Lined up behind each other in the rec yard, the baton team, shield team and the chemical agents team wait anxiously for the hostage-takers to make their first move. The inmates hold shanks and threaten harm to the hostages and the teams move in.

This could be at a prison anywhere in the United States, but last week it was the scene at the former state penitentiary in Moundsville, West Virginia - known as the site of the annual Mock Prison Riot.

The real-life setting, complete with interior cell blocks, recreation yards and "inmates" - played by local college students and volunteer corrections officers - gives emergency response teams from all over the country a chance to practice their responses to potentially deadly riot scenes using their tactical skills and weapons.

"This isn't anything any [of the team members] have seen before. Nothing is this realistic. This is as close as you can get to tactically dealing with an inmate without using an inmate. And, we were able to make up our own scenarios," said Captain Ron Gordon of the Wisconsin Department of Corrections. "We wanted to make it as realistic as possible. That's what is so nice about the Mock Riot - you are able to do that."

Gordon's group from Wisconsin consisted of officers from four different institutions who had the chance to work together as a larger team and work with other teams from Georgia, Florida the federal Bureau of Prisons and the U.S. Army.

The Mock Riot, which is sponsored by the Office of Law Enforcement Technology Commercialization and the National Corrections & Law Enforcement Training and technology Center at Moundsville, had hundreds of participants and observers from including CERT teams as well as technologists who show the teams new devices and tools for quelling riots and disturbances. The participants were able to use those technologies in their practice scenarios and in general demonstration during the four-day event.

"Our main goal in training and in real life is to save lives and promote safety. The technology satisfies both of those goals. Using technology that is going to give us more intelligence is better," said Mona Hobbs, Hostage Negotiation Program Administrator for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections' S.TA.R. Team.

Knowing the setting and the technologies they can play with, the participating teams create elaborate scenarios in which to practice their skills and try out the technologies available to them.

Scenarios Give Teams Life-like Training

In preparing for its participation in the Mock Riot this year, Wisconsin DOC emergency response team members created two scenarios, one of which involved nearly 40 officers from several different states.

"I wanted this to be as big as possible [and] I wanted to make it as realistic as possible," said Gordon.

Gordon said the large scenario involved taking back the recreation yard from about 15 inmates who had taken three hostages.  Prior to the scenario, the teams and the "inmates" met to discuss how much resistance should be shown to the officers and the point at which the "inmates" should surrender.

Gordon said those playing the inmate roles were in padded suits from head to toe.

"We get to spray chems, use Pepperball guns and I wanted to use 'deadly' force," he said.

The officers used padded batons and although the weapons were real, the ammunition used in them was inert, he added.

With teams from Wisconsin, Lee County, Florida, Gwinnett County, Georgia, the Michigan DOC and the U.S. Army from Fort Riley, the scenario ended after the  "inmates" refused to surrender and a sniper positioned on the wall took a single shot to take the inmate down. Gordon said, in reality, the gun was fitted with a distraction device that sounded like a gunshot.

Beyond tactical maneuvers, the team also had the chance to test out new technologies. One that impressed the team was the Bolo Ball, which can be thrown after a fleeing subject and when it hits the ground, breaks apart and releases a material that wraps around the subject's feet and legs.

"Our guys love it and they are itching to go each year," said Gordon.

The Manatee County, Fla., tactical team was also ready to go this year as part of the tactical competition, which started off the training, and to connect with other tactical teams.

Lt. Robert Sanchez, commander of the Manatee team, said his team took first place in the obstacle course and bus assault, and enjoyed participating in the scenarios and making new contacts.

This year the team participated in a dining hall disturbance scenario and took it back from the rioting inmates.

"It's great because it's live and with people you don't know. If we are using a scenario at the jail, we all know each other. It all works out well. By going as observers [last year] it gave me a lot of contacts. Right now we're looking into next year," said Sanchez.

