Detention Ministry

Reading the News

Well, there is a lot in the news lately concerning prisons and jails, and I thought a little background would help out a bit.

Escapes: Prison escapes are a staple in movies, but they are now actually rather rare, at least in the California state prison system. In 1990 there were 81 escapes of all kinds from prisons or camps out of a total of about 97,000 prisoners. Last year, in 2009, there were 22 escapes out of a prison population of just short of 170,000 -- the escape rate now is nine times lower than 20 years ago. The main reason is that most prisons in this state have been built in the last 25 years and are very good indeed at keeping people in. The majority of escapes are inmates “walking off” from minimum security facilities, as happened recently at Pleasant Valley State Prison near Coalinga. Minimum security inmates should not have a history of violence. These inmates take care of cleaning and maintenance work in prisons, and provide conservation and wild land fire crews in camps. (We have four such camps within the diocese of Fresno.) Over 98% of all escapees are recaptured, most of them very quickly.

Lockdowns: Every so often you will hear or read that a prison has been “locked down”. This has happened recently at several facilities in this diocese. When necessary, prison staff can restrict movement and activity of inmates in all or part of a prison. This can range from making it a bit more involved to get out of your building to go wash clothes or attend religious services, to keeping all inmates in their cells on their own beds. Prisons are divided up into “yards”, each of which is designed and operated at a specific level of security ― minimum to maximum ― and can be closed off individually. (Shutting down a yard is much more common than locking down a prison.)

Some of the most common reasons for a lockdown are violence, contraband, something missing, or staff shortages. If an inmate attacks another inmate or staff member, or the administration believes that attacks or fights are likely, inmates will be restricted to their housing, often to their cells. This increases security and when needed, allows for investigation.

Many things are contraband inside a prison, some things you would expect, and some you might not. It is not surprising that drugs, money, improvised weapons and escape paraphernalia are prohibited. The biggest new problem is cell phones, which provide a means of unauthorized and unmonitored communications with persons outside the prison, or even between two parts of the same prison.

In general, either people or things go missing in a prison. Inmates are counted five times a day. If an inmate misses count or cannot be located when needed, all inmates may be recalled back to their housing for an emergency count to try to locate the inmate. If keys, staff identification, or other key equipment is missing, inmates can be recalled until the item is found. Prisons are big places ― this can take a long time and the staff will keep at it until they account for what is missing.

And finally, a prison can (and often does) go on what is often called “modified program” if there are not enough corrections officers (CO's) available. A CO may be absent from work for all the same reasons as all of us are. Also, unpredictable things such as having to escort a sick inmate to a hospital outside can tie down staff for hours, requiring other activities to be curtailed. This is also a cause of the large amount of overtime paid in the prison system, a significant part of the budget problems our corrections system has now.