Transporting Inmates

I feel the recent Auburn Escape calls attention to several sensitive security subjects. As you know, taking an inmate outside of the facility is always risky. There's no 'down time' like there is inside. You have to raise your awareness to new levels, as the threats can come from many directions. Most inmates don't want to remain in jail and will often try to escape, given the oppourtunity. If I was an inmate with escape on my mind, I'd attempt it on a medical or funeral trip. So- if you are unfamiliar with restraints, it's MUCH better to get advice/help from someone rather than faking it and putting the restraints on the inmate incorrectly. There are procedures to follow and it's easy to get the restraints on in a way that will allow the inmate to slip out of them. You wouldn't believe the inmates I've seen with upside down handcuffs, waist chains around their knees, etc, etc. So- if you want to trip, get trip training, or at least have a regular trip CO check out your setup.
Now, I hate to second guess CO's, but the recent Auburn escape makes me think that the inmate's restraints were on too loose. When attaching cuffs, put them on the smallest part of the wrist, don't let the inmate jam his arms forward and then complain that the bracelets are too tight. Slide the tip of your thumb into the cuff when you are adjusting it. That's plenty of room for him. The same with leg-irons. You DO NOT want him slipping out of them! Don't forget to backlock them, that will provent them from tightening and then there no excuse for messing with them later.
Become familiar with the S&W Model 10 and your holster. Practice shooting. Become a good shot. Play paintball, which will give you practice shooting at people that are running around and shooting at you.
Then, look deep into your heart. If you don't think you can do your job, which may include shooting someone in the back as he's running away from you, then stay inside the perimeter.
And always remember, we work for a malicious employer. They say, the moment you fire a weapon, a dump truck full of paperwork leaves Albany heading for your house. But if you've properly restrained the inmate and maintained security, there should be no need for gunplay.
Stay safe...

The Aburn Escape

Here's an account of the 'Auburn Escape' from The Post Standard, a Syracuse Paper:

Inmate attempts escape in Cicero
Prisoner from Auburn lockup jumps from transport van, flees guards in parking lot.
Friday, July 28, 2006
By Brian Mannion Staff writer
State corrections officers shot at, and missed, a prisoner as he escaped from a transport van Thursday in a parking lot in Cicero, the Onondaga County sheriff said.
Kevin Fitzpatrick, 32, serving time in Auburn Correctional Facility for a previous escape conviction, was being taken back to Auburn after answering parole violation charges in Jefferson County, Sheriff Kevin Walsh said. Walsh said Fitzpatrick escaped from the van about 4 p.m. in a parking lot near Best-Way Professional Beauty Supply, 7821 Route 11.
Deputies captured him a few minutes later in a parking lot across Route 481 from where he had escaped, Walsh said.
On the scene, Walsh gave this account:
Fitzpatrick told guards, whom authorities have not identified, that he had to go to the bathroom. Fitzpatrick had been placed in the van in shackles, a waist chain and handcuffs, but he somehow freed himself from his leg irons in the van. When the guards stopped and opened the rear door in the parking lot on Route 11, Fitzpatrick jumped out and ran west behind the beauty supply shop.
Guards called for help. Then, while Fitzpatrick was running along the side of the shop, a guard shot at him.
"They were trying to catch him," Walsh said. "He was much more young and agile than they are."
Walsh said guards may, under state law, shoot at a prisoner who is trying to escape. Walsh also said the guard who fired the shots didn't endanger bystanders because he fired into a vacant wooded area behind the beauty shop, not in the direction of anyone except the prisoner.
Deputies found Fitzpatrick about an eighth of a mile from the escape site, the sheriff said. He was sitting on a concrete slab in the open in the front lot of a landscaping business at 5607 Business Ave. and was captured without a struggle, Walsh said.
Fitzpatrick was treated for an asthmatic condition at the site, then taken into custody.
He was wearing his waist chain when deputies found him but had somehow worked his way out of his handcuffs too, Walsh said.
State troopers, deputies and Cicero and North Syracuse police responded. The sheriff's office and the state inspector general and Department of Correctional Services are investigating the incident, Walsh said.
Lori Fiumara, of Clay, was driving by the beauty shop on Route 11 when she saw the guards jump out of the van and shout at a running man wearing a green inmate uniform, she said.
"I saw one of them pull his gun," Fiumara said, re-enacting the way the guard took a shooting stance, "and fire two shots."

The Payment Schedule

OK, by now most of you will have heard about the last payment date.
Here it is, straight from the horse's mouth, complete with the whining about our union officials and only slightly edited for effect.
Or, click on the link above and read the original version right off the Comptroller's page with the fancy graphics...

CONTACT:
Press Office(518) 474-4015
FOR RELEASE:
ImmediatelyAugust 7, 2006

Correctional Officers to Finally Receive Full Retroactive Salary Increases October 26
Interim Payments to be Made on August 31and September 28
The following is modified text of a letter sent to Correctional Officers today informing them that they will receive their full retroactive salary increases on October 26:

Dear Sucker, er, I mean, Correctional Officer:
I am writing to tell you exactly when you will finally get all of your money.
You will see your raise in your October 26 check. In that check you will also get retroactive pay, minus what you got in the check you will get on August 31. I'm sure you've already spent it, anyway.

So here is the schedule:
On August 31 you will get back pay of as much as $7,500. Lots of taxes will be taken out, so your take home will be much less than that.
On September 28 you will get the retroactive adjustment to the uniform allowance payment and the security enforcement differential.
On September 28 we will also include location pay adjustments, including the new Lower Mid-Hudson location pay.
The retroactive security enforcement differential and the location pay will be included in your September 28 paycheck, while the retroactive uniform allowance will be issued in a separate check. The SLED will be added to your base, but the Uniform Allowance will not, even though the state initially agreed to do so.
On October 26 you will get the full retroactive salary increases, minus what you already got in August. (These are 2.25% effective April 2003, 2.75% effective April 2004, 3.00% effective April 2005, and 3.00% effective April 2006).
On October 26 we will also include retroactive increases in the 10, 15 and 20-year longevity payments, apply the retroactive increase in union dues, and, finally, FINALLY, advance everyone to their new base salary. All this will be taxed heavily.
On November 22 we expect to pay the new 25-year longevity payment with retro to eligible employees
Adjustments to inconvenience pay will be made beginning in September and will be much smaller than you expect.
Your paycheck stub or direct deposit advice will list the amounts of each retroactive payment.
The OSC Payroll Office will produce all relevant information to bring your retirement records up to date. This will require no action on your part.
[Now the whiney part:]
When your union’s leaders negotiated your contract they made it very, very complicated. [Ok, so now they're admitting it IS a negotiated contract which was NOT brought back to the members to be voted on, rather than an arbitrated award -ed.] Then, rather than work with us, your leaders went out and gave out lots of bad information. We feel they did that to cover themselves and make them look good at the expense of our office. So, they spent their time having some members call the Comptroller’s Office to complain. We appreciate those of you who were courteous to our staff. We respect the fight you waged for a decent contract, the difficulty of your talks and the work that you do for the people of this State. We hope this letter answers your questions, even if it does not meet what you have been led to expect from your union leaders. Most of the people working on this complicated contract are public employee union members like you. They have worked very hard to get this job done. They have always been professional. The same is not true for your union leaders.

Good Luck.