Imagine you're a female prison guard with 13 years on the job. You're supposed to have two other Correctional Officers (COs) with you to guard between 80 and 100 adult male prisoners. But you're alone. And scared to the point that your knees shake. How much would you need to get paid to take that job?
That's the scenario described in the lede to a Houston Chronicle story yesterday ("State prison guard shortage 'critical,'" April 21) on Texas' chronic shortage of prison staff.
The Neal prison in Amarillo has so few guards working these days that Dorothy Barfoot, a correctional officer, often finds herself working alone in a dorm with 80 to 100 male felons. Sometimes she gets so scared her knees shake."Usually there should be two (correctional officers with me), at least," said the 13-year veteran.
But the prison can't find enough people to do the job of guarding inmates in Amarillo or anywhere else.
The Texas prison system is short more than 4,300 guards, with 17 percent of its full-time security positions unfilled. Nearly one in five of the state's 106 prisons operates with fewer than 75 percent of its correctional guards.
Far-flung Fort Stockton, the worst-staffed unit, operates with 59 percent of its correctional officers.
At a 59% staffing rate, Fort Stockton must be an awfully dangerous place; I wonder if there's a correlation between understaffed units and where most inmate violence or officer misconduct occurs? I've not seen such unit-by-unit data, but it seems likely. Texas' per-inmate costs are relatively low, but that's because the state underinvests in staffing, medical care and rehabilitation programs, not because of any particular efficiencies it enjoys. At the end of the day, that's penny wise and pound foolish. Saving money at the expense of prison guard safety makes everybody less safe. When we speak about the use of force, I notice more and more that officers either need or want the green light to be given to them before they act. Correctional officers deep down have an intimate fear when it comes to the use of force of either reacting too soon, too late resulting in injury of someone, or not at all. They have a natural ingrained fear of the criminal themselves, their administration not backing them for their actions or decisions as well as their peers not having their backs because of those very same reasons. They have terms thrown at them such as, “Reasonable,” “Excessive,” and “Liability,” with no clear cut explained definitions as well as no clear cut directions or leadership. It is often said that it is easier to ask for forgiveness than to request permission, but in today’s litigious society this may be true, but painfully unforgiving. In this article I will attempt to give you those green light indicators as well as indicators that you may be assaulted or attacked. If all inmates had a green light indicator above their heads that when activated meant you could utilize force we would all be better off and sleep better at night. I have gone through internal and criminal investigations relating to the use of force I have used and let me tell you, they are not fun. You lose sleep; you become irritable towards your family because of the stress and your mind plays tricks on you as it relates to the armchair quarterbacking of the incident conducted by the administration and your peers. You may even start to doubt yourself and question your reasoning before it is all over with, at the least, your zest toward using force will diminish after your reasoning and motivation are questioned. You will start to hear officers say, “I am not touching anyone!” In the court case Graham v. Conner they gave no definitive answer for law enforcement or corrections on what is reasonable as it pertains to excessive force. Consequently; it is possible for an officer to follow his training, departmental policy, and the standard operating procedure of the supervisory staff. In following all of the aforementioned steps the officer can still be charged criminally, sued civilly, and find that the judge and jury will find that his responses to the resistance still deemed inappropriate. This can prompt the responses to incidence of force by officer such as, “They are going to screw me anyway so I’ll make it worth my while.” Officers will make the use of force vengeful and vindictive. Officers may even choose to not get involved in the incidents or look the other way as it is occurring. Of course either course of actions is inappropriate. No matter what you have done during your shift you can pretty much bet that your agency will not be disbanded for your actions or the actions of others. But you on the other hand, just may. You may lose your credibility with your peers, your supervisors, and the administration. You may be disciplined and even terminated and that may not be the end but just the beginning of your issues. Depending on the incident you may be criminally charged, or at the least, civilly sued for that thirty second decision to place your hands on an individual. During this emotional and stressful time your marriage may fail only adding to your anxiety and turmoil. Sounds like fun, don’t it? Makes you wonder why we do what we do for a living doesn’t it. The current Supreme Court legal decisions and judgments that have been made regarding the use of force state clearly that you are to be given a fair amount of latitude in your reasons to utilize force. Those allowances are to be made for the fact that the split second judgments that you make are in circumstances that are tense, uncertain and rapidly evolving. Armchair quarterbacking should not be utilized in the investigation phase as hindsight is 20/20 as well as the application of others judgments for consideration of criminal charges but yet we all know that you will definitely be judged by others from the onset of the force that you use. With all of this on your shoulders your own personal safety and survival mentality must be always on your mind. I see video tapes of officers who were assaulted by inmates and those inmates, prior to the assault, clearly exhibited signals of their intentions that were either missed or ignored by the officers. The prevalent attitude exhibited was that, “It