He added that contact has already been made with several other Florida counties that have participated in the Mock Riot, including Polk, Pinellas and Lee Counties, to conduct a large-scale scenario together at next year's event.

Sanchez said such a scenario would be good practice for a real-life scenario in which these counties' tactical teams may serve as back up for each other.

The Manatee team has also benefited from the equipment and technology displays and have been able to test out devices such as Pepperball and order new tactical equipment based on what they tested at the Mock Riot.

"It has worked out well for us bringing this back to the sheriff. It's a good training," Sanchez said.

Ohio DRC's Special Tactics and Response (S.T.A.R.) Team members also tried out some of the newer technologies being offered to correctional tactical teams.

STAR Commander Odell Wood said that the team used several technologies in the course of two different scenarios at the Mock Riot

In one scenario team members had to take back a bus with inmates who had taken hostages in a bid to have a third inmate released. In that scenario they used a training device from Virtual Blade Corporation that showed the teams when a hostage had been "cut."

The team also ran a play-by-play commentary in another scenario involving pregnant inmates who had taken hostages to force officials meet their demands for better medical care for them and their babies.

According to Hobbs, throughout the scenario, team members explained why they were using certain tactical approaches as well as how they expected different technologies would help them.

"When we come to Moundsville we try to use it as an opportunity to do the worst case scenarios. What if they did take hostages [in our women's dorm]? How would we handle it tactically? Negotiations would be the same but tactical might be different. These inmates in the scenario were in their third trimester," said Hobbs.

She added that the team members had to take a long hard look at how they could maintain safety to staff and the public with this scenario.

"We wanted to look at the two innocent victims - the nurse and the officer as well as the unborn baby. We had medical personnel in place to begin CPR and lifesaving," said Hobbs. In the end, the team made the decision to take out the pregnant inmate and save the baby at the same time.

"What was interesting is we learned a lot about ourselves. We'd say 'We can't do that to a pregnant women, but there's a line where you have to resort to force in order to save the hostages," Hobbs said.

Simultaneously, the STAR team discussed why they were using the technologies they had.

"This year the observers had a better understanding of why we made the decisions we did. The vendors absolutely loved it because it gave us an opportunity to explain what their product was," Hobbs added.

Among the technologies used by the STAR team were a less-lethal hydro system from FireCraft that immobilized the suspects, a tactical surveillance system equipped with thermal imaging that could give intelligence in the dark, Basic Black's interconnecting shields and ballistic blankets, and a direct link hostage phone by Enforcement Technology Group.

"[The Mock Riot] gives us a feel for what is good out here and we know how it works," said Hobbs.

According to Wood, the technology each year gets better and better - and this is good news for corrections tactical teams.

"It's really beneficial to come here. They are putting the technologies together for us to use and they do come together," he said. "They get the ideas from talking to the people who walk around and review the products."

Technology Comes to Corrections

With 80 technology vendors at this year's Mock Riot, corrections emergency response teams had a lot to choose from to complete their scenarios.

This year there were 20 new vendors at the training and corrections teams had a chance to test out some of the products.

Corner Shot

Several teams at this year's Mock Riot were impressed with a weapon attachment that enables a team member to see around a corner before deploying his weapon.

Corner Shot has several versions but one that was in use at the Mock Riot attached to several different firearms and enables the shooter to see around a corner.

"There's a camera and the image is relayed back to the screen. There are crosshairs on the video and you line up the camera to the pistol. It allows you to see and engage the targets and assess the situation. It keeps the operator safe," said Jonathan Roubini, CEO of Universal Armourers, the North American representatives for Corner Shot.

He said the device was developed in Israel by two gentlemen who had lost many friends in law enforcement there from tracking down gunmen in places where there were corners and other blind spots.

Roubini said because correctional facilities are designed with these blind spots, Corner Shot could be useful to tactical teams.

"The guys [at the Mock Riot] loved it. There are a lot of corners and corridors in prison cells [and] a lot of areas with low lights. The way the world is today, you don't know what people are doing," said Roubini.

