Morey Unit Prevention and Mitigation Analysis Riots and disturbances in prisons are not a new phenomenon in the United States and in the past decades there has been a continuation of these destructive and violent events. The prison riot at a phenomenon can be used in a number of ways. The term riot can be defined as the act of inmates taking control of a significant portion of a prison or correctional center for a significant period of time (American Correctional Association, 2010). Also, the term disturbance is considered a step down from riot because there are fewer inmates involved and there is no control or minimal control of a small portion of the correctional facility by inmates (American Correctional Association, 2010). One of the …show more content…
At any correctional facility the name and goal should be the security, custody, and control of inmates. If this fundamental method is not employed at a correctional facility houses situations like the one that occurred in the Morey unit can certainly occur more often. All areas within the prison premises should be guarded properly at all times. The hostage incident was staged in less than one hour and therefore if the place was adequately guarded with proper security procedures this could not have happened. Efficient and clear instructions should be in place to assist staff in proper safety procedures to follow. At each work location or post there should be a detail post description outlining important safety procedures to follow at that particular work location. The post description should also a detail which doors and gates need to be secured at all times how also how and where inmates should be secured. These security measures should be reviewed with all staff and all work location on a regular basis. This information should always be kept in a secure location, never an area where inmates have access to the information. In addition to the increased security measures each correctional institution has to make sure that there are plans readily available and in place for emergency riots and disturbances. The nature and detail of the plan will be determined by the complexity and
According to statistical data found in the Bureau for Justice Records, there are a number of problems that most prisons in the country face. The records indicate that the number of adult federal and state inmates increased from `139% in `1980 to 260% (Walker, 1999). As a natural default, the United States of America has the highest incarceration rate in the world. This in itself brings about one of the major problems that are faced in modern incarceration which is overcrowding in most prison facilities. The number of offenders in the country has increased rapidly over time while the country prison system has not really been able to cope with this rapid increase. Prisons intended for one or two inmates are now crowded with more than fifty individuals. Because of this most prisons are overcrowded and most of the facilities available are unable to cater for the needs of all the prisoners (Siegel, 2009).
Management positions in prisons are known to be very demanding. Correctional facilities are difficult to operate and are forced to deal with overcrowding which leads to an outnumbered staff and a continuous flow of violent and dangerous inmates. An issue that management faces is the occurrence of riots. According to dictionary.com, a riot is a disturbance of the public peace by three or more persons acting together in a disrupting and tumultuous manner in carrying out their private purposes. Some riots are characterized by organization and demands, others by weak and confused formation of leadership, or conflict and violence among inmates themselves. In some riots, prisoners inflict suffering on hostages, inmates treat hostages well,
Another current and future issue of concern for prisons and prison administrators stemming from overcrowding is prison violence. Prison researcher Stephen C. Light found that when conditions such as overcrowding worsen. Inmate misconduct often increases (Gaines & Miller, 2008, pp. 340).Prisoners often use violence as a way to show power or to control other inmates. Prison violence is a means of surviving for some inmates who think of violence as a deterrent against victimization or violence to acquire money or sexual favors. The correctional officers also have to resort to violence as a form of discipline or controlling prison gangs and riots.
There are approximately 2.2 million people that are currently incarcerated in the United States and roughly 65 million people have a current criminal record. 2.2 million individuals are detained due to past passive or violent offenses and some are wrongfully accused while capitalist companies are making a profit off of those incarcerated. The prison system is where violent and nonviolent inmates spend days or years in a cell and are usually working in the prison. During the early 1980s is when the inmate population began to grow in numbers fights would begin to be a daily occurrence and would ultimately result in murder. An example of these grotesque incidents would be considered a normal day at the Folsom State Prison in Sacramento,
In the 1970s and 1980s, a massive amount of inmates began fillin up the United States prison systems. This huge rate of growth in this short amount of time, has greatly contributed to the prison overcrowding that the United States faces today. In fact, the prisons are still filled to the seams. This enormous flood of inmates has made it practically impossible for prison officials to keep up with their facilities and supervise their inmates. One of the main reasons why many prisons have become overcrowded is because of states’ harsh criminal laws and parole practices (Cohen). “One in every 100 American adults is behind bars, the highest incarceration rate in the world” (Cohen). The amount of inmates in corrections systems, throughout the
At any given time, a single corrections officer, can expect to be outnumbered by upwards of 400 inmates (Conover, 2011). It can be chilling to work in the midst of hundreds of inmates, some of which initiate attacks and inappropriate relationships. However, other issues have impacted the psychological health and physical safety of the staff. Detrimental factors have included heavy workloads, the prisons physical structure, and a lack of support from both peers and superiors. Each workplace issue has been in addition to role problems, specifically role ambiguity and role conflict (Schaufeli & Peeters, 2011). It is believed that anyone of these undesirable facets of prison should be enough to deter the public from attempting to enter such
In spite of the fact that the situation is intricate, and some conflicting discoveries have risen, for the most part the literature supports the idea that the more coercive the jail environment the more prominent the potential for savagery becomes. This is particularly so where jail administration and treatment of detainees are seen by detainees as unreasonable or illegitimate, as this reinforces detainee solidarity contrary to the authorities. A jail approach that keenly consolidates situational and social counteractive action techniques upheld by fitting administration strategies and exploration based staff enlistment and preparing practices, is likely the most encouraging model for lessening interpersonal savagery in correctional facilities.
