2005 began for corrections officials at the American Correctional Association's annual Winter Conference with a look back and a look ahead.

At the opening session for the conference last week, conference co-chair Dora Schriro, Director of the Arizona Department of Corrections, welcomed attendees and urged them to participate in the workshops and programs to become better at what they do.

"Your contributions make a meaningful and measurable difference in our communities. Make no mistake about it, corrections professionals do make a difference in every state," she said.

Schriro used the hostage-taking at an Arizona facility last January as an example of why corrections officials need to be "at-the-ready" for any emergency.

"We have taken a hard look at ourselves and in some cases we liked what we saw and in others we found areas for improvement. Fix your soft spots now," she said.

Schriro said in the last year the Arizona DOC has begun a Back to Basics programs that stresses security and safety within the DOC's facilities.

New ACA President Gwendolyn Chunn asked attendees to look ahead to the ever-changing inmate populations and ways to better manage it.

Chunn specifically mentioned a new ACA initiative that will consider disproportionate minority incarceration and will work with the NAACP and National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice on ways to reduce the chances of incarceration by connecting with offenders and their family members locally.

Other speakers at the opening session raised different concerns, including whether or not prisons should be privatized. Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon told attendees that he had signed a letter recently objecting to the use of private prisons in the city. Gordon's comments came as protestors from the group CorrectionsUSA and representatives from labor unions protested the use of private companies in corrections.

Protestors handed out flyers as attendees gathered for the opening session criticizing the ACA's accreditation of private prisons that have reportedly had problems. Another flyer questioned whether low-cost private food service contracts saved money in the long run.

In closing the opening session, featured speaker Bernard Kerik, a former Commissioner of Police and Corrections in New York City, talked about he importance of security in a post-9/11 world.

"Is the enemy still out there? We've had phenomenal success in combating it in the war against terror," he said. "But I also think about how much further we have to go."

He also spoke of his service in Iraq as the interim Minister of the Interior as an extension of the war on terror.

"Like it or not there are still enemies out there," he said.

He called on corrections officials to remember that there is still work to be done at home and that corrections is a big part of that.

"In New York City, the DOC was an integral part of the assistance we had to have [on 9/11]. And corrections was a major part of rebuilding our city," he said.

He added that sharing intelligence among public safety and corrections agencies will also assist the nation is remaining safe from terrorism.

"Intelligence is the key to this battle in this country," he said.

With the conference named, "Corrections Contributions to a Safer World", attendees also got a large dose of information about ways they have and can promote a safe community through the conference workshops and sessions.

Sessions Gave Attendees Information, Assistance

The conference workshops included sessions about emergency evacuations, efforts to promote staff and community safety through training and how to improve communications within facilities.

In one workshop, speakers from Virginia talked about their experiences of evacuating  before a hurricane strike, while other speakers discussed their experiences in military and serving in the War on Terror.

Two new programs were debuted at the winter conference including a live satellite internet conference on "Addressing Prison Rape", which was sponsored by the National Institute of Corrections. The telecast provided an overview of preliminary findings form 12 site visits conducted through an NIC Cooperative Agreement with The Moss Group. The site visits were designed to learn the perspectives of prison rape from the field to highlight promising practices in a future telecast regarding the implementation of the Prison Rape Elimination Act.

A DVD recording of NIC's Town Hall meeting on the Prison Rape Elimination Act will be available from the NIC Information Center in early February 2005. To request a copy, send an e-mail message to asknicic@nicic.org, complete the online form at http://www.nicic.org/Forms/DocumentRequest.aspx, or call 800-877-1461.

The ACA also offered a correctional round table chat room on a variety of topics to allow practitioners to discuss in an informal setting issues that they face such as performance-based standards, health care and mental health care issues, the overrepresentation of minorities in confinement, faith-based initiatives and juvenile and adult detention.

The conference ended with speeches at the conference luncheon by Retired General and author Anthony Zinni and by Retired Chief Warrant Officer Michael Durant at the conference's closing session.

In his speech, Zinni spoke of his desire for peace and of his attempts to promote peace in many corners of the world. He also urged those of the younger generation to accept multiple cultures and ways of looking at things.

Durant, who survived the mission in Somalia in which his Black Hawk helicopter was shot down - and the inspiration for the movie Black Hawk Down - ended the conference with a speech at the closing session about his experiences in the military and the role he played.