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: Evacuations
If a mass evacuation is needed, overcrowding increases the danger to inmates and staff. Security checks and counts
Correctional officers are at greater risk performing security checks and counts in overcrowded prisons due to the staff being outnumbered and inmates possibly being housed in less secure areas not designed for inmate housing. If the inmates are housed in conference rooms, gyms, theaters, etc., the staff is at greater risk when they walk through the living areas because the inmates are not separated from the staff and are more difficult to lock down. Additionally, overcrowded prisons may mean fewer security checks performed by the officers. Searches
One of the best ways to keep officers and inmates safe is to conduct as many searches as possible. In my experience, housing areas and prisoners do not get searched as often as they should be searched in overcrowded prisons. Fewer searches mean more contraband, especially jail-made weapons! Discipline housing
When inmates in overcrowded prisons are housed in discipline housing because there is no other place to put them, inmates who have broken the prison rules may have their discipline delayed or simply forgiven. This is dangerous.