Next-Generation Corrections Staff Alarms: How to Create a Culture of Safety
By Nick McCusker
Walk into any corrections facility in the United States, and you’ll see the same thing: a large number of incarcerated individuals and a significantly smaller number of corrections officers. With consistently troubling statistics regarding violence between inmates, as well as between corrections officers and inmates, many corrections facilities leverage real-time locating systems (RTLS) as duress tools with the aim of reducing violent encounters and defusing bad situations before they get worse.
On our end, we’re seeing more prison and detention centers begin to track inmates with RTLS, creating greater visibility and enhanced safety measures. But RTLS can offer corrections facilities so much more than simple duress and tracking – we believe that a greater adoption of tracking technologies will help create cultures of safety. Here’s how.
Seeing Is Believing: Why Visible Devices Can Help Encourage Safe Behaviors
Basic psychology tells us that when we feel safe, we generally feel better – both mentally and emotionally. When individuals are under constant stress, especially when it relates to feeling unsafe, they’re more likely to lash out or react to stimuli with violence.
When individuals are able to soothe themselves with so-called “social safety cues,” their brains leave fight-or-flight mode, and they’re better able to relax. If corrections officers and incarcerated individuals are all wearing tracking and/or monitoring devices, then everyone in the facility will know help is close at hand, should a violent situation arise – and the presence of those devices may just dissuade bad behavior from individuals in the facility, too. One could argue that the “safety cue” of a protective device is enough to affect behavior for both corrections staff and inmates alike.
Corrections Facilities Pose Unique Challenges for RTLS
Lower rates of violence, accurate tracking and quick help, should a situation arise, sound pretty great to us. But it’s important to consider that these end results require nuanced approaches. After all, corrections facilities are what we term “complex physical environments.” They’re full of thick, reinforced concrete walls, tunnels, stairwells, multiple stories, large open areas such as cafeterias, and mixed-material areas such as bathrooms and kitchens. It’s a challenge to properly route a signal when there are so many materials and objects that could easily deflect that signal – and when seconds matter, you don’t want a duress signal to get trapped in a concrete room.
At Actall, we’ve crafted solutions over the past 20-plus years to thrive in exactly this type of environment, and we’re always innovating.
For example, over the years, we’ve modified our tags so that the duress button is large, obvious and not easily confused for another button, thus lowering the potential for human error when a duress situation arises.
We also understand that these are working products – in the field, day in and day out, for years at a time. We stand behind every Actall-branded piece of equipment, and we also design them to stand up to frequent, tough use.
Lastly, a simple user interface means that employees are easily able to interpret duress signals, tracking signals and the like with precision, quickly getting help where it needs to go.
On the Horizon with RTLS
We think that with greater adoption of highly accurate RTLS technology and devices, corrections facilities will see higher safety ratings, helping to create a culture of safety.
And as technology continues to advance, we’re right there at the forefront. As the years have passed, we’ve developed smaller, more ergonomically designed tags and buttons for duress and tracking.
We’re also proud of our innovations in battery life of the device and ping rate – modifying the device’s transmission rate relative to the situation or environment they’re in to maintain strong battery life even with smaller devices.
At the end of the day, these innovations mean one thing: Help will be where you need it, when you need it. And with consistent operations, ubiquity of devices and overall lower incidences of violence, a culture of safety is possible in even the most challenging of complex physical environments.