A leak in the plumbing chase between dormitories 14 and 15. Two parking lot lights out near the administration building. Time to change the HVAC filters in one of the general population cell blocks. Each of these occurrences calls for your facility management personnel to act, quickly. While these and countless other maintenance issues are cause for gripes from inmates and officers alike, the real reason they should register on a facility administrator's screen is the potential and actual implications for facility security.

The connection here is one that most wardens, directors and superintendents would shrug at and concede "sure, my maintenance guys are important." I do not want to insinuate that management is less attentive to facility management or maintenance issues or personnel than other priorities however the reality is that many important topics crowd an administrator each and every day. The point is more that the critical connection between security and facility management is rarely stressed or reinforced to our staff. This argument can be made for the importance of medical staff, educational staff and the occasional informed visitor from outside who walks through and makes observations, but all of them for another article.

There was a time in our profession and industry when correctional officers, then called guards, were hired at times because they could not acquire employment in other fields. Likewise, facility management staff, then called simply maintenance or handy-man, was either someone's cousin who needed a job or, at times, borrowed from another city or county department in the case of local jails and detention or they may have been a correctional officer at a state or federal prison who was pressed into service since they were "handy with a wrench." For those readers who are cringing because you still recognize this is often the method, just go with me on this.

M.B.W.A.

Most leaders and senior managers are familiar with the concept of Management by Walking Around (MBWA) that espouses knowing what is going on in your operation by a deliberate activity of meeting with employees throughout your organization to hear their views and thoughts. Most experienced managers know that this frequently lets you in for hearing the normal grousing of officers and staff who feel a need to vent to a boss. Keep in mind that successful ventures in public and private sectors alike have utilized this approach to boost morale and improve your particular measure of productivity. Sam Walton and Lee Iacocca were both known for listening to workers throughout the company.

So why not take a stroll with your facility manger or maintenance professional? Not only will this practice (yes, practice - done regularly) educate you on myriad functional aspects, limitations and vulnerabilities of your facility, it will provide you with some important face time with various staff and maybe an inmate or two that we all say we need to do more often but rarely seem to find time for. Your facility management person gives you a viable reason not to get distracted too long with extraneous issues. Just remember to make a note of other issues brought to your attention so that you can get back with them later.

Make a List

While you will want and expect your facility manager or other staff to bring a clipboard and notes, make sure that you do the same. You may have time to occasionally do the full maintenance inspection with the staff member but you may be conducting a less comprehensive walk through. Either way, there are particular items you want to note so that you can brief subordinate supervisors or other staff as well as to follow-up later to ensure any deficiency has been corrected. Bring along a line level officer if you are really innovative. He or she will learn as much as you will and may add their own thoughts about security tie-ins or general facility operation. The opportunity to reveal to your staff that you do not know everything is also more valuable than most managers and leaders realize. Leave your ego back in your office.

You probably already have in your mind a number of areas that you know are important to check. Perimeter barriers, audio and video surveillance equipment, controls perhaps. This is the tip of the iceberg in terms of what your facility management person or staff deal with and may see as security-related. And this is part of the point as well; some facility management folks clearly understand the functional issues of their roles, but do not understand their value to the facility as a security adjunct. This allows you both to have a more concrete understanding and validation of the fact that they impact security whether anyone is aware of it or not.

Seen, but not Noticed

Often the maintenance personnel or a sub-contractor is, by necessity, in close contact with inmates inside or outside the facility. Sometimes this is a result of  repairs or installation within a housing unit, sometimes it is through utilization of inmate workers to assist  the professional. Either way the circumstance allows the employee or contract worker to observe and listen to the inmates. Most lay people think "that's useless, an inmate would never say anything in front of an employee." We know that is not always the case. While we do not expect an inmate to roll out a scale drawing of how to go over the wall that they completed that morning at breakfast, they do communicate important information that affect security. Sometimes this is accidental on their part, sometimes it may be to see if a non-officer employee will repeat it or to send false information to the administration or security personnel to act on. Remember, these people have 24/7 to think of disruptive things to do.

What surprises even experienced correctional personnel is when an inmate makes an outright helpful suggestion about the security or function of the facility, yet it does happen. And who better than someone who lives in the building and interacts with the other mandatory residents of our correctional endeavors?  Whether wanting to feel important, get attention, or actually be of help, an inmate may provide information about a security breach or weakness or an efficiency issue in the building. And while I am not sure that I am suggesting an exit interview of every inmate (although probably some), keep in mind that facility management personnel and respected correctional officers do receive information all the time from inmates. Is that information getting everywhere it needs to?

