I was starting my 10th week of the FTO program and had just begun working the 2nd shift. On my second day, I helped the senior officer I was to be riding with clean out his old patrol car and put all his gear and SWAT equipment into a new vehicle the Sheriffs Department had just bought from the
Later that night we had to transfer a prisoner from our county jail, after he attended court, to a maximum security prison in
He is very educated and actually used prison food mixed with condiments that were eroding the cell bars before it was discovered. There was a sticky note on his paperwork that said to watch this prisoner carefully. The correctional officers also told us this guy is sneaky and will most likely try to escape if the opportunity arose.
We placed him in the back seat and drove about 10 miles to fuel up. Early on I told my partner to lock the windows so the prisoner could not roll the electric windows down. He joked saying, “What’s he gonna do, climb out the window shackled?”
We stopped for gas and my senior partner went to use the restroom and get something to drink while I moved the car from the pumps to the front of the gas station. While the vehicle was stationary I stood outside the car keeping my partner in the store in view along with the prisoner.
We then drove to the prison without incident and returned the prisoner to the maximum security prison.
The following day my partner jumped in the back seat to test the doors and found that he could open them from the inside. We quickly found where the child locks were and set them in the locked position.
Long story short, we transported an expected problem prisoner convicted of murder in an unfamiliar patrol car that unbeknownst to us was capable of being opened from the inside.
Know your equipment—including your patrol unit. That was a minor detail that could have cost someone their life.