Topic: The Club House / Deadly Force Use

I’ve not been in a situation as a CO where deadly force would have been an option. As a sheriff’s deputy there have been times when deadly force would have been justifiable, but looking back on those situations I can’t say that I SHOULD have used deadly force. I felt that I would be able to respond, even though it crossed my mind that I may have taken a bullet or caught some buckshot.

Mudflap, Since you would have been justified to take a life, why didn’t you? What went through your mind to hold back on the trigger? Fear of investigation? Court reprucussion? I am interested??

Topic: The Club House / Help Me With A Question

Now the big question and the purpose of this training article, “When am I justified?” “At what point can I pull out all the stops and disfigure this individual?” “When can I press my fingers into his eyes?” “At what point can I pull off an ear?” Wow, heavy stuff isn’t it? However, the problem here is that these points in time are difficult to establish and fall into the grey shaded area. Not one author I know of wants to put himself out there and give this advice because of legal ramifications. The courts have failed to even put themselves out there in use of force accounts because of the fact that each situation is different and may appear different to each officer involved. That is why the courts have stated: The “Reasonableness” inquiry is an objective one.

Recent deaths of two juvenile correctional officers after inmate attack. William Hesson and Leonard Wall left be baffled. The thing that made me scratch my head was that after the attack no inmates were taken to the hospital for treatment of any injuries inflicted by the killed officer. Was the officer knocked unconscious or did they ever believe that the inmates were attempting to take their life? We can all recite the allowances for the use of deadly force, one being the defense of self or others. Therefore, I ask again, “When do you know you’re being killed?” What clicks on the light switch when you begin to take steps to kill your attacker?

As a police officer, I knew if an individual had a gun, a knife, or a baseball bat, those instruments could cause my death or serious physical harm to me so I could justifiably shoot and kill the individual. Now that I am inside a prison, where guns and extreme instruments should be unavailable to my attacker what are my deadly force indicators? If an inmate punches me in the face, can I choke him unconscious? Well that seems extreme but the UFC has shown us repeatedly the realization of the one punch knockout. If you are knocked unconscious, you have to think will the inmate stab or kill you? We hear the comment, “the totality of the Circumstances” But what does that actually mean? I bet you can’t define it.

When do you know? I want your opinions to put in the new training article.

Topic: A Broader View / opinions on self defense in corrections

If an inmate applies a rear naked choke your have fallen into a position in which only true prepared and knowledgable fighter can get out of. This application of a true technique in which we rarely is ever train to defend will be the death or unbearable beating of an officer in the near future. Prevent the application and prevent the beat down. This fighting technique is practiced by inmates more than any other.

Topic: A Broader View / opinions on self defense in corrections

http://www.corrections.com/tracy_barnhart/?p=127

Read My Article that should give you some answers to your question.

Tracy

Topic: The Club House / Deadly Force Use

Riggsville, That is the mindset and mentality I have been attempting to change for 12 years now. I was a police officer for the first half of my career and you were expected to be a professional and carry a survival mindset at all times. Now that I have walked behind the walls I do not see the same desire to be professionals or have a survival mentality and administration likes it that way. I am with ya brother, not against ya, we wear the same seal on our uniforms. We need more officers like yourself in our ranks, remember this. Slow Steady pressure applied over time, creates change. I need more officers like yourself to help me push and I think we will get it done. Train hard brother, I got your back.

Topic: The Club House / Deadly Force Use

My Point exactly, Most criminals play on the fact that we have rules and we fear consequences more than they do. Hence the prison setting, lol. But I want officers to understand that there is a time to kick in the monster and a time to turn it off. Its dufficult knowing when an inmate is just resisting you and then attempting to kill you and both can be one in the same. But we need to know the difference and take appropriate actions. The will to survive and the desire to do so are so very different. Its one thing to have a police allowing it and another to be able to carry it out.

Topic: The Club House / Deadly Force Use

I know what the policy says but the main intention of the article was to give officers an understanding of when and how. When you have an officer killed by three inmates and none of the inmates go to the hospital afterwards you have to wonder if the officer ever knew, or ever decided to use thise allowed policy skills. Did it ever cross his mind to choke one of them to death? How about poke his finger into one of thier eyes? You just have to wonder.. It is one thing to know about it but it is another thing to know when. Now consider the administration backlash and investigations afterwards you have to hear officers say, “I am not touching anyone.” So ask yourself, do officers really know about deadly force or are they just wolfing during roll call???

Topic: The Club House / Deadly Force Use

Feel free to print, share or use any of my training articles for anything, that is why I started writing them. I feel corrections is not prepared or trained as properly as they could be. Thanks for the compliment! Train hard brothet!

Topic: The Club House / Deadly Force Use

It is not often when I get to think about how all this warrior and survival training concepts got started. I was a police officer a long time ago when I was introduced to the book the tactical edge and I have a good friend now that I just found out was in that book. I think corrections just miss the boat when it comes to the warrior spirit. Our administrators have a more, lets call it a cover thier ass mentality, as it pretains to our safety. I look forward to you reading all my articles on my page and then talking about what we deal with each day. Train hard and be well.

