What Keeps Me Up At Night: Keys, or No Keys?
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Offner |
The retired deputy recognized my face from the “mug shot” in his freshly issued but dog-eared copy of Correctional News, which he carried in his sack full of in-flight reading material. Since both of us were on a two-hour layover and had some time to kill, I invited him to sit and chew the fat for a while.
He mentioned how he enjoyed his retirement but missed the work. He told me about the many things he has seen change over the years in jail operations. It was interesting to hear from a former line officer and administrator about what he thought worked and what didn’t work in a close-custody environment and his perception of where we need to go and where we are headed in the future.
Our discussion eventually focused on security and locking devices. Most times when I mention a paracentric locking device to a jail administrator, I get the response, “Is that a big key or a little key?”
The retired deputy knew the difference between a paracentric and a mogul lock, as well as the nuances of a 10-series and an 80-series locking device. I told him about my recent conversation with officials from the Federal Bureau of Prisons, which employs some of our industry’s most knowledgeable lock experts. The bureau’s construction gurus had educated me on the their use of a modified ANSI F-14 function lever-handled, heavy duty mortise lock with a mogul cylinder in their facilities.
The locking function on the standard F-14 is modified in the FBOP’s versions so the latchbolt can be retracted by both levers unless locked, or unlocked by key on either side, or the deadbolt can be thrown or retracted by a key on either side.
On the standard lock the handles move freely whether the lock is engaged or disengaged. I explained that the beauty of the modified F-14 locking device is when the deadbolt is in locked position, the levers are fixed and this fixed handle allows the correctional officers to check whether a door is locked or not by simply tapping the lever. If the lever is fixed, the door is locked. The retired deputy agreed the use of this locking device made the officer’s rounds simpler.
We continued our discussion on locking devices — deadlocks, snaplatches, combination spring and deadlock devices, slamlocks, and just about every type of mechanical locking device used in a jail today.
I asked him about his preference regarding pneumatic or low-voltage electronically controlled locking devices. He reached into his shirt pocket, took out his horn-rimmed reading glasses, placed them on his nose in a look-over position and said, “I believe a day is coming when jails won’t need keys.”
The system of the future?
The retired deputy shared his vision of a totally keyless facility with no key cabinets, key tags, key rings or key machine and most importantly, no lost keys.
I asked him, what it was about key locks that would make a jailer want to consider a keyless system.
The response was somewhat unexpected. He said in his opinion, key locks are becoming antiquated. Digging into his pocket he pulled out a key fob and added, “My car has remote keyless entry and some cars only require a fingerprint to unlock the door. Why can’t all the doors in a detention facility work the same way?”
I have an upper-intermediate level of knowledge on locking systems with electronic and biometric activation devices for secure facilities and I am doubtful a completely keyless facility will ever be financially feasible. Regardless of my preconception, I listened to his logic like a defense attorney waiting for the prosecution to finish.
I was prepared to counterpoint and explain why his vision of the future wouldn’t work, but we ran out of time. When he finished speaking I kept silent and as we parted I promised him I would do some research and get back to him later with an opinion on keyless systems. I was both impressed and perplexed. This guy sounded like he knew what he was talking about, and in his mind, an evolution to an affordable keyless system in a secure setting was just over the horizon. Was it true?
The Keyless Lock
As my research began on keyless systems my sleepless nights continued. My first bit of digging was on the Web where I uncovered the history of keyless locks. The combination lock was the first keyless lock. It was invented in 1206 AD by Arab Scholar al Jazari.
You may remember the use of the cryptex in Dan Brown’s best selling novel “The daVinci Code.” The cryptex was based on the al Jazari combination lock concept.
Searching deeper through the thousand or so Web links about keyless locking systems, I discovered it was James Sargent who was given credit for inventing the world’s first successful key-changeable (programmable) combination lock in 1857. His lock became popular with safe manufacturers and was used by the U.S. Treasury Department.
In 1873, Sargent patented a time-lock mechanism, the prototype for those used in contemporary bank vaults. I also uncovered that in 1862, Linus Yale Jr. invented the modern combination lock. One thing was certain, keyless locking devices have been around for more than 800 years.
Combination locks could be a viable option to use in a keyless jail or prison setting, but who could remember all those numbers?
