NCJ Number
198063
Journal
Police: The Law Enforcement Magazine Volume: 26 Issue: 10 Dated: October 2002 Pages: 32,34,36,38
Date Published
October 2002
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article describes the special skills and tools needed for working with inmates in Federal penitentiaries and county jails.
Abstract
Addressing special skills and tools used by corrections officials, this article details the ways in which corrections officers work with inmates in various penitentiary and county jail systems. After arguing that prisoner incidents and uprisings are far too common in corrections facilities, the author maintains that corrections officers are equipped to deal with such incidents. Discussing how county jails benefit from new improved equipment as much as do larger penal institutions, the article focuses on corrections officers’ use of pepper spray, personal body armor, handcuffs, nightsticks, batons, rescue knives, and the officers’ own wits. Addressing times when corrections officers are required to extract inmates from their cells, the author describes the tasers, helmets, pepper-ball guns, body armor, prostraint chairs, and emergency response belts used in such instances. Discussing the equipment used in instances of riot control, the article presents descriptions of the helmets, shields, United States Army M-17 gas masks, nightsticks, riot baton, grenades, shotguns, and tear gas dispensers employed at the time of prison riots in order to keep both inmates and corrections officials safe.