Topic: The Club House / Deadly Force Use

I just posted an article I wrote called the Delivery of deadly force in a correctional setting on my webpage.

My question to you after you read it is this article: Has there ever been a time in your correctional careers where looking back on the situation and thinking about it, you should have used deadly force to resolve the attack or incident on an inmate but did not? Briefly speak of your incident and Explain your reasons for not using deadly force.

Topic: The Club House / If you had it to do over again

With all of these responses I kind of expected more officers would chime in. They are about half and half as to your responses. The questions I have is the ones who would do it over again with no changes, what jobs do you do within your institutions?

Topic: The Club House / Looking Professional

If for nothing else than to be ready for a fight, you need to stay in a ready condition. Ready to protect yourself, and ready to protect me if necessary. I need to be able to count on other officers to stand tall with me in the breach of chaos. Appearance is 90% of the fight. Inmates can be mentally intimidated into submission. Tell me you don’t see it everyday inmates give more respect to those whom they feel they cannot defeat in battle. Are you a predator or are you the prey?

Topic: The Club House / Looking Professional

Corrections have long been on the same page as military service, and the comparison of the two entities. The two professions require similar skills or disciplines: highly honed combat readiness, the ability to follow orders and work as a unit, as well as tight mental discipline. But overweight, out-of-condition officers make up the ranks of our institutional rosters all over the country. Corrections should set the bar high when it comes to physical fitness because those who can’t pull their weight create a liability that reverberates throughout the entire organization. While not all correctional agencies field physically unfit officers, a surprising number have never established or enforced physical fitness standards. In some cases, it’s a matter of outside organizational pressure, in others department executives have been reluctant to chase into retirement older officers who might have trouble meeting the standards.

Topic: The Club House / If you had it to do over again

Shakey, I see this everyday. New officers enter the profession with eyes wide open and as they work longer thier eyes get filled with more anger, frustration, dissapointment and at this point they make a decision. Stay or leave. I have to wonder if I stay because I like the pay or the challange. I tell myself that they will never break me and yet there are times where I want to walk away with my sanity still intact. The stress is real and combine that with the frustration of the administration and it takes a toll on your body.

Topic: The Club House / If you had it to do over again

My question to you all is this; a simple question worthy of your honorable answer. If you knew then what you know now and if you had it all to do over again; would you take the job as a corrections officer?

Topic: A Broader View / New guy here, juvenile jail staff

Grumpy, you are in a no win situation. If I read between the lines you want to do a good job but you feel like you are between a rock and a hard place and under appreciated. I too work in juvenile corrections in Ohio. They do not want to do what is necessary but just keep away from the legal systems but then again we all want to have the mentality that these thugs should not get anything. Yet we are not in the position of making that decision now are we. You either have to realize you are there to enforce the rules, report violations and keep a good attitude or walk away from the career. When you cross over the line to the individuals who are just there for a check, your attitude changes and everything seems wrong and bad. This is when you begin to drink, do drugs and bitch a lot more just to feel good about your career. It is not worth it brother.

Topic: Health & Wellness / Mandated CPR On Inmates: Good Or Not So Good?

I have written about this at length until I am blue in the face. We practice CPR and recertify each year. However, the true skills in inmate manipulation, deception and aggression detection is left to OJT????

Topic: Security Central / Best way to handle unruly inmate

Inmates will challenge you just to challenge you over menial situations. Now add the element of criminality with the association of anti-social behavior, manipulation and defiance and you are going to have a bad day. I am going to give you the basics of communications with criminals that has worked for me as well as created a safer working environment and will give you the ability to generate voluntary compliance. However, not all situations will give you the results of compliance and force will be needed to resolve the conflict. Realize that sometimes, the individual may not want to be compliant or to be talked down and will want you to use force in order to test your resolve and skill for future actions. The key is knowing when this is a ruse, and when to call for assistance.

Topic: Juvenile Jam / Being Manipulated

We all have been manupliated by an inmate at one time or another. What was the best time you got had by an inmate? Let use these as a learning experience, a good laugh and good instructions for the FNG’s. I know an officer who was new on the job and an inmate asked him to order him a sub from Subway and gave the officer a ten dollar bill. The officer being new did order the sub, had it delevered to the institution and then handed it to the inmate as well as his change.

Topic: Security Central / Best way to handle unruly inmate

Assessing behavior and preventing a physical assault should be accomplished whenever possible. It is critical for an officer to recognize and assess aggressive verbal and physical actions of a person. Recognizing verbal and nonverbal aggressive behavior signals will aid the officer in preventing and de-escalating situations. Also, it prepares the officer mentally and physically to take immediate counter actions should a physical assault occur. Before physical action by an aggressor occurs, that individual usually begins to threaten to attack, in an attempt to intimidate the opponent, through a process sometimes called posturing, ritualized combat, or affective aggression.

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

“Walking With the Predators”

We walk among the predators and silently serve, because nobody else will!