Topic: Everything Education / Is your corrections library allowed to have hardcover books?

Is your corrections library allowed to have hardcover books?

Topic: A Broader View / Staff incentive ideas for quitting tobacco

As of March 2009, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections is going tobacco free across the board as well. Their incentive for us is, if you don’t bring it in or get caught doing it on state grounds, they’ll let us keep our jobs. LOL

Topic: Letter of The Law / Should parole be abolished or can it reduce our relience on prisons?

Rehabilitation does not work. In my years of experience in the system, the recidivism rate of paroled offenders seems extremely high and most of them violate their parole and end up serving their time anyway. Flat time seems to be the more economical way to go as most of these guys never seem to learn. And the parole restrictions are ridiculous anyway. Go flat time and reduce the sentencing terms for non-violent crimes and petty drug offenses that guys are getting slammed for. When you’ve got guys doing more time for drug offenses than for murder and rape, something is broken.

Maybe the 3 strikes and your out law would strike fear enough into them to straighten their act? Anyone have any statistics on how the crime rates have been affected in the states that have enacted this?

Topic: The Club House / Do you belong to a Union?

Kentucky has been in need of an effective union to represent corrections for a long time. Officers are grossly underpaid (barely above poverty level) ,treated like menial wage slaves, very poorly trained, exposed to needlessly unsecure conditions. Seems like they’ll hire just about any two-legged hominid with a pulse in this state. Kentucky is somewhere around 47th lowest in pay for corrections officers in the country, I believe, much lower than neighboring states. AFSCME is trying to organize the Ky. state dept. of corrections. Remains to be seen what effect, if any, it will have, though there’s nothing to lose for trying, that’s for sure. CO’s here need representation in the face of a shabby legislature and DOC.

Topic: A Broader View / This month, Corrections.com focuses on architecture. What makes your facility's design unique? What historic prisons have you visited?

I work at Kentucky State Penitentiary, the “Castle on the Cumberland”. It was built in 1889, still in operation, now overlooks Lake Barkley. The institution does actually resemble a castle-type structure from the front. The original cell houses have been turned into admin offices, except for one.

Topic: Tech Talk / relaunched in open source?

Does this mean I am at the wrong forum? it does look very sparsely populated here. is there a more populated version of corrections.com somewhere?

Topic: Tech Talk / TV Transmitters

u can try asking at consumer reports forum: http://discussions.consumerreports.org/n/pfx/forum.aspx?nav=index&webtag=cr-ecz

or maybe better yet www.diyaudio.com

Topic: Tech Talk / Cutting energy costs…how?

and here is a correction of the very first paragraph of the very first post:

the lights out after leaving a room.[/quote] That statement reminded us of a motion detector but detectors can backfire if a light has to turn off and on a lot due to a motionless room user. the constant restarts can draw 100% or more power than steady usage.

Topic: Tech Talk / Cutting energy costs…how?

third time is a charm?

re furnace costs: passive heating can be one of the easiest and cheapest things to do in the ‘alternative’ energy field; the water gets hot in the solar panel and then flows in a pipe down to warm the living space/having cement or stone walls to retain that heat is optimal.

Topic: Tech Talk / Cutting energy costs…how?

re furnace costs<passive>

Topic: Tech Talk / Cutting energy costs…how?

turning the lights out after leaving a room<<that>

tv can also be put on a timed shutdown; or a shutdown based on no activity/no response to an onscreen prompt

number one electricity saver for lights is when LED is used on a special timer. the timer can make an LED turn on only [b]ten percent[/b] of the time but the flashes appear as one continous light to the human eye similar to the way fluid cartoons can be made from partial drawings. LED is an electricity saver in other ways too; like it has a rep for delivering ‘brightness’ with low watts the same as a CFL. also it has no warm up draw when starting like an HID can. it has no ballast so no power loss there either.