Practitioners such as Major Jim Topham of Carroll County, N.H, House of Corrections thought the device had good potential.

"It definitely has its applications. It was well designed. It has to be run through its paces in corrections with tight corners and hallways, it will just take somebody to do the testing," he said.

Roubini said a Taser attachment is also under development, which corrections officers may also be interested in.

Cobra StunLight

The Cobra StunLight by Universal Guardian was used at the Mock Riot in scenarios with  low light or darkness and helped teams locate subjects and immobilize them.

Developed by Dennis Cole, a former deputy with the San Diego County Sheriff's Department, the Cobra StunLight is an LED flashlight that can release a laser and a stream of chemical agent all with the press of the thumb.

"I saw that every time we needed a non-lethal it was not in our hand when we needed it," Cole said.

The Cobra StunLight enables officers to carry just one flashlight on their belts and utilize the psychological benefit of the laser and the immobilizing benefits of chemical agent all in one device.

According to Mark Asdourian of Universal Guardian, the StunLight can disperse a chemical agent up to 21 feet.

"It's almost like a water gun. Pepper sprays are like a mist, this has a direct stream," he said.

Cole said the laser and the chemical agent would cause the subject to pause long enough for the officer or take down team to move in.

"Part of the psychological effect is they only know what they have watched on TV and seen snipers with lasers. You want them to pause in their combat," Cole added.

According to Topham, whose agency plans to beta test the StunLight, the device seems to have several benefits.

"We carry flashlights already. [With this] you don't have to add anything to the belt. It is replacing the current flashlight and it gives you distance in protecting yourself," Topham said.

Eye Ball R1

Another new technology used in darkness at the Mock Riot this year was the Eye Ball R1 by Remington Technologies. The device is a baseball sized, throw-able camera with audio, video and infrared capabilities.

The device is wireless and has a transmission distance from the eyeball to the personal display unit in an indoor environment of 40 yards, according to Asher Gendelman, Director of Remington Technologies.

Gendelman said that the ball gives the entry team a view from 360 degrees and the team can control the ball, having it do a full spin or pan an area from it's landing position.

"For the entry team, the biggest benefit is they get to see into an area that's always been blind to them. It weighs a pound and a quarter and from a payload perspective, when the officer goes into the field, they will have two additional [devices] weighing six to seven pounds," he said.

At the Mock Riot the Eye Ball was used in an office scenario where a wounded officer was in hall way and inmates were in the office. The team, according to Gendelman, used the Eye Ball on a pole to clear the stairwell on the way up so they knew no one was in the stairwell or the hall way.

"When we were going through the process of finding out how it would fit, we got feedback from teams across the country. In rural areas, they had a need for clearing attics and in most situations they used a flashlight or mirror. Now they can put it on a pole," Gendelman said. "It truly saves the lives of officers because they don't put their heads in the situation."

Gendelman said the device on a pole could also be used to clear stairwells level by level in a chase situation.

He believes that this flexibility will serve law enforcement and corrections well.

"Now what we have is a wildly flexible device for an entry team or surveillance. [You] can look over a fence, unscrew the ball and throw it, and in addition, from a single display panel, you can control two balls. You may have teams in one area with two balls," he said.

These new technologies, combined with the real-life practice teams receive, make the Mock Riot a unique training opportunity for corrections tactical teams.

"One of the biggest benefits is it is so much better than looking [at a product] in a magazine. [Here] they can demonstrate how it works and then you go use it yourself. A lot of teams don't get that opportunity [otherwise]," said the STAR Team's Hobbs.

And for the tactical elements, the Mock Riot also provides a benefit.

"Every team has a special way of using things and doing things. You get different viewpoints. We take a little bit from each team," said Wood.

Resources:

OLETC - www.oletc.org

Cornershot - 305-416-0508
usa@cornershot.com

Cobra StunLight - www.shielddefense.com or 949-861-8295

Remington - www.remngtontd.com