The death of Tennessee corrections officer Wayne Morgan earlier this month during a courthouse shoot-out and escape has prompted corrections officials to look deeper into their own procedures around transport and staff-inmate relationships.

Major Jim Topham, Assistant Director of Corrections, Carroll County, N.H., DOC used the tragedy as an opportunity to remind staff about the dangers they face and the manipulation that can take place on the job.

"The problem right now is people are pointing a finger at women. Gender doesn't matter if you look at corrections since the beginning, it's always been a problem," he said. "Right now people need to stop pointing the finger at females. If we start gender bashing, we're not looking at the problem. The problem is this happens when you have cross gender supervision whether its security or non-security staff, male or female. It doesn't matter."

Below are some of his thoughts about the shooting and escape in Tennessee and what corrections agencies can do to prevent it.

"I am not second guessing the officers involved in this terrible incident...[but] I did not sleep much the last few nights. I know he was not one of my officers, but in my mind and heart, he was one of mine; he was a brother CO. This job is hard enough, with the lack of professional respect at times, and now this makes it even harder. When a former correctional employee, a nurse nonetheless, shoots one of our own because she was taken in by this inmate...It's the Anatomy of a Set-up.

As a correctional administrator and someone who has been both a police officer and a corrections officer, I have been asking myself 'Do we really train for transportation runs?' 'Do we train properly?' When I was in the police academy we spent days on driving skills and on tactical aspects of vehicle approaching etc. I have never seen this type of training within a corrections academy. I am not saying that it does not happen somewhere in the U.S., but in my experience it is not [happening]. Police are trained for encounters on the street; we are trained for encounters in the house. There is a huge difference.
 
Usually your smaller jails and some state prison systems cannot afford a full-time transportation team, so it is [placed on] whoever is available at the time.

Weapons and radios are another issue. For a lot of agencies, these devices are not available or have been cut from the budget. I know there are police departments that are in the same position and I am not saying anything new, but it is not something you hear about from corrections all the time because they are not heard -- even when speaking. We are dealing with politics at times at the highest levels and [politicians] do not subscribe to our veteran way of thinking, which is "it is not if it happens, but when it happens." If I hear "not here" one more time or  "it will never happen," I am going to explode.
 
I have always wished that because we drive large vans and other types of transport vehicles that we have specific driver training in. The vehicles, for the most part, are nothing more then extended vans -- Nothing special about them. Sure if you have a "Crown Vic" or "Impala" then you can go to numerous schools, but corrections transport vehicles are not usually those type of vehicles.
 
Even greater is the problem that, when it comes to budgets, corrections is always cut hard. The public has a perception that the budget is for the inmates and therefore should be cut. Low budgets mean poor training, equipment, and, ultimately, poor staff morale.
 
This devastating event in Tennessee has caused me to go back to my office and review and ultimately, I am sure change, procedures, training approaches and equipment for transports. I only hope that someone wakes up and really looks at this incident and they come away with something more than the recognition that "This a tragic." They need to come away with the same open mindedness it takes to review the training, equipment and policies that are in place and make the right ethical changes to keep our officers safe."
 
Changes

One week later, Major Topham has gone back to review training on inmate manipulation and equipment provided to his officers, and he is in the process of making some changes.

..."Corrections [typically] does the training at the beginning. They go through the corrections academy and learn about inmate manipulation. They teach on it and then the problem is it doesn't get carried over during [their] years of service and experience."

"[Also] there are new radios going in our cars. Transporting officers have portable radios. We've been looking at what they carry when we do transports."

And in terms of courthouse security, Topham also has some suggestions.

"I would never second guess those officers. They did it to the best of their abilities, but the other issue is how many court houses do we go into that don't have a secure area to move inmates through? Especially in New England and in the South, we bring people right into the front door or through a back door with no security. The entire justice community, clerks of court, police departments have to look at security."

To ensure that staff at Carroll County Department of Corrections understand the importance of training and safety on the job, Topham has sent them reminders about how to avoid manipulation and tips for recognizing it on the job in the form of a newsletter.

"Just before this we had something happen here and it brought into question the 'anatomy of a set up' and the effective use of the word NO. It's as simple as sending your staff a memo about what to look for. Just because you're a veteran doesn't mean you see this happening it; it could be happening right in front of you," he said.

Included in his tips to employees are the following tactics inmates may use:

*Flattery - to stroke your ego
*Empathy - to identify without feeling sorry
*Sympathy - to feel sorry
*Helplessness - beware of an inmate asking for help
*Sensitivity - to you as a person
*Confidentiality - to share a "secret" or create a bond
*Isolate and protect - use rumors, play staff against staff
*Touching - implies permission to proceed further.
*Sexual references - always unacceptable whether by staff or inmates
*Coercion and intimidation - usually in the form of blackmail

The suggestions for staff to avoid manipulation are:

*Professionalism - Know your environment.
*Recognition training - Learn techniques and methods.
*Communication monitoring - Remember the inmates are listening.
*Information gathering - Know the inmates and their behaviors.
*Procedural knowledge - Know the inmate rules and regs along with employee rules and regs.
*Confident command -  Be firm, fair, consistent and objective when dealing with inmates.
*Chain of command - Keep your chain of command informed of situations, questions and problems.
*Documentation - This can be your best form of protection. If it's not in writing then it did not happen.
*"No" - Learn the effective and appropriate use of the word.
*Crisis judgment - Protect yourself, report it, respond appropriately, using minimum force necessary. Communicate it and document, document, document.

Topham said these tips are extremely important for correctional staff to pay attention to not only when they first land a job in the field, but also throughout their career.

"It is going to happen again [so] let's learn from it. That's what we're trying to do here. I'm looking at it very seriously," he said. "I see this as a tragedy all the way around but also as an opportunity to look at some very large issues facing corrections today. We have a responsibility to our staff to learn from this and make changes if they are needed."

Resources:

Tips and suggestions to avoid inmate manipulation from the National Institute of Corrections training and  "Games Criminals Play" by Allen and Bosta.

Major Jim Topham - Carroll County DOC, NH, 603-539-2282 ext 2001