will never happen to me.” This mentality is observed throughout the institution in some officer’s daily routines. I want to give you some verbal and non-verbal indicators that you can place into your reports and use throughout your daily activities which the inmates may exhibit prompting you to utilize force or request further assistance before the need for force arises. Inmates will rarely attack you without letting you know what they plan to do. Their aggressive statements are meant to prompt some sort of a response from you, hopefully fear and intimidation. Their ultimate goal is to have you fear them and hold you as their pawn to move and place across the board as they want. Possible inmate non-verbal signals to attack need to be constantly observed and documented in your reports as they will save your butt and prevent your surprise injury. Ø The individual may tell you what they are about to do, “I’m going to kick your ass!” Ø Their face may show tension and will tighten or twitch, the jaws and lips will tense into a biting position as well as quiver and mouth expressions will frown and tighten over the teeth. Ø Their body posture will display broadside with their hands on their hips or clasped behind their head. They will take a bladed boxers stance and will rock back and forth or bob up and down on the balls of the feet. Ø Their hands will pump and clench into a fist so much that their knuckles will go white. Always look at the hands and what they are doing with them. Ø They will deepen their voice tones and the volume increases. The more threatened or aggressive an individual becomes the lower, harsher and louder their voice turns thus the bigger and tougher they seem. The deeper the voice the more authoritative they seem. Ø The eyebrows will come down as if to shield the eyes. This makes they look more aggressive Ø The nostrils will flare and their breathing will become rapid and deep. Ø The individual will seem to be looking through you; their eyes become glazed over with an empty stare. The individual will take on an uninterrupted stare with alternating eye stares and the eyelids will tighten down. They may attempt to get chest to chest with you. Ø They may start sweating and beads of sweat will form on the forehead. Ø Eye blinking; the blink rate reflects psychological arousal. The normal blink rate is about 20 closures per minute. Significantly faster rates may reflect emotional stress. Ø Individuals will show exaggerated movements such as pacing, finger pointing, and threatening fists with bent arms. Their verbals will be relentless to get you to change your mind or change your last orders that have sent them over the edge. They want to win the confrontation Ø The individual may shed clothing such as taking off their shirts or jackets bend down and tighten their shoes or remove items of value such as watches and hats and set them aside. Ø The individual will start to look around to assess witnesses, back-up available, escape routes or will start to target glance at the places they want to strike on your person. Ø Vasodilatation and vasoconstriction or flushing of the face will also be evident at the tops of the ears by a darkening redness due to the release of adrenaline and noradrenalin into the bloodstream. The bottom line is that you need to do your job, keep yourself and other staff members safe, while making good decisions that you will be able to defend. Use these examples of inmate’s threatening statements and behavior make the right decision and to justify your force response. Remember it is often not enough to do the right thing – you must be able to explain in your reports and testimony why your actions were the right thing to do. Win the fight (force encounter) and then win the war (court decision)... Do not take it personally because it may not be. Think of the interaction as a game, they are on a team where they will be attempting to circumvent your commands and resist your authority in every way. It is your job during the game to remain professional and apply just enough pressure to accomplish the task without personal vendettas, abuse or attitude toward the individual. Tracy E. Barnhart is a Marine combat veteran of Desert Storm / Desert Shield and upon leaving the Marines in 1992 he became a police officer with the City of In 2000 Barnhart left law enforcement to start a career with the Ohio Department of Youth Services in juvenile corrections at the I have a wonderful wife of over ten years, Nikki and three children Bailey, Aaron and Elise, whom take up all my spare time. I spend as much time as I can training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at Shawn Chitwood’s in Like this story? drop us a line here, and we'll send it on to the author ! However, time is now his lifetime enemy as he ponders the future, wondering why he is no longer energized and dedicated to the career or the people that he works side by side with. He is second guessing his motives for taking the career path he has chosen. He starts counting down the years until his retirement and counting those same years of more senior officers allowing him to ascend the ladder of seniority. He wonders if he has become as cold a person as he now feels. He is now at the point in his career where he feels too old to effectively play the game anymore. He feels the promise that the union and management have made is just empty hype and have fallen short of the desired results. “Where do I go from here?” He often thinks about quitting and taking out his pension money to start a small business to escape the daily stress, fear, and micro management of the administration. Sound oddly familiar?
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TDCJ Office Of Inspector General gets grand jury nod on charges against Officer
By: Duane Stuart, Backgate Website
04-22-08
A group of TDCJ OIG investigators made an unannounced visit to the region 3 Terrell unit this morning, but it wasn't a social call. These visitors were packing handcuffs and a warrant. Just days ago, a Brazoria county grand jury voted to accept seven different individual criminal charges against Terrel unit correctional officer Derrick Rice and the group was there to pick him up.
