Title: Overcrowded Prisons and Officer Safety
Headings: Overcrowded Prisons and Officer Safety
Overcrowded Prisons and Officer Safety
Inmate classification
Heath care and mental heath care
Telephone availability
Inmate recreation
Clothing exchange
Increase in sickness and diseases
Visiting
Inmate stores
Increased assaults on officers and increased inmate on inmate assaults
Lack of equipment
Emergency response teams
Housing areas
Feeding
Evacuations
Security checks and counts
Searches
Discipline housing
Inmates sleeping in "canoes"
Supervision
Training
Staffing
Conclusion

Content: Inmates who are violence-prone or have a history of violence towards officers may not be properly housed. Inmates who are escape risks may also not be properly housed. Properly classifying incoming inmates is essential to inmate safety and officer safety. Correctional officers are at greater risk when inmate classification fails to properly house certain inmates. Overcrowding impacts classification, which impacts officer safety. Heath care and mental heath care
Inmates in prisons that are overcrowded do not have the same access to health care or mental heath care as do inmates in prisons that are not overcrowded. It is important to ensure that the medical service provider-to-inmate ratio is at an acceptable level. Of special concern are inmates who may be suicidal and in need of increased supervision. If an inmate attempts or commits suicide, and the investigation shows that proper precautions were not taken and overcrowding may have been responsible, the officers may be held responsible in civil court where deliberate indifference can be shown. Officer career safety is important, as well as officer physical safety.