A good HID ballast will have a power factor above 0.9 (i.e. more than 90% of the power it draws is used to power the bulb). Cheaper (lower quality) ballasts often have power factors of 0.5 or less; only half of the power gets to the bulb. So a 150W lamp would be drawing 300W of power. An old ballast can have it’s power factor decrease by 20% due to degradation of metal. Old bulbs lose brightness rather than actually costing more; 20% brightness can be lost in a year and another 20% the next year.

an old HID ballast might also mean you have a mercury vapor or a metal halide and those are considerably more expensive to run than a high pressure sodium. It should be easy to switch a MH to a HPS by adding an ignitor which is a ten dollar part or so and two/three wires.

re the example of a cheap 150W lamp>>that lamp can draw 300W as it operates BUT it can draw around 535W when it starts and until it warms<<this>

some sensors that are facing the wrong way or maybe in the shade of a building/etc will flicker but some will never turn off. the sensor can be easily bypassed and the wires sent to a timer instead.

maximizing efficiency of a lighthood’s reflecting ability can mean less lights are needed (or maybe smaller wattage is needed). Dimpled metal is best over all others including mylar and mirror; it has a reflecting % in the high nineties. the dimples mean more surface area is available for reflection; dimpled metal foil sheets/rolls for this purpose are relatively cheap from stage/theatrical supply. Flat white gives good reflection too, like if the light hood can be painted; heat resistant paint is best.

re smaller wattage>>most low wattage CFLs seen for sale are 28W but they come half or less of that wattage. Their brightness does not really decrease but their projection power does. i.e. if you look at it from far away it is likely to be seen quite easily as a bright speck but the floor area/wall area around it that is lit will be proportionately less than the stronger CFLs.

an effective lighthood is most loved by a bill payer if the bulb is shaped or mounted so that some of it faces upwards. example: some finger shaped HID bulbs can only be mounted horizontally, so the top half shines upwards towards the lighthood. but some can be mounted vertically so the tip points straight to the ground..that means all light goes to the sides or down; the sideways coverage will be more glaring in some situations but otherwise the sideways projected light can mean more square footage is lit than when a light projects only downward. If a light shines into a lighthood then the shape/square area that it lights up on the ground can be heavily influenced by the shape of it’s lighthood. a square hood of the right dimensions for a square area means more efficient coverage of the area than a round hood would give.

re light direction>>just because an HID ballast is currently having a bulb in it that says horizontal mounting only, it does not mean that all bulbs that will fit that ballast will have that restriction. Also color of bulbs can bvary a lot. like if a certain spectrum lights up your conditions most efficiently than you can probably find a bulb of that color to fit existing fixtures.

wind power? tread mills?

re the furnace filters:

Carbon filters are often used as prefilters for heating, air conditioning, ventilation and air cleaning equipment. The carbon prefilter helps a bit with particle control meaning media filters can last longer but also carbon removes two classes of gas very well>ether/acetone types and smelly organic ones like from toilet odors, rancid oils, decaying fruits, etc. Carbon filters can be used as the only filter in the hvac system but cannot be relied on to gather dust the way a media filter will. carbon can be made by simply building a burn pile in the right way so cost to aquire or replace it could be real minimal.

re furnace costs<passive>

Topic: Everything Education / Drill instructor training for bootcamp

You can give me a call – Montana trains our own DI’s and we have a very effective program. Our DI’s go thru their training then attend the Corrections Basic at the Acadmey so its a well rounded course. Rae Forseth, Programs Manger 406-444-9819 or email rforseth@mt.gov

Topic: Tech Talk / TV Transmitters

Can anyone provide me with some information on TV Transmitters to use in a dormitory style setting? Looking for a company to contact.

Thanks

Jimmy Patrick, Warden II Limestone CF Jimmy.Patrick@doc.alabama.gov PH: (256) 233-4600 FAX:(256) 771-2018

Topic: The Club House / If corrections had a slogan what would it be?

It takes Balls to work behind the walls!!!

Topic: Security Central / 8 pointed star

Does anyone know anything about the 8 pointed star? I believe it has to do with the Crips. Possibly 8 trey gang.

Topic: Everything Education / Train the trainer

I am looking for a Train the Trainer Conference or a Fundamentals of Training Conference. Do you know where I could find one?

I am the new Training Officer for the Johnson County Department of Corrections, Juvenile Division and have been searching for a class/conference for months. Thank you!

Brandy L. Hodge Training Officer Juvenile Corrections Johnson County Department of Corrections Brandy.Hodge@jocogov.org 913-764-7411 Fax: 913-764-7110

Topic: The Club House / Where in the world are you

Whats up everyone. Metro Davidson County detention Facility, Nashville.

