A PIPE TO HIT A THING FOR CALIFORNIA CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS

A pipe and a ‘thing’ to hit it with is the latest ‘tool’ for California correctional officers

January 2, 2015

On Thursday’s PACOVILLA Correctional blog, Dr. Richard Krupp, a former executive with the California corrections department, identified four persons to watch in the coming year. One was Jeff Beard, who was appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown to head California's prison system. Dr. Krupp quoted Beard as saying:

“The one big thing that we did is we installed what’s called a Guard One system in all of our segregation units, and this is a system where the officer has a (tool), like a pipe, that they walk around and they hit a thing on each door. And so it actually ensures that somebody is making regular rounds in the housing unit.”

To that retired correctional officer Dave Freeman says:

“Banging doors with a pipe every half hour does not insure that the officer actually looks inside each cell and takes the time to view ‘live, breathing flesh.’ It merely means the officer walked the unit knocking on doors and, most assuredly pissing off everyone housed therein. This is a training and supervision issue which does not really require this sort of advanced technology.

So now there are at least two new issues for prisoner rights groups to pursue this year. Officers walking around ‘intimidating inmates with pipes’, and officers using those pipes to disrupt inmates trying to sleep.”

Jeff ‘Paco’ Doyle responds to Dave:

“EXACTLY! These hilarious check-in stations are seen as some kind of hi-tech, 21st century marvel. This new-fangled Guard 1 contraption documents that someone who had the electronic ‘pipe’ at the time touched it to the ‘thing.’ DOH!”

And Dr. Krupp also responds to Dave:

“Maybe to prove the officer looked inside the cell they could have another ‘thing’ to hit on the door. They could call them Thing One and Thing Two. Dr Seuess would be proud.”

Folks, that’s why I call it Kookfornia!