Security enveloping is the total coordination and integration of the staff, facility and operations of a correctional institution into one finely tuned machine. The concept in and of itself is not new, but the discipline of making it work is. By examining the individual components of security, the total security envelope is developed. For security to function at its highest level it must be flexible enough to accommodate the operations (movement) that go on within a correctional institution. Too often security becomes stagnant and inflexible and these two elements can cause breakdowns in the overall security mission of the agency. The 'we've always done it that way' attitude will not justify continuing a practice that does not compliment a measurable security function that compliments the overall security envelope.

The utilization of staff resources to their fullest it the cornerstone of the security envelope concept. In many cases, there is very little that can be done with existing facilities. This is not to say that by close examination some remodeling could better facilitate the use of staff or operations, thereby enhancing the security of the facility. Nor does it suggest that deficiencies in the design of a facility could not be overcome by the installation of security equipment. What is being said is that the staff must be thoroughly trained and familiar with the many elements involved in security. The best designed facility with the most up-to-date high and low-tech equipment will not be secure if the staff is complacent, poorly trained and stagnant.

Staffing

Staffing requirements vary from facility to facility and from custody level to custody level, but what is critical is having the right amount of trained people at the right place at the right times doing what they were hired and trained to do. 

In the case of correctional officers, they were hired to supervise inmates. What must be examined is are they really supervising inmates and is the agency getting the productivity from the staff that it thinks it is. Staff productivity is the direct responsibility of the administration insofar as the assigning of staff to fulfill specific functions. These functions we know are outlined in policies, procedures, and post orders. These documents are only the 'paper trail' portion of security. Obviously, these documents must be thoroughly written to express desired outcomes, but the documents in and of themselves provide no security whatsoever. Too often, the development of Policies, Procedures and Post Orders are for audit purposes only and really do not facilitate the operations and security of the facility. Does reading a book on swimming make one a swimmer? If the truth were known, most policy and procedure manuals have very little influence on the day to day operations of a correctional facility because the staff members that need to be trained and need to know what is contained in these manuals do not. 

In many cases, a thorough study of an agency's policies and procedures to see if they are followed would be surprising and disappointing. The line staff many times adopts its own way of accomplishing the day to day tasks. Each shift has its own way of doing things. As one very experienced correctional administrator said, ' There are four (4) different ways of running this facility: Day Shift, Swing Shift, Night Shift and Weekend Shift.' If this is the case in your facility, then your security envelope is in jeopardy. Inconsistencies in the operations of a facility tend to weaken its security, and also demoralizes and confuses the staff, reducing its productivity.

When staff utilization and productivity are examined, it is important to go back to the basic reason the person was hired. Example: Correctional Officers are hired 'to supervise inmate and provide security, etc.'. Now it is important that an examination be done post by post of how many hours a day that correctional officer is directly supervising inmates and providing security. The key words in the proceeding sentence are ' DIRECTLY' and ' SECURITY'. Security enveloping is committed to having correctional staff directly supervise inmates. Consider the following statements: 'If inmates are continuously under the close scrutiny of well-trained correctional personnel, their ability to be disruptive or escape will be greatly curtailed'. ' If an inmate reaches your security perimeter then ALL of your internal security measures have failed'. These statements were made while this author was touring a British correctional facility. They certainly make one think.

Maintaining a Security Envelope

The discipline of establishing and maintaining a Security Envelope is critical to the success of this concept. When establishing the criteria for a security envelope there can be no ' sacred cows'. Each and every job assignment must be closely examined, each and every operational issue must be examined, each and every facility issue must be examined and each and every high and low tech system must be examined. These examinations must be thorough!
An examination of a security post should include following:

• A definite statement of the duties and responsibilities of that post. 
• How many hours per day must that post be staffed? To accomplish this, break the day down into quarters.
• If the post is a fixed post, Why? Make sure that the justification is realistic and that it will hold up under close scrutiny. 
• Assign a dollar cost to each hour that post is staffed. A formula that could be used is to take the average salary plus benefits and break it down to an hourly cost. {Example: Average Salary $14,000.00 per year plus a 20% benefit package $2,800.00 making the total cost for the average correctional officer $ 16,800.00. Now divide that by 52 weeks and your answer should be $ 320.07 per week. Divide that by 40 hours and the answer is $ 8.07. This is the basic personnel cost for staffing a post. Of course, there are other costs such as heat, light, specialized training etc that could be figured into the cost of staffing a post.

• Describe in detail the duties and functions of the post; be as specific as possible 'Supervises inmates' will not suffice. Exactly how are they supervising inmates and what other security functions are they performing, fires safety checks etc? 
• Where and how does this post fit into the overall Security Envelope? (Be Specific!)

Evaluation is Important

Staff productivity in a correctional facility is, at best, very hard to evaluate. Too often, the tendency is to equate staff productivity with escapes. For instance if there are no escapes then the staff is productive, even though the facility might be dirty and poorly maintained or for all practical purposes the inmates are running the Facility. The security envelope concept specifically outlines what each and every staff person is responsible for and how and why he/she should accomplish the task.

The correctional first line supervisor is given the direct responsibility, accountability and authority to see that all staff under his/her control accomplish their given tasks on every shift every day. It is important that first line supervisors be utilized as supervisors and not as glorified correctional officers. And the first line supervisors should receive training on how to supervise and how to do their jobs. Also, first line supervisors should have input into the overall management of the facility. In many instances, the input from those people on the line is much more beneficial than they are given credit for an can five management a true picture of what is really going on and which policies and procedures are being followed and which are not.

Operationally, the Security Envelope Concept requires an agency to refine its day to day operations into a meaningful written plan or schedule. This written schedule should include EVERY activity that goes on within the facility. It is extremely important that every activity is written down, regardless of whether it appears insignificant or obvious. Waking up the inmates that work in the kitchen assisting in the preparation of breakfast at 4:40 may seem insignificant, but in reality it can change your security posture and in most cases it initiates the unfolding of your security envelope, thereby requiring a change in staffing and systems. By closely examining the operational patterns of a facility, management might be able to condense activities and movement, thereby leading to a tighter security envelope and better utilization of staff.

Design

Facility design can either help or hinder the Security Envelope Concept. Many of the new facilities have been designed and constructed around the 'Direct Supervision' concept and thereby lend themselves to complimenting the security envelope type of management.

Creating a security envelope in older facilities can be accomplished by establishing secondary security envelopes within the primary perimeter's security envelope. The careful placement of staff and systems along with physical barriers facilitate these secondary envelopes. A key point to remember is to identify these secondary envelopes.

Being able to break down the totality of security into its functional components and having each of those components serve a measurable task and the day to day discipline of managing these functional components is the key to security enveloping.