Topic: Health & Wellness / How Do You Feel

Drhoyer, I’m pleased to know there are future nurses or medical professional that would like to take a trip on my shoes. I will be pleased to give you an idea of what I deal with on a daily bases. I have been working in the correction health system for 2 years, worked on the streets as a paramedic for 8 years and worked in the hospital setting for 7 years. The safest setting for me have been in the jails. I have never been physically harmed, but I have been threaten numberous times. This is one of the factors that is expected and come with the job. I’m the only medical officer availible to our 124 bed facility. This shows the shortage medically trained professionals in the field. In Co facilities, this is all the budget usually allows one trained medical professional. These types of people have excellent skills of manipulation to get what they want be it meds to sustain their high or a field trip out of the jail (complaining of cheat pain, back pain, having a stoke). These students need to have extremily good skills at patient assessments/ head to toe assessments. They need to have a strong grasp of understanding a patient’s vital signs. Use you assessment tools: Pulse OX, stethoscope, EKG/ 12-lead. These tools will help determine the severity of the patient. They need to have knowlegde of budgets, many of these facilities deals with minimal funding for medical expences. This aspect also deals with our paychecks. Stepping off the ambulance to work in the Co. jail my bi-weekly pay got cut in half. The other facet of my job is coordinating doctor appointments with 5-6 (possible more) other medical enities. I have known inmates come to jail for free medical treatment, because they have to pay full price for medical care in the free world. Their way of thinking place it on the tax payers shoulders. This field of medicine comes with a diffient types of stresses medical professionals don’t deal with in a hospial or clinical setting. The rewards that one accomplishes in this field evolves around strong knowledge of medicine and your skills.

Topic: Health & Wellness / Controlling diabetes

Pam I have had luck controlling some inmates sugar levels that uses pills and or insulin by closely monitoring thier caloric intake. These diabetics are usually borderline. I have had some inmate that will intentional increase their sugar intake because they want a field trip out of the jail. They know they get to go to the ER.

Topic: The Club House / Where in the world are you

hey everyone I am brand new to the forum and brand new to the dept. of corrections.

I am doing O.J.T. at the new womens facility at Chillicothe MO.

Tips for getting around this forum and dealing with the female offenders are welcomed.

Topic: Tech Talk / Mp3 Players for Corrections

Right Track Media’s secure, touch screen kiosks and corrections-inspired Mp3 players form a system where inmates purchase, manage and maintain their media libraries without the assistance of corrections staff.

The SecurePLAYER, clear Mp3 player:

1.) Unique security software in the firmware so the player ONLY connects with the secure kiosk.

2.) Inmate’s D.O.C. number displays in the LCD screen.

3.) 2G of memory stores up to 800 songs.

4.) Mp3 Player also has a digital FM Radio.

5.) Player runs on one ‘AAA’ battery.

Digital Media:

1.) Non-explicit content, only, on the kiosk.

2.) Audio books, rehabilitation material, and music.

3.) Contracted with the four major music labels: Sony, EMI, Time Warner, and Universal, for distribution of digital media.

*Complete reports of inmate purchases. *Integration with the offender banking system to automate payment. *24/7 remote monitoring. *NO on-site maintenence.

Right Track Media’s management team has a background in corrections, entertainment and technology.

Please call Emily Stein at 866-414-3855, ext. 3 for more information.

Sincerely,

Right Track Media, Inc.

Topic: Health & Wellness / Medication administration in small jails

How do small, rural jails handle medication administration if they don’t have a nurse on staff?

Is there a training course for detention officers that can certify them to be able to legally pass medications to the inmates?

How do facilities get around the potential legal ramifications of not having a nurse on staff

Lisa Hirsch LHirsch@coconino.az.gov

Topic: The Club House / Where in the world are you

Hello all. Greene County Jail, New York.

Topic: Juvenile Jam / suicidal juveniles

It is my experience that, for the most part, we juvenile corrections officers offer more in the way of actual “care” than the majority of our kids get at home. They have access to mental health professionals, religious services, drug and alcohol therapy, not to mention programming options and just regular healthy food and hygiene. These minors have very little impulse control and often harbor very real fears of gang conflicts awaiting them on the “outs”. Then of course there are the myriad of other emotional trials that any teenager faces, girlfriends breaking up with them, family problems, etc. We line staff don’t want to see anyone kill themselves, but if one is determined and ill enough, they will find a way despite our efforts to help.

Topic: Health & Wellness / Controlling diabetes

How can you help offenders control their diabetes without using medication?

Pam Erskine TDCJ Human Resources 936-437-3106 Pam.Erskine@tdcj.state.tx.us