Equipment Check

Visitation booth equipment, including handsets and window seals make a good example. I was nearing completion of three years of my life spent in the design and construction of a nearly 1,200 bed jail in central Florida when I was making one of an endless series of walks with construction management personnel. One of my sheriff's office personnel had discovered that the baffles adjacent to the visitation booth windows allowed for a straw to be pushed through at an angel to potentially introduce perhaps a powdered drug to an inmate. We converted to hand-sets. Another observation during construction by a maintenance worker made to me was about the need for 220-volt electrical service in housing areas to effectively use welding equipment for repairs. Solution: every other plumbing chase was provided a 220-volt outlet. This would have been expensive, or not even considered, if construction had been complete.

Fasteners, hinges and doors, Oh my...

In dozens of courtesy walk-through surveys I have conducted in correctional facilities, I have made a habit of studying not just the doors and hinges, but the door hardware and chase access fasteners. It really is amazing what some builders will do to cut corners or architects will spec out of ignorance or the use of a junior architect or non-criminal justice experienced architect for that portion of a facility's design. I can remember a series of 3'x3' chase access panels secured in place by 32 security-head screws. The panels did not even have hinges. I felt so bad for the facility management personnel who would have to deal with that kind of overlooked facility management issue. The security flip-side? Some access doors leading to chases with egress potential are left unsecured by maintenance personnel.

Tool and sensitive item control is everyone's concern in a correctional facility; toolboxes and shadow-boards are often the province of facility management personnel. The procedures that address inventory control and the discipline imposed by properly maintained shadow boards and tool-box cut-outs help reinforce to facility management personnel the dangers of loosing track of items. Detailing security personnel to assist by double-checking these areas can only benefit the entire facility and enhance understanding of facility management importance to the security staff. Do outside contractors bring in their own tools? Probably. Is a complete inventory conducted to document and ensure that that goes in comes back out? Quick digital recording of the contents can be invaluable later if a security threat or breach occurs and quick questions need to be answered.

Increased maintenance due to crowding is often overlooked as security personnel and management goes about the business of housing more inmates than a facility was designed for -- not an uncommon challenge in recent corrections history if ever. Partial capacity is a "problem" that is perhaps not faced very often by administrators. But facility management personnel know this can lead to cannibalizing parts from unused areas or equipment. Do you routinely keep a 10 percent stock of extra parts on hand? This issue is also a consideration during planning for and actual construction. Work this into your budget. Trust me, your construction manager or general contractor is familiar with this and arguably in a correctional facility the need for on-hand parts and supplies is more critical than the average building.  Generators and emergency supplies and readiness go in this category as well.

Gate functioning, locks and controls whether electro-mechanical, pneumatic or manual call for scheduled maintenance and again, replacement parts on hand. If your facility manager or maintenance staff still struggle with electro-mechanical or even membrane control panels, ask if they have enough hay-seed light bulbs on hand or ask a midnight shift officer if the bulbs are all functional on the master-control board. Automation systems in general through-out the facility are important and it is a good practice to have the facility management folks conduct familiarity briefings or walking tours for shift supervisors, potential acting shift supervisors or training officers. Don't you think new officers in training should know where the water shut-offs are and how to run the emergency generator through its weekly test cycle?

Doors to maintenance areas or chases that are left unsecured is sometimes rationalized as expedient during the day shift when maintenance personnel are in and out of them constantly. It is absolutely not acceptable and makes for really bad reading in an after-action report from an escape.  On a walk-around of one of my former facilities I remember walking out the rear of a kitchen area to find the facility manager's pick-up truck backed up to the loading area to facilitate work he was doing in that area, he was nowhere to be seen. By habit I tried the driver's side door and was mildly surprised to find it unlocked. What was more of a surprise was reaching in to find the keys in the ignition. I climbed into the cab with my cup of coffee and, radioing master control to open the perimeter gates, calmly drove his truck to the main parking lot and strolled back inside to await his arrival in my office.

Staying Abreast of Changing Technology and Methods

Are you helping them? Does your facility manager have subscriptions to various trade journals? Keeping up with advances in systems and new methods does not mean having to keep up with the Joneses. I remember, painfully, having a fellow facility administrator opine to me once that if his maintenance people had  a "magazine and such" they would just want to buy "stuff." Trust your personnel to be responsible, that is how they stay responsible. Set expectations that you want the facility management section to remain up on products and procedures.

The condition of a facility is inextricably bound up with security concerns. Officers and inmates are more tolerant of their respective situations and status when things function properly. This is important to you as a manager or leader and it is important to maintain security within your facility. As you hold your facility management personnel accountable for their key role in facility security, so too must you educate yourself on their functions and support them in visible ways. I've been known to climb on a roof to help change filters in an air handler. I wanted to take the opportunity to examine the access hatch situation and my stock with maintenance and the staff actually went up upon hearing that I had actually helped perform this task. So go ahead, help your security, help your staff and help yourself by making the connection between security and facility management personnel.

*Richard Hough is a former adult corrections director, juvenile detention center superintendent, and currently teaches correctional and other courses and consults. To contact him at the Criminal Justice and Legal Studies Division of the University of West Florida, call 850-857-6413 or E-mail him at rhough@uwf.edu