On June 5, 2012, I will have the privilege of speaking to students at the University of Phoenix, who are majoring in criminal justice. During my visit to the university I will conduct a question and answer period, at which point I will answer any and all questions brought to my attention. Professor Kirk, the criminal justice professor, gave me four examples of questions I might be asked by the students to prepare for my visit.
How does the prison environment influence the way you ensure security and custody in your prison? At the Devil Dog Detention Center, we are constantly paying attention to the inmate’s body language and personal demeanor to better understand the mood of the facility. As you are aware race plays a very important role in prison, as does respect, although the facilities population will intermingle with each other a good indicator of tension or a fight might occur is separation. Separation among the inmates by race strongly suggests one race is going to attack another race. To prevent an uprising, such as a riot or violent attacks from happening, the staff at the facility will closely monitor the population’s behavior, and if necessary secure the entire population to their cells. When an individual is initially booked in to the facility he will be asked if he has any medical conditions and other personal questions which is followed by a classification interview. During the classification interview, staff members assigned to the classification unit at the facility will ask the inmate questions in relation to his criminal history. Examples of these questions are: what is the date of your last arrest, how much county jail and state time have you done, are you a member of a street or prison gang, and what classification were you the last time you were in custody. The initial interview along with classification officer’s experience helps determine