CHAPTER 13
Prison Issues and Concerns: Overcrowding, Security, Accreditation, Privatization, and Technology
Chapter Objectives
1. List the four main reasons prisons are overcrowded.
2. Identify six methods of controlling prison overcrowding.
3. Explain how prisons control the influence of security threat groups (STGs).
4. Identify five causes of prison riots.
5. Describe what can be done to prevent prison riots.
6. Outline the emergence of supermax housing and its impact on prisoners and staff.
7. Describe “no-frills” jails and prisons and their impact on corrections.
8. List the reasons correctional agencies and facilities should be accredited.
9. List the arguments for and against privatization.
10. Discuss the impact of technology on corrections.
Chapter Outline
I. Overcrowding
· Over the past 25 years, prison population has increased sixfold—from 240,000 to more than 1.6 million.
· At yearend 2011, state prisons taken as a whole were operating between full capacity and 44 percent above capacity while federal prisons were operating at 38 percent above capacity. That would suggest that as many as 608,000 (44 percent) of the 1,382,418 persons held in state prison and 82,217 (38 percent) of the 216,362 persons held in federal prison were housed in overcrowded facilities.
A. Why Are Prisons Overcrowded?
· Prisons are overcrowded for four main reasons:
o The first is a continuous increase in the number of people sent to prison.
o The second reason is that offenders now serve a larger portion of their sentences.
o The third reason prisons are overcrowded is that many incoming prisoners are drug users, not the drug dealers the tougher drug laws were designed to capture.
o The fourth reason prisons are overcrowded is a trend some people call the “prison industrial complex.” Private corporations have a real estate investment in the prisons they build and operate. Correctional officers’ unions are expanding in many states and securing the use of incarceration into the future. States had an incentive to incarcerate because the 1994 crime bill provides matching funds to states to keep violent offenders in prison longer by denying them parole and requiring they serve at least 85 percent of their sentences.
B. What Are the Consequences of Prison Overcrowding?
· The BOP uses double and triple bunking in excess, bringing together inmates for longer periods of time, increasing the risk of violence and of potential victims.
· Overcrowding in federal prisons means fewer opportunities to engage in meaningful work, resulting in inmate idleness, additional tension, and fighting; that discord then affects the security and safety of other inmates and staff.
· Overcrowding affects inmate conduct and the imposition of discipline, thereby affecting security and safety; the most frequently imposed sanctions are loss of privileges, disallowance of good time credit, and segregation.
· Overcrowding may also result in a critical incident (e.g., assaults on staff by several inmates or a food or work strike), which could lead to a facility lockdown—a temporary situation in which all inmates are confined to their cells.
Prisons Under Court Order
· The last census, published in 2008, found that there were fewer public and private prisons under federal court order than there had been in 2000.
· The number of prisons under federal court order or consent decree to limit the size of their inmate population declined from 145 in 2000 to 44 in 2005, from 119 public and 26 private prisons in 2000 to 21 public and 23 private in 2005.
Prison Sexual Violence
· Another serious consequence of prison overcrowding is sexual violence, which includes nonconsensual sexual acts (considered the most serious form of sexual assault), abusive sexual assault, staff sexual misconduct, and staff sexual harassment.
· The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) of 2003 requires the Bureau of Justice Statistics to perform a comprehensive statistical review and analysis of the incidents and effects of sexual victimization for each calendar year.
C. How Can Prison Overcrowding Be Controlled?
· In most jurisdictions across the United States today, we find at least six methods of controlling prison overcrowding:
o Reduce the number of people going to prison.
o Release the less dangerous to make room for the more dangerous.
o Change prison or jail sentences to community-related sentences.
o Increase the number of releases.
o Expand existing prison capacity or build new prisons.
o Implement an overall program of structured sentencing.
II. Prison Security
A. Prison Gangs – Security Threat Groups (Arizona Security Threat Group Click Here)
· Prison gangs are among the most significant developments in American prisons since the existence of the Gypsy Jokers Motorcycle Club was first recorded at the Walla Walla, Washington, penitentiary in 1950.
· Most STGs were founded along racial and ethnic lines to offer inmates protection, but today many of them have joined alliances with other STGs to conduct organized criminal activity such as drug trafficking, prostitution, assault, or extortion.
· New among the STGs is an influx of street gangs such as Mara Salvatrucha 13 (MS-13) composed mostly of Salvadorans, Hondurans, Guatemalans, and Nicaraguans, Miami’s “112 Avenue Boys,” and Boston’s “Franklin Field Pistons,” that have less national organization than traditional STGs and do not easily fit into standard prison gang categories because of their smaller numbers, fewer cohesive ties, and less organized methods of operation.
· Research shows that STG members are five times more likely to incite or be involved in prison violence than are nonmembers and twice as likely to perpetuate assault within the first three years of incarceration when compared to inmates not affiliated with an STG.
· STGs have a profound impact on prison security, and many prisons have a Security Threat Group Unit (STG) that is responsible for the identification and overall coordination of all STG-related information at their facilities.
