The Corrections Industry and a Slow Economy

Currently a criminal justice specialist for the DLR Group, Russ Martin previously served the federal prison system for more than 20 years. For 16 years he was involved with the master planning, design, and construction of the Federal Prison Expansion program. He started as a correctional officer, then moved up to facilities and maintenance supervisor, on-site construction manager, project manager, and then, prior to joining DLR Group, he was chief of technical support.

Jay Schneider: Correctional construction currently is slowing down. When you were involved in the Federal Prison Expansion Program, what projects did you undertake during the years when construction slowed down?

Russ Martin: We thought there was going to be a construction slowdown during the change of administrations from the Reagan era to the first Bush era. We anticipated a slowdown, but by the time we finished our project in Oregon we started one in Colorado and one in Pennsylvania and a federal transfer center in Oklahoma City. We didn’t really weather a federal slowdown that everyone thought was going to happen in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

JS: Do you anticipate the current slowdown lasting for a while?

RM: In the federal prison system, yes. There’s a considerable slowdown. It’s hard right now.

I believe, just from my personal observations, that a lot of the federal funds are going to homeland security, and until that gets sorted out, I believe that’s where a lot of the federal funds are going to go. There’s a new director [Harley G. Lappin] in the FBOP who understands the need for new beds, but whether or not he can get that funding has yet to be seen.

JS: Has the industry shifted from new construction to maintenance and expansion?

RM: It’s always been a goal of the FBOP to expand existing facilities to their full capability. But, I’m not exactly sure how much of that is happening right now, if any. There always are small construction projects around prisons, but nothing of any magnitude.

Right now, I can only think of one new project that’s recently been approved, and that’s a secure women’s facility in Hazleton, West Virginia.

JS: There’s been a big shift in prison population; women are the highest growing population right now, correct?

RM: That’s my understanding. Women and juveniles. Juveniles more locally than on the federal level.

JS: You were also a maintenance and facilities supervisor. What were some of the main issues facing correctional facilities?

RM: I’ve been maintenance and facilities supervisor at three facilities. At the Safford facility in Arizona, the big problem was that the facility was old. The biggest problems I faced at Tucson and Phoenix were getting the facilities open; getting enough staff for the new facilities.

I was always of the assumption that if we maintain the facilities properly and keep them new, you can preach that ideal to get positions filled. Once you open a new facility, there are still a lot of things not yet included that the warden and administration like to have. Probably the biggest challenge I had is establishing policies and procedures because of the different security levels, tools and controls, and things like that.

The correctional staffs are the ones who are really responsible for the security of the facility. Hiring people and getting them used to correctional ideas are some of the most difficult tasks when opening a new facility. When you bring them in, they don’t understand why they have to count the tools twice a day

JS: What are some of the big issues facing the correctional construction industry? Age? Modernization?

RM: I believe the bureau of prisons has brought most of their facilities up to ACA standards.

Privatization is something that DLR Group is doing quite a bit of work on. It’s slowed down right now, but I believe the feds are leaning toward it because they’re having trouble filling staff positions because of funding. The feds right now have at least three facilities they’ve completed and basically put them on mothballs because they don’t have the money to hire the people. It’s a tough time to recruit staff.

JS: When the economy is so bad and there are job openings, why is it so hard to attract people to this industry?

RM: A lot of it has to do with the qualifications of the people applying for the jobs. It has to do with people’s past, quite frankly. Those old days of a high school diploma and a shovel are gone. And, for people with a college education, corrections is not their first choice unless they can get into the management side or the counseling side.

Another problem is the money they get paid. The salaries that counties and jurisdictions can afford to pay don’t compete.

JS: You coordinated the development of the FBOP Design Guidelines. How was that put together?

RM: The first writing of the technical design guidelines was done by my staff and I when I was project manager in Colorado-I was actually helped by the DLR Group on the initial writing. It’s never really complete-it’s one of those things where my old boss used to say “Russ, just pick a date and publish the damn thing because it will never be final.” With new technology and new materials and new hardware and everything coming out, it’s still evolving and will always be revised. The FBOP is pretty good about updating it. We started using it internally about 1992, and it was 1994 when it was first published and issued as a technical reference.

JS: You’re also a security specialist. Can you talk about what’s going on in that sector?

RM: There’s been a lot of movement in this sector in the last few years. Now, there’s really only three primary suppliers of security hardware: Airteq, Southern Steel, and Folger Adam. Southern Steel has just introduced a new line of paracentric locks. I personally haven’t been able to play with them yet, but I talked with the guys at Southern Steel and they’re pretty excited about it.

The real shift is in pneumatic controls, and I was one of the last people to go kicking and screaming toward pneumatic controls because of some of the early experience I’ve had with them. When I was at the FBOP, I toured a facility in Puerto Rico that was having trouble with pneumatic locks in the very early stages and they gave pneumatic locks a black eye. But, those problems were ironed out and that’s the way to do it now. They’re coming down in price and every bit as inexpensive and a whole lot more maintenance free than electromechanical devices.

Pneumatic controls can be retrofit and I know Airteq and Southern Steel both make a device that will fit in old housings; they’re pretty easy to retrofit.

JS: How is it you stay informed about the latest equipment and hardware?

RM: I’ve known the folks in this industry for a long time. The corrections industry, no matter how big it is, is relatively a small industry. I’m personal friends with an awful lot of the main suppliers. Whenever they come out with something new, I’m generally one of the people they’ll send it to or invite to use it, or they’ll stop by and show it off to me.

JS: Having worked for the FBOP, is there any advice you have for firms hoping to land contracts with them?

RM: Right now a lot of the FBOP’s major projects are design-build, so if you’re primarily a subcontractor or supplier, you need to get involved with a good design-build team. Also, a lot of maintenance projects are managed by regional offices, so I’d suggest they contact those offices.

There used to be one person you could call and they knew what was going on, but the bureau has gotten so large now, the regional offices have taken the pressure off the central office. There’s no one person you can call anymore and get all the information.

You can also visit the FBOP’s Web site: www.bop.gov.

JS: What differences have you noticed between working for the FBOP and now working in the private sector?

RM: Since I’ve joined DLR Group, the AutoCAD world has come alive. A lot of the things that used to be done by hand are now done by machine. Things are much easier to fix and clean up than the old ways. At the FBOP, it was writing justifications and two or three years later you might get funding for it. In the private sector, it’s watching for those RFPs and standing in line and hoping your credentials are good or better than anyone else’s and you get the job. We’ve lost some heartbreakers here, in the last few years, that were kind of hard to take.

JS: What is it you learned from your work with the FBOP that you brought with you to DLR Group and are now applying to your work there?

RM: Corrections work is corrections work no matter what side of the table you’re sitting on. I believe everything transferred pretty well.