Realizing combination locks were a dead end in keyless technology, my research continued into microchip technology applications used in locking devices. Most of us have been exposed to keyless office buildings and other non-secure buildings and are aware remote control door locks are already mass-produced for the commercial and residential market.
Remote control locks use a device very similar to your car remote. The lockset or deadbolt device can be locked or unlocked from 10 feet away with the push of a button on the remote device.
The biometric locking device is also getting its fair share of market buzz. Black & Decker manufactures a fingerprint-actuated deadbolt locking device that identifies your fingerprint (and also stores several others) then unlocks or locks the device. The model I examined had a thumb latch to re-lock the device once you were inside, but it performed as advertised.
Both the electronic remote and biometric lock utilized an inexpensive battery similar to the ones used in a digital camera and were easy to program. These locking devices on average cost about $200 each. What I also found was every lock that used a remote device or a bio-scan also had a slot for a key. When even our keyless locks have keys I had to ask myself, “Where are we in keyless technology?”
Keyless Technology
Planners at DMJM and other design firms have been utilizing keyless control concepts in prison and jail designs for several years.
Keyless control, simply stated, is the control of cell and prisoner movement doors by a central or a unit control station officer. Often, card readers and occasionally biometric readers, are associated with these movement-control systems. These devices permit the holder of a pre-programmed card key or similar device to actuate a door locking device and allow movement from one area to another rather than carrying several keys.
This type of system can use a pneumatically or electronically activated system. One of the advantages of keyless control is it requires less staff to manage movement around a facility. So far, almost all of the locking devices used in the design have a key-actuated lock or some other mechanical means of door release as a back-up. One reason for this secondary method of operation is life safety codes require a mechanical means of operation.
Unlike the commercial and residential locking devices and systems, detention locks and systems are expensive. The problem arises in a totally keyless system with the control of infrequently used doors, such as those used for storage areas, janitor’s closets, mechanical rooms, etc.
Traditionally, these doors are only operated with a key. My experts tell me keyless openings in low-use openings, such as storage closets and cell chase doors will change a $500 opening into a $1,500 opening. Typically, most public construction budgets will not be able to justify or absorb this cost differential.
What about biometrics? The Transportation Security Administration has used biometrics with its trusted traveler program, verifying a traveler’s identity via bio-scanning. At Walt Disney World, biometric measurements are taken from the fingers of guests to ensure that the person’s ticket is used by the same person from day to day.
According to Michael Murphy, one of DMJM’s resident experts on locking, all biometric devices operate through a database system that requires an enrollment process. Once enrolled, one or more scanning devices capture the subject’s biometric data and make a pass/fail analysis against the database file.
DMJM helped design a detention facility in the Middle East with a movement control system, which is utilizing live video and stored video images on the same screen. At this facility, individuals use a card reader and the resulting card swipe sends input to the mainframe, which will go to a database to call up the face of the cardholder. The computer performs the facial recognition comparison between the database’s record and the face on the screen prior to granting access.
The cost of this type of system is astronomical compared to current technology used in the United States . Also, the systems in the United States are often unreliable, according to my sources. But technologically speaking, we’re almost there.
Future Technology
After researching and considering the subject, I have to agree with the retired deputy — totally keyless facilities are in our future, and our future keyless system will be biometric.
The more biometric locking systems that are manufactured, and the more they are used around the world, the more available, reliable and affordable they will become.
However, we are not there yet and there will continue to be sound fiscal and psychological reasoning for using locks and keys. There is something about the noise of a 10-gauge steel door slamming shut and the rattling of the keys against the door, followed by the key turning in the cylinder and the sound of the dead bolt engaging, that reminds the prisoner they’re on the inside and the officer is on the outside.
When I see the jailer with his set of paracentric keys (the big ones) in hand I feel secure. I am not sure I would have the same feeling if the jailer had a remote control device in hand.
And, I don’t believe the sound of a car alarm chirp or the beep of a biometric lock engaging could ever give the same auditory cue to the prisoner that they are behind bars and that I am safe. So, for now, I want to hear the door lock engage with the turn of a key, then I can get a good night sleep knowing the jail is secure. n
Gregory J. Offner is vice president of DMJM H+N – AECOM located in Arlington, Va., and a member of the Correctional News Editorial Advisory Board.