Security and Technology

The Pima County Jail

Robert Frost said, “Good fences make good neighbors.” When your neighbor is a prison, you want really good fences. The appropriate use of new technology can enhance the security and capacity of a correctional facility while actually reducing staff levels and costs. These developments are beginning to drive the design of new jails and prisons.

Aligning Costs with Benefits

“People want their prisons to be tough-and cheap,” observes Susan Keegan Gary, vice president of justice programs for architectural and engineering firm DMJMH+N. “Advanced technology-combined with creative, practical design-is the best way to meet that need.

The $27.3 million Pima County Jail expansion in Tucson, Arizona, provides a graphic example. “We were running two facilities and bringing a third on line,” remarks Captain John Alese of the Pima County Sheriff’s Department. “But we didn’t want to operate three separate units with three separate systems.

“When you’ve got two older buildings with many separate systems-fire/safety alarm systems, entrances, control rooms-the cost of integrating them with yet a third building can be daunting. And this integration had to happen in a working correctional environment; we couldn’t just send the prisoners home for a while. An innovative approach was mandatory.”

Gregg Williams, project manager on the Pima project, and an associate justice principal for DMJMH+N, agrees. “From the fire alarm to the duress alarm to old black-and-white cameras to an aging intercom system, virtually every system was upgraded or replaced. Outdated technology was replaced with touchscreen systems using programmable logic controllers (PLCs). That gave us the platform for even more advanced elements.”

Tracking Systems

The Pima County Jail Central Station

Consider the inmate tracking system. Pima used radio-frequency identification chips and proximity readers to streamline a normally labor-intensive process. Inmates wear tamper-resistant bands that combine an ID chip, the inmate’s photograph, and an antenna. The band activates the logging system whenever an inmate passes a reader. With readers placed strategically throughout the facility, a smaller number of corrections officers can monitor a larger number of inmates.

“And the inmate tracking system keeps inmates honest,” says Captain Alese. “If the log shows inmate Smith was in visitation or medical for an hour, he can’t later claim that he was denied those services. You might even call this a lawsuit-prevention system.”

“What differentiates this system is the microchip,” explains DMJMH+N security expert David Campbell. “With bar coding, you’ve got to swipe the code directly under a reader. That’s a problem when you’re trying to control a large group of inmates. Now inmates just wave their arms near the reader and move on. And unlike a bar code, the microchip is immune to tampering.”

A biometric identification system was installed at the recently completed Illinois Department of Corrections’ Maximum Security Correctional Center (IMAX) in Thomson, Illinois. It uses electronic fingerprint identification to track both inmates and correctional officers. Video cameras monitor officer safety, while derailing inmate lawsuits that allege improper behavior.

Fencing

But perhaps the most striking example of cost-saving technology is the non-lethal electrified fence surrounding IMAX. “This type of fence greatly reduces costs because facilities don’t need as many guard towers,” explains DMJMH+N Justice Principal Mike Retford. “Depending on the security level required, a facility surrounded with this fence will require fewer-or even no towers. A manned tower costs around $250,000 per year per guard. Eliminating towers eliminates significant building costs and ongoing staffing costs.”

At IMAX Thomson, a traditional exterior fence surrounds an interior fence equipped with stun technology. Delivering an electric shock roughly equivalent to that of a stun gun, the fence sidesteps many of the legal and political problems associated with potentially lethal barriers. And because the electrification is high up on the inner fence, there is no mistaking the criminal intent of anyone on the fence.

“The fence also serves as a zone detection system, making traditional detection systems unnecessary,” says Retford. He believes that while this kind of fencing system will become standard for prisons nationwide, its potential uses are much broader: “If I had an embassy to protect, I’d put up this kind of fence immediately.”

Security Glazing

Gregg Williams cites the Pima housing complex as another example of high technology coupled with creative design. Cells for its low- and medium-security inmates have glass fronts. This setup allows a single corrections officer to continuously monitor all pod occupants.

“Traditional security glazing is very expensive,” remarks Williams, “so we suggested tempered glass. To demonstrate that the tempered glass could resist a moderate level of abuse, we had one of Captain Alese’s lieutenants hit a 1/4-inch-thick panel with a rubber mallet. He broke it easily. But he couldn’t break a 3/8-inch-thick panel, despite repeated hard blows. Then he hit the glass with a piece of granite. The rock broke! Although we immediately concluded that 3/8-inch-thick tempered glass was sufficient, a cost study convinced us to use 1/2-inch-thick glass for extra protection. That dimension also would allow replacement with 1/2-inch polycarbonate should the custody level change.

HVAC

Design innovations also helped with climate control. Although staff spaces were air-conditioned, the housing pods only had evaporative cooling-insufficient during summer months.

The Pima team used psychometric charts to develop specifications for an air conditioning system with a raised set-point temperature and higher air-change-per-hour intervals. Augmented by quiet ceiling fans, the system will provide adequate, controlled cooling. Although the initial price tag was high, cost-benefit analysis showed that this system should quickly pay for itself.

Changing Needs

Prisons and jails are changing. And whether it’s manifested through hardware, software, materials, or systems, technology and design are helping to drive that change, making facilities safer, tougher, and more cost-effective. That seems to be making corrections officials very happy-a sentiment that probably is not shared by the inmates.

Arthur Schurr is a New York-based freelance writer whose articles appear frequently in leading architecture, engineering, and construction publications.