As we all know – there are tons of social issues within the entire world that Criminal Justice Practitioners deal with, most likely, on a daily basis. One of the many social issues I’ve chosen is Prison Overcrowding.
When we do research on daily prison life, we come across two typical but less than ideal situations: either social imaginaries cloud our judgment or information provided by the prisons themselves hide certain weak or bad aspects that they do not want to make public. We can also find information on TV, but most of the time it either exaggerates or minimizes the facts. In order to obtain more reliable information, we have to have access to people who are working or have worked in this institution, and such will be the sources of this essay. We will be describing and giving examples of prison violence according to three types of violence: sexual, physical and psychological violence.
Evidence shows that overcrowded prison conditions increase crime in these confines, such as inmates attacking guards. Instances like this happen in these unprincipled institutions daily across the United States, making overcrowded prisons dangerous to
The rapid growth of the prison population in the United States during the 1980’s resulted in an era of mass incarceration. One of the attempted factors of control and organization during the period of mass incarceration was the creation and expansion of the super-maximum facility, also known as ‘supermax’. This institution was designed to house and deal with inmates classified as ‘the worst of the worst’; prisoners who are considered so rebellious, disruptive, and dangerous that they are unable to be effectively managed among the general prison population (King, 1999). The organizational structure and design of these facilities are much different than ever before seen in other existing institutions. The supermax is meant to protect the correctional
These measures were taken to ensure public safety but are now posing a problem for our correctional facilities. Overcrowding and budgets are among the problems brought about by these measures. Both the state and federal correctional population throughout the United States have steadily seen significant increases in their population, every year for the past decades. Based on the census found on the Bureau of Justice website, the data collected between June 30th 2000 to December 30th 2005 showed that prisoners held in custody between federal and state prisons increased by 10%. (“Bureau of Justice Statistics”, p.1 -2)
In this paper the subject to discuss is the prevention and mitigation analysis of the Arizona Department of Correction’s Morey Unit hostage situation. This incident was very terrible in the United States history in escapes made from prisons. In Buckeye, Arizona at the Lewis Prison Correction facility in the Morey, on January 18, 2004, Ricky Wassenaar and Steven Coy made an attempt to escape from the unit by taking two correctional officers hostage and took over Morey’s unit tower, causing a 15-day hostage and standoff incident. The following discussion is an analysis of issues, prevention, and mitigation recommendations for future incidents aiming at fiscal, operational, and administrative problems
Hostage situations, like any other correctional institute emergencies, can be very complex, drawn out, and very dangerous. The most important thing a warden can do is be prepared. The inmates and employees must know that the warden is in charge of the complex, but also that he cares for the welfare of everyone involved, whether its employees or inmates. He or she must be an active listener and an open book who is prepared for all emergencies with specific plans for each type and mock exercises to validate each plan (Carlson & Garrett, 2008). These mock exercises require extensive planning, but can be done without disrupting daily operations with hard work and coordination of resources (Carlson & Garrett, 2008).
It is very important that you realize your surroundings in a jail or prison. I made sure that I read every inmates file all 100 of them. You will soon realize that you are a supervisor over Inmates, some say you are a baby sitter as much as some do not want to hear that. It is true. I love my job. I love my co workers, best guys I have worked with. I want to make sure they get home to their families so we go into work the way we came out. Safety and Security is to help us and help the inmates and protect us and the public also the Inmates. We assure every ones safety, we keep head count at least three times a shift. We do not want anyone to escape.