Thank you for this I will pass it on. We are due an influx of several dozen new corrections officers here. Just shows you can't underestimate anyone although sometimes you feel silly or on overkill for doing it.

We do not have that restriction here on leg irons for pregnant women.

I'm wondering if maybe having the transfer handled by a single female corrections officer was a bad idea.

I think that in situations where you're trying to be extra careful about the use of force, it's a loss easier to control exactly how much force you're using when you are at significantly less than 100% of what you can lay down.

I completely concur that corrections is the harder job, and more dangerous. It's the same people, only concentrated, and (mostly) without weapons. Everyone focuses on the weaponry, but empty hand assaults are overwhelmingly more common on the street.

And it is worth noting that if a simple policy had been written differently (restraints), and less kinder/gentler, a lot less force would have been used on this prisoner.

Mike

Sent from Lusitania via ansible.

Would this problem have been avoided by placing *two* sets of handcuffs placed (one beside the other) on the inmate's wrists?

Other than that, either allow leg irons or mandate two officers per inmate.



Kaso

Why no OC on an escaping pregnant inmate?  It can't possibly harm the fetus.

OC and Taser both should have a negligible effect on the fetus. However, both can cause intense pain and stress (the latter caused by the former), both of which can lead to miscarriage. Of course, actively wrestling with officers can also cause intense pain and stress, which can also lead to miscarriage, in addition to the chance for physical trauma. So, the only way to make sure the baby is safe is not to fight with the cops.

It's the same old story. Back in the day, cops had to wrestle and/or strike suspects. Then OC/mace came along, and cops had to wrestle and strike suspects less often. Injuries went down, for both cops and suspects. Uses of mace, however, went up (x > 0). People freaked out. The police be macing errrybody! OMG oh noes!

Just about the time mace was getting to be the norm, the Taser came along. Taserings went up (x > 0), uses of other types of force went down. Injuries to suspects and officers went down. People freaked out. The police be tasering errybody! OMG oh noes! Police state! This is where we are now.

Nevermind that Taser usage is demonstrably safer for EVERYONE than being in the ground floor of a polyester pig pile. Nevermind that the hazards of the taser (and there are some) are far outweighed by the hazards of being thumped by a single officer. Nevermind logic, ignore math. It looks bad, so it is bad. The public reacts to that, police administrators (the guys that you think are completely indifferent to public outcry, but the officers think are spineless gits who bow to every public whim) react to that, and in the end, cops end up hurting more people because they're not allowed to use effective control techniques.

Then the public freaks out that the cops are injuring people, and wonders why we don't have some intermediate weapon or technique to avoid this, and the whole cycle starts again.

Mike

Transportation Policy is restricted, so I can't really discuss how WE do it here, but I can tell you that dot4x4 is absolutely right - about half of policy is written to avoid lawsuits. Also, public perception is a huge issue - the public never ever hears about correctional staff unless something bad happens, as we operate on the out of sight, out of mind maxim. When something like a pregnant woman getting pepper sprayed in public, the media will be all over it like stink on....rice... Many leftist types will seize on whatever actions were taken, WHETHER WITHIN POLICY OR NOT, and run with it, especially at budget time. Public perception can cause weird things to happen, like ditching a highly effective oil based OC spray for a weak seasoning-in-a-can water based brand, because ONE inmate on the other end of the country got soaked to the skin in oil based OC, and then a Tazer ignited him. Bad, terrible thing to occur, safety note, don't taze if he's dripping with OC...nope, we ended up with the junk. I hosed two guys with the newer stuff, and I might as well have dumped water on them. Come to think of it, cold water would have been more effective.
BTW, we have ditched the junk for FOUL stuff, stuff that works VERY well indeed.

I would love to see any tape of this incident - she is probably lucky to be pregnant, as that might be the only reason she wasn't shot. Second, is the training "steel to skin" for cuffs? We used to do "one finger width" for comfort, but got tired of cuffs being slipped. Also, ditch any Peerless cuffs you have.

With respect to regular cops here, I personally think corrections folks (or regular cops stuck on detention duties) have it the worse.

Regular cops... Eh, you deal with criminals, but plenty of regular folks as well. Corrections/detention? Damn near ALL of they deal with are criminals. Not for a couple hours at a time, but potentially years at a time.

I agree. I get to drop my headaches off at the jail and see them no more until the next full moon. My brother strangelittleman is a state corrections officer and has it infinitely harder. He works among inmates who were commuted from Death Row back in the '70's and are still in general population. I have tried to get him to come into LE but he says his temper is too bad to put up with what I do.

Nah.

I am working with the Juveniles.  It is WORSE than adults.  We have sex offenders, rapists and murderer/attempted murders, second and third generation gang members etc.....

And because they are "just kids" we have to put up with alot more and held MUCH more acountable then if I was working with adults. I would transfer to adults but i would lose my seniority and pay grade.  Plus the CO's are not sworn Peace Officers in my County.  I am.  Figure that one out.

I am working with the Juveniles.  It is WORSE than adults.

I did the juvenile thing in the late 90's.  The deck is stacked against you. 

Naw.... cull is too strong a word.  How bout pro-active sterilization, or retroactive abortion ?  We can sell it to obummercare as a cost saving measure.

I bet she was popular.