· In an attempt to control STG influence, some prison administrators have transferred known STG members from one institution to another only to find that this practice actually increased STG organization and activity—it extended the STG’s influence throughout a state’s prison systems. Other states enacted “gang enhancement” statutes that imposed severe sentences on STG activity. Today, many states are adopting a new strategy, segregating known STG members to highly restrictive supermax housing, correctional facilities that are designed to house the “worst of the worst” prisoners under complete lockdown and total isolation.
· Besides STGs, there is another kind of threat to prison security today. It’s the threat posed by radicalized prisoners.
B. Female Gangs: Security Threat Groups
· Women represent only 7 percent of the prison population, they have been relegated to the periphery of correctional research.
· Female gang members are more involved with the underground prison economy and drug distribution than nonaffiliated women offenders.
· One of the problems is that they are seldom formally evaluated and there is little empirical evidence of their success.
· Furthermore, an approach that is successful in one prison could fail in another, and what works for male STG members may or may not work for women members.
C. Jail Gangs – Security Threat Groups
· Most of the knowledge about STGs is based on research conducted in state or federal prisons. Comparatively little is known about the extent of STGs in jails.
· Designation of gang membership by another law enforcement agency along with tattoos, clothing/gang colors, hand signs, and an individual’s self-declaration was commonly used to define STG membership.
· When asked about the problems that STG members cause in their facilities, jail administrators reported that gang members as less disruptive than inmates with severe mental illnesses but are more likely to assault other inmates.
California Security Threat Group Prevention Guide
Arizona Department of Correction Security Threat Group Policy
D. Prison Riots and Disturbances
· Each prison disturbance and riot is unique.
· The precipitating conditions, resolutions, and aftermath are shaped by the characteristics of the institution, its staff, its administration, and its inmate Three of the bloodiest and most violent prison riots in the United States occurred in severely overcrowded prisons in New York in 1971, in New Mexico in 1980, and in Ohio in 1993.
Causes of Prison Riots
· According to sociology professor Burt Useem at Purdue University, there are five theoretical explanations for the causes of prison riots:
o Random chance
o Bad conditions
o Rebellious inmates and racial antagonism
o Institutional structure and readiness
o Administrative factors
Preventing Prison Riots
· Corrections officials can implement immediate measures to reduce the likelihood of inmate aggression, including the following:
o Formal inmate grievance procedures
o Ombudsmen to mediate disputes
o An improved classification system
o Smaller institutions
o Meaningful prison school and work programs
o Alternatives to incarceration
o Professional corrections staff that are trained and well paid
o Administrators who are visible and available to staff and inmates
o Clearly written and understood policies on the use of force when necessary
Kingman, Arizona Riot Report (Click Here)
1980 New Mexico Prison Riot Report
New Mexico Prison Riot Worksheet Click Here (Complete and Submit to Individual Forum)
III. Supermax Housing and “No-Frills” Prisons and Jails
A. Supermax Housing
· A freestanding facility, or a distinct unit within a facility, that provides for management and secure control of inmates who have been officially designated as exhibiting violent or serious and disruptive behavior while incarcerated.
· In 1829, the Eastern State Penitentiary in Cherry Hill, Pennsylvania, was built on the principle of solitary confinement.
· Supermax prisons are significantly more expensive to build than traditional prisons due in part to the enhanced and extensive high-security features on locks, doors, and perimeters; heavily reinforced concrete walls, ceilings, and floors; and incorporation of advanced electronic systems and technology.
· Criminologists, psychiatrists, lawyers, and the courts who have studied the effects of long-term solitary confinement report evidence of acute sensory deprivation, paranoid delusion belief systems, irrational fears of violence, resentment, little ability to control rage, and mental breakdowns. Forty-five percent of prisoners in Washington’s supermax units were diagnosed as seriously mentally ill.
· The court ruled in Madrid v. Gomez (1995), that “conditions in security housing unit did impose cruel and unusual punishment on mentally ill prisoners” and “those who were at particularly high risk for suffering very serious or severe injury to their mental health.”
B. No-Frills Prisons and Jails
· No-frills prisons and jails take away prisoner amenities and privileges are part of the corrections landscape.
· New policies are designed to make jail and prison life as unpleasant as possible in the belief that such conditions deter even the most hardened criminals.
· At the federal level, the No-Frills Prison Act was enacted in 1996.
· Would the public be more supportive of prison amenities if it knew the inmates paid for them? According to a citizens’ survey in Tampa Bay, Florida, the answer is yes.
· Legislators claim that inmates will not want to be incarcerated or reincarcerated under such harsh conditions. State wardens, corrections experts, and attorneys do not believe that eliminating privileges will reduce crime.
IV. Accreditation
· Accreditation is a process through which correctional facilities and agencies can measure themselves against nationally adopted standards and through which they can receive formal recognitions and accredited status.
A. Why Should Correctional Agencies and Facilities be Accredited
· There are at least eight reasons that correctional agencies and facilities should be accredited:
1. Accreditation Improves Staff Training and Development
· Accreditation requires having written policy and procedures to establish a training and staff development program for all categories of personnel.
2. Accreditation Assesses Program Strengths and Weaknesses
· Accreditation assesses issues and concerns that affect the quality of life at a facility such as staff training, adequacy of medical services, sanitation, use of segregation and detention, incidents of violence, crowding, offender activity levels, programs, and provisions of basic services that may impact the life, safety, and health of inmates and staff.
3. Accreditation Is a Defense Against Lawsuits
· Accredited agencies and facilities have a stronger defense against litigation through documentation and the demonstration of a “good faith” effort to improve conditions of confinement.
4. Accreditation Establishes Measurable Criteria For Upgrading Operations
· Through the standards and accreditation process, agencies continuously review their policies and procedures and have the ability to make necessary improvements when deficiencies are recognized.
5. Accreditation Improves Staff Morale And Professionalism
· Accreditation is awarded to the “best of the best” in the corrections field.
6. Accreditation Offers A Safer Environment For Staff And Offenders
· Staff and offenders benefit from increased accountability and attention to physical plant issues and security procedures.
7. Accreditation Reduces Liability Insurance Costs
· Insurance companies offer a reduction on liability insurance premiums to accredited agencies and facilities.
8. Accreditation Offers Performance-Based Benefits
· Performance-based standards provide data that can be used to gauge the day-to-day management of the facility, thereby providing agencies with a cost-effective, proactive approach to offender care.
V. Privatization
· Privatization is defined as a contract process that shifts public functions, responsibilities, and capital assets, in whole or in part, from the public sector to the private sector.
· In corrections, privatization is generally one of three types:
o Contracting out
o Private sector development
o Full-scale private management
A. The Debate
· Largely because there has been no conclusive research, arguments continue to rage over the merits of privately run correctional facilities. The overriding reason supporting privatization in corrections is the desire of state and local governments to rapidly increase bed space, and save taxpayers money by providing correctional services traditionally supplied by government at less cost.
· Opponents of privatization, on the other hand, build their arguments on mostly philosophical grounds
B. Privatizing Probation and Parole
· In most states, the impetus for privatizing probation and parole was similar: Staffing and resources were not keeping pace with increasing caseloads.
· States partnered with the private sector to monitor the low risk offender population, a group that generally has few needs, whose past records reflect little or no violence, and that successfully completes community supervision about 90 percent of the time.
VI. Technocorrections
· Technological changes have impacted communication, offender and officer tracking and recognition, and detection.
A. Communication
· Several years ago, the Federal Bureau of Prisons set up e-mail programs that allow inmates to send and receive e-mails.
o Messages are screened for key words, are read by correctional officers before they are sent, and can be sent only to contacts who agree beforehand to receive e-mail from specific inmates.
· Technology has also produced the newest prison contraband: cell phones.
o The solution may be a new system introduced in California and Mississippi. Called managed access, cell towers at each prison accept communication only from approved phones that prison officials’ control.
o Other states would like the Federal Communications Commission to grant them authority to overpower the signal with a stronger one (called jamming ) or “trick” the cell phone to react as if a “no service” signal is received (called spoofing)
Videoconferencing
· Prison systems across the country are using videoconferencing for arraignments, interrogations, and visitation.
· Virtual visiting has become the latest trend in prisons; at least 20 states now have some type of video conferencing system in place. Because most prisoners are housed in facilities far removed from their homes, frequent visits sometimes are impossible, and video calls offer the opportunity for virtual face time.
Telemedicine
· Telemedicine, one of the newest advances in medicine, is providing prisoners’ cost-effective health care.
· Health care in correctional settings is improved, and the substantial savings on in-prison consultations and on trips to local providers can offset the costs of introducing this technology.
B. Offender and Officer Tracking and Recognition
· Remote-location monitoring of offenders is steadily improving and is likely to be used far more in the future. However, remote-location monitoring is not just for inmates.
· Fairly new in the field of corrections is the Global Positioning System (GPS).
· The GPS tracking unit worn by an offender allows computers to pinpoint the offender’s location at any time to the precise street address.
· The principles of geographic information systems (GISs) are also changing corrections. GIS links graphics with tabular information to produce a graphical, layered, spatial interface or map that can help prison management in many ways.
C. Detection
· One is ground-penetrating radar (GPR), which can be used to locate underground escape tunnels.
· Another is heartbeat monitoring. Using the same technology employed by geologists to detect earthquakes, geophone machines can detect the heartbeat of an inmate trying to escape in a laundry or trash truck leaving the prison.
· Pupillometry (a binocular-like device that flashes a light to stimulate pupil contraction) can also measure drug or alcohol use. Another technological tool for drug testing has inmates look through a viewfinder. Ion scans can also detect drug particles on visitors to correctional facilities
D. Implementation
· Despite the increase in such technology, obstacles must still be overcome.
· Corrections personnel have been slow to embrace new technology, in part because new systems can be unreliable and difficult to maintain and have high life cycle costs.
· Ethical concerns about the rights of offenders might be another barrier to implementing new technology.