Right now in the year 2016 some county and state correctional agencies are pushing to end shift briefing, (also known as roll call and line-up) to save a dime at the expense of officer safety. Currently, California is one of the states battling this issue. Shift briefing in my opinion is vital to the safety of the citizens, the correctional officers, civilian prison staff, and the inmates. I am not alone in that opinion.
Dan M. Reynolds is a retired warden/administrator from the Oklahoma Department of Corrections and currently serves as a consultant for the American Correctional Association. He is the author of the Oklahoma Prison Riots and On the Other Side of the Bars. Warden Reynolds stated Oklahoma had paid shift briefing routinely 15 minutes prior to shift. It was later removed to save money. The shift supervisor would then have to go from post to post and give briefing individually.
Warden Reynolds believes there should be a shift briefing because it maximizes security safety by providing important information about inmate activities and danger signs. He himself used shift briefing to keep staff up to date with training and new policies and procedures as well as officers in need of help due to medical issues. He is in full support of shift briefing and believes it is a great tool to aid in officer safety and security.
Retired Indiana police detective and retired Florida Prison Inspector Don Charlwood agrees that not having shift briefing is a safety issue. You must be aware of the dangers you face. If you are not informed you cannot do your job. Here are five reasons removing shift briefing (roll call) is not worth the risk.
1. Shift briefing offers more complete communication than written memos.
Shift briefing is a very important tool for supervisors to pass on critical information. Briefing works because it is face to face, which is essential for all critical communication. Studies have shown that the majority of getting the message across is by facial expression and the way something is said. Those emails and memos are just not as effective, also how do we know the message was understood properly or even read carefully?
Replacing shift briefing with memos and electronic messages regarding critical incidents will not replace human interaction. Shift briefing is the key to productivity and an essential component for the success of your staff. Face-to-face briefings allows for officers to ask questions and give feedback on the spot. This helps ensure the message or critical information was understood by everyone.
In the corrections world this will be the only time your shift will be together as a group. Everyone needs to feel part of a team and know who has their back. Being together if only for a few minutes gives everyone a sense of a shared mission and a collective goal as a team. Negative issues will have to be addressed to ensure corrective action is taken. We also need to implement positive points and thank your shift for a job well done — leave briefing on a positive note.
2. Shift briefing ensures sharing of pertinent information.
Shift briefing provides information that staff need to be aware of in order to prevent injuries to themselves or others regarding out of control inmates. Corrections is a 24-hour operation. Incidents may occur on the shift before your shift that are important for you to be aware of. Information regarding threats against staff, rumors of a possible prison riot, and what to be on the look-out for is passed along at shift briefing.
Information regarding contraband, drugs, weapons entering the prison or exiting the prison. Crisis intervention issues should be discussed concerning inmates with mental health issues. When an inmate is notified of a family death, we need to alert all staff members to pay extra attention to the inmate and monitor him or her for possible signs of suicide. News of possible escape attempts or unusual activity of any nature should be passed on at briefing.
3. New policies, procedures, and directives can be addressed.
Supervisors should discuss new policies, procedures and directives with each shift and ensure they understand what they mean and how they should be implemented. Do not just staple a sign-up sheet to a new policy and have everyone sign it without reading it. Yes, it is each officer’s responsibility to read and understand up-to-date policies and procedures. However, by having a different officer each day read a paragraph from the new policy it gets everyone involved. Once again it allows for questions and feedback.
4. Shift briefing allows for inter-agency communication.
Use shift briefing to invite Human Resources personnel over to inform your shift regarding all the available programs such as financial planning, alcohol and drug programs, anger management programs, marriage counseling and stress management programs. These are programs we do not want to talk about but we must inform our staff they are available to them.
Also, inform staff of all the fun programs available through Human Resources such as free exercise classes, prayer groups, and fun events arranged by the agency to raise money for charities such as barbeques, family fun days, bicycle rides and more. You will be surprised how many staff members are not aware of all the programs available to them.
Have your medical staff, food service staff, teachers and counselors take turns speaking at briefing to discuss how we can all work together daily and how to handle emergency situations to keep us prepared and on our toes.
Never forget your maintenance crew. Get them to briefing as well. Who has better knowledge than maintenance personnel with the layout of the jail or prison? On many occasions the maintenance personnel have helped find an inmate hidden in a ceiling or boiler room during an escape attempt.
5. Shift briefing is an important way to prevent complacency.
Shift briefing keeps us on our toes and reminds us to “Keep or head on a swivel.” Un-informed staff are not properly prepared for the job. Roll call keeps everyone informed and educated. Communication is our lifeline in corrections, without it we are not going to stay safe, protect others and go home to our families. Briefing provides us with the effective tool for face-to-face communication. It prevents complacency and provides us with details that save our lives and others lives. Briefings increase our knowledge of the job and boosts officer confidence.
Conclusion: It is not worth the risk to remove shift briefing/roll call!
Remember the words of Sydney Harris: “The two words information and communication are often used interchangeably, but they signify quite different things. Information is giving out; communication is getting through.”
Today’s briefing saved an officer’s life somewhere in our country. Today’s briefing saved the life of an inmate, someone’s son, daughter, brother, or sister. A prison nurse was saved from being cