks

 

 

Hamedah Hasan received a 27 year prison sentence for her first non-violent drug related charge. She has written a letter to President Obama asking to commute the remaining 10 years of her sentence.

The Alaska DOC is considering privatizing the Goose Creek Prison, which is currently under construction and should be completed in 2012. The Deputy Corrections Commissioner has said that privatizing the prison might result in $6 million in savings.

18 corrections officers plus a drug counselor have been named suspects in attempting to setup a drug smuggling ring out of two Florida prisons. They are facing federal drug, bribery, and unlawful compensation charges.

A biology professor at the University of Alabama - Huntsville has been charged with killing three fellow faculty members. She also now being questioned about a 1993 mail bombing case and has prompted another look into an accidental shooting case that killed her brother in 1986.

The country's oldest death row inmate has died in Arizona. Viva Leroy Nash was 94 years old and was on death row for killing a Phoenix coin shop employee.

 

Have any corrections related news articles? Submit them below in the comments section!

To be, or not to be (counted in the Census 2010 that is)

  Imagine if you will that the Mayor of your hometown calls your house one night after dinner.  He's asked you to take a headcount of everyone in town and report back to him with your findings within a week. After you tell him (or her) a few choice words, you begrudgingly go about knocking on doors in town.

Finally, a week later you're done! Sure, you have a black eye and some stitches because old man Johnson released his bulldog after you, but you're officially done. But wait a second. Did you count all the inmates at the county jail? No? Should you? The Mayor is surely going to expect that you did.

Okay, so you call up the Warden and he told you that he has 234 inmates residing at his facility. After hanging up, you add 234 residents to your sheet. Should you have added 234 or just the inmates that are originally from your hometown, and not from the little town in the northern part of the county?

That is the debate going on right now as the 2010 Census kicks off in March.  Traditionally in the past, prisoners locked up in corrections facility has been counted for that particular city the prison is in.  For example, SCI Huntingdon in Pennsylvania houses prisoners from all over the state. When it comes time for tax dollars then to be allotted out to each district, Huntingdon will show they have X number of residents when the reality is they have Y number of residents.

Proponents of having hometowns of prisoners counted in the census argue that this policy is driving government money away from urbanized areas, where a majority of prisoners originate from, towards rural areas that house the correctional facilities. At stake is the estimated $400 billion in federal aid that is expected to be distributed within the next 10 years.

As you can see, with that amount of money up for grabs, you can be sure there will be some politicking and fighting going on for this debate. So readers, what is your opinion? Is your corrections facility in a rural area with the majority of prisoners from an urbanized area? Let your thoughts be heard in the comments section below!

 

 

Wednesday’s Hotlinks:

Now for Today's Hotlinks:

  Maryland's prison librarian, Glennor Shirley, and Baltimore Sun reporter Dan Rodricks write in this opinion piece about the benefits of an updated prison library versus the cost of upkeep to taxpayers.

Don Thompson of the AP reports on California's inmate early release law is irking the public, lawmakers, and law enforcement. At least one violent crime offender is already back in prison for an attempted rape.

Mike Raneses over at Corrections.com writes about establishing and maintaining a productive ‘office' environment in a corrections facility. Read Part 1 and then Part 2. A definite must read for any jail administrator! 

Terry Bittner writes at correctionsone.com why cell phone jamming alone won't be enough to limit a inmate's ability to communicate outside prison walls.

Also at correctionsone.com, Editor Luke Whyte writes about the importance of changing recruiting tactics to for the next generation in his interview with ACA President Charles Kehoe.  

 

Don't forget that you too can submit your own corrections related hotlinks by posting them in the comments section below!

Wednesday’s Hotlinks

  Every Wednesday, I'll be providing a few links to other stories related to the corrections community that I think will prove helpful. So, without further ado, here are this weeks Wednesday Hotlinks:

 

Cellular phone jamming devices may not be allowed in US prisons and jails (at least not yet), but Down Under the Australian Communications and Media Authority is considering lifting the ban on the jamming devices.

 

Inmates in Livingston Parish, LA will no longer be receiving free health care. According to the Parish President Mike Grimmer, it costs the parish $370,000 per year to provide health care to the 500 inmates.

 

Eleven inmates were hurt in a prison fight over the weekend in Arizona. Apparently, two inmates started fighting at the Lewis prison complex after lunch, which then bloomed into a larger fight with homemade weapons involved.

 

President Obama released his budget plan for fiscal year 2011.  Included in the budget is $270 million allotted for the federalization of the Thomson prison in Illinois. The administration hopes to move suspected terrorists from Guantanamo Bay to Thomson.

 

What are the benefits of staff unity within a corrections environment? Corrections.com writers Joe Bouchard and Tracy Barnhart have an in depth discussion about the benefits of staff unity.