disorders. It is required that all of the confinement facility staff be well versed and trained in the
contents of the emergency plans.
4. Conditions, which underline the situations of escapes, fires, and prisoner disorders, and the
plans for coping with these emergencies, will be discussed in the following paragraphs. Explosive
devices and the threat of explosive devices are also a potential threat at a confinement facility.
Therefore, the requirements for the safety of the prisoners and custodial personnel will also be
discussed.
5. Escape attempts by prisoners may be motivated by problems with the confinement facility
staff, the physical plant of the facilities, or the prisoner's emotional state. These motivational
conditions can be prevented or corrected through continuous review of all aspects relating to the
confinement facility staff, the physical plant of the facilities, and by early recognition of changing
attitudes and behaviors in prisoners.
6. Problems relating to the confinement facility staff which must be noted and corrected
include:
a. Lack of sufficient personnel. This requires continuous personnel requisitioning action.
b. Lack of training and experience. This requires that available training for corrections
personnel be obtained at the proponent. It also requires that a continuous program of training be
conducted to maintain personnel proficiency. This should be supplemented by on-the-job training
with experienced personnel.
c. Negligent or ineffective correction procedures. Training and close supervision are key in
maintaining procedural standards.
d. Failure to observe prisoners or failure to report important observations. Training and
closer supervision are required to ensure attention to detail in the performance of duties.
Observation and awareness along with proper documentation can prevent potentially dangerous
incidents.
e. Improper attitudes towards prisoners. The correctional philosophy must be stressed in all
training and orientations for the confinement facility staff.
f. Undue familiarity with prisoners. The saying, familiarity breeds contempt, is clearly
applicable to confinement facility operations. This problem requires that the facility staff be
convinced that they cannot control or correct personnel with whom they are unduly familiar.
7. Problems relating to the physical plant which must be found and corrected are those existing
in the locking devices; the lighting, primary and alternate; fencing, gates, towers, or lack thereof;
faulty building materials; and the communications or alarm devices. Corrective means will be
based on local actions to obtain equipment and devices that meet standards established by the chief
of engineers.
8. Problems that affect the prisoner's emotional state must be recognized and properly solved
before they motivate the prisoner to attempt an escape. Symptoms that indicate a change in a
prisoner's attitude are anxiety, loudness, quietness, hostility, irritability, withdrawal, and other
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