NCJ Number
157865
Date Published
Unknown
Length
0 pages
Annotation
This video traces the history of correctional-facility design and shows how three types of design impact jail management.
Abstract
The format for the video is audio narration, accompanied by still photos of facility floor plans as well as specific areas and furnishings of existing contemporary facilities. The first type of correctional facility design portrayed is the linear/intermittent surveillance design. This design consists of linear hallways bordered by cells typically joined to a centralized administrative area. This design impedes surveillance, since it requires that correctional staff conduct mobile patrols to observe and hear what is occurring in inmate cells. Significantly more staff are required to provide increased surveillance. The earliest jail facilities, notably the Walnut Street Jail in Philadelphia and the Auburn facility in New York, are examples of this type of design. The more recent jail designs described and illustrated with the floor plans of particular facilities are the podular/remote surveillance and the podular/direct supervision. In the podular design, cells form the perimeter around a common area, where staff are located relatively close to the cells to hear and observe what is occurring. The podular/remote surveillance facilities have improved surveillance compared to the linear design, but have more physical barriers and vandal-proof equipment and furnishings than the podular/direct supervision design. The latter design focuses on enhancing interaction between staff and inmates and on making the staff-inmate ratio more cost-effective. Some facilities profiled are the Harris County Jail in Houston, Tex.; the New York Metropolitan Correctional Center; the Chicago Metropolitan Correctional Center; the Contra Costa County Jail (California); and the Federal correctional facility in Tucson, Ariz.