Corrections_Today_January_February_2021_Vol.83_No.1

T raining is a critical component of any American jail. Agencies generally expand the instruction through field and in-house training programs to meet specific needs of the agency. Personnel who make up the jail staff are often individuals with little or no experience in corrections. Many times, they can be fresh out of high school with little job experience. They deal with inmates in a concentrated setting who present a wide array of personal issues and are often in emotional crisis because of their present situation. Thus, it is imperative that an adequate indoctrination program be established to prepare jail staff for the many issues facing them in the management of inmates. In the United States, there are generally two dif- ferent ways a county jail is run. The first is to employ sworn, certified law enforcement officers as the jailers who supervise the inmates on a day to day basis. When an agency uses this method, they often rotate deputies between the detention division and other various divisions such as patrol, civil or communications. In this model, the

preferred method of supervision is direct. Direct supervi- sion involves the supervising officer inside of the module walking around and interacting with the inmates’ face to face while they are out of their cell. The second method is to employ and train civilian staff as jailers. This option is preferred for smaller agencies with a lower inmate population. In this model, the jailers typi - cally practice an indirect supervisory approach. This entails video surveillance of the housing locations, monitoring the inmates through the protection of a control tower with glass windows, or a combination of both. Most jailer-to-inmate contact in this approach is limited to transports, meal ser- vice, medication rounds, or emergency situations. Because there is a high turnover in jail staff, any train - ing program should have the flexibility to be used on an individual basis as new employees are hired, without hav- ing a lot of down time waiting for a local academy class. Through his graduate research at Washburn University, Robert Sturm developed a standard one-week training program that would provide consistency and good content

Photo courtesy Bryce M. Thomas via Patricia Dahl

The Miami County Sheriff’s Office in Miami County, Kansas, where a case study on jail training was conducted.

Graphic opposite page: istock/Dirtydog_Creative

Background art: istock/Boonyachoat

Corrections Today January/February 2021 — 15