Last week I was contacted to do a discipline review board (DRB) hearing on an inmate who was a chronic avoider of hole time. He knew how to work the system, frequently faking medical and mental health emergencies to avoid the time he owed. Rank also did not impress him. At his previous DRB he cursed out one of my partners.
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Rather than conduct the DRB hearing in the inmate’s cell, I asked one of my deputies to call him out of the cell on a make believe visiting pass. As soon as the inmate was off the row, we handcuffed him, took him out into the hallway and conducted the DRB and then we were off to the hole. The inmate was not a happy camper, but we avoided a potential cell extraction by our ruse. Take advantage of your knowledge of your institution and pick the terrain for your contacts with your inmates when they are the most vulnerable and you are the strongest. Do not let inmates choose the time and place for their encounters with you.
This may seem like common sense, but there have been major tactical screwups that did not take this simple notion into consideration. Does anybody remember Waco? David Koresch frequently came into town to buy groceries. Why not snatch him on the street instead of confront him at his armed compound?
A similar mistake cost our department dearly in 2001. A suspect, wanted on weapons charges, was served an arrest warrant at his home by the ATF despite the fact that it was common knowledge that he walked his dog every day at the same time and was vulnerable to a snatch and grab. In the ensuing standoff with the suspect, he shot and killed one of our deputies. You pick the time and place when your inmates are most exposed and off balance. Then overwhelm them with superior numbers. This will result in fewer injuries to both your people and your inmates.
Read more from Sgt. John Stanley: Terrain analysis: From corrections to patrol