Rice, 34, of Houston was charged with seven counts of bribery involving a public official. The charges, which are second degree felonies each carry a punishment range from 2 - 20 years in prison, and a $10,000 fine on each count. The arrest is said to be the culmination of months of investigation by region three OIG officers. Insiders say the charges are allegedly due to Rice accepting money from several families of offenders on the unit in return for the delivery of contraband into the facility.
Critics and staff of TDCJ have claimed that Terrell has long been a hotspot for alleged misconduct by staff, but has virtually gone unnoticed by the Huntsville administration for years. This could be a positive step in changing that image. By just scrolling down and viewing past stories regarding Terrell, that becomes clear.
Rice was arrested on the unit at approximately 10:00 am and arrived and was booked into the Brazoria county jail at 11:08 am jail officials claimed. He was then placed into a segregation area due to his employment with TDCJ pending a $30,000 bond . The bond came around 6pm and he was released pending trial. He will not be allowed back into the facility while awaiting trial.
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Verbal And Non-Verbal Indicators to Assault 
By: Tracy E. Barnhart, Backgate Author
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Terrell Unit Investigation stalled, Unit major moved to State jail facility after being rehired after termination request by unit warden! Could a Courtroom be the next stop ?
By: Duane Stuart, Backgate Website
The drama that has been playing out for months on the region three Terrell unit is still going strong and there seems to be no end in sight. After numerous EEO complaints against the unit's senior warden and unit captain, the stakes have still not changed much in recent weeks.
OIG and TDCJ EEO both acknowledge the fact that they both have ongoing investigations now pending on the unit, and some maintain that there still may be a lack of attention, or a cover up underway there. The incidents at hand began in December of 2007, but came to a head just a couple of months ago when TDCJ OIG acknowledged an investigation was indeed underway on the unit based upon requests from Austin.
Details of the original complaints and the story behind them are availible in past Backgate stories published on this page further down or in our archives section.
One major news bit coming out today is that Terrell unit major Jack Mangrum is being moved to the Joe Kegans state jail facility after being fired and rehired after he filed an EEO complaint on Terrell senior warden Anthony Collins some months back. Mangrum, who was almost immediately rehired, had been out on FMLA pending his move to the other facilty our sources claim.
Mangrum, who along with others on the unit exposed acts of wrongdoing by unit administartors, was targeted and then eventually fired for what many believe to be trivial charges related to TDCJ policy that may or may not have been fact. Several others that reported incidents of wrongdoing are also still under the gun on the unit so the source states.
Law Suits a many on the horizon ?
Many close to the story claim that law suits against TDCJ based on the federal whistle blowers act are to follow in the near future as a result of the ongoing actions of administrators on the unit. It is said that not only are federal EEO investigators involved, but attorneys have been in contact with potential clients involved in the mess.
Grievances battering Huntsville intake officials
The number of unit grievance actions has tripled say our sources in Huntsville after the incident first came to light back in December. Many say that the incidents could have been dealt with then if not for the inaction of former Terrell unit warden and recent region three director Jackie Edwards who was just recently promoted to a top administraive position in Huntsville.
"The senior warden and others showed gross inaction in dealing with the cases presented by unit employees", said one attorney that is looking into the possibility of facing the state agency in court." These employees reported wrongdoing, and were basically punished for doing so against agency policy and federal law."
Any other moves being made ?
Another source close to the investigation states that the main problem, senior warden Anthony Collins, who vasically allowed the incidents to occur, then allegedly covered them up afterwards may be allowd to remain on the unit. Of thats the case, this website amoung others will be lobbying Austin day and night to make the situation right. Numerous emails, and letters have stated that the unit under the current administration is dismal at best. Morale is at an all time low, people dont come to work, and the turnover rate is quickly growing with demotions, and employees quitting.
What can i do ?
If you work there, or if you care, please email your local legislator. They do care, but you have to care first. Jerry Madden, criminal justice committee chair has expressed great interest, but he may need some help realizing just what those employees have to deal with.
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Walking With The Predators
By: Tracy E. Barnhart
Backgate Web Author
An officer, who is well liked and respected by his peers, returns from a well deserved break at 0230. The malicious darkness looms of what seems like an ordinary and routine third shift in the facility. But for him it’s a restless night and he knows that time will continue to drag. He wonders if his shift will end uneventful and after only eight hours or if he will be mandated to work first shift. He remembers the day an operational manager once told him that he was going to go places within the department. As quickly as the promise of his big promotional chance came, it vanished just a fast. Politics, idle talk, becoming a union activist, and not knowing who the resourceful players are has sent him down another path. In the darkness of a lonely midnight shift that leads to nowhere, he contemplates his current situation, his future. It is then that the exhaustion overwhelms him and even though he is comfortable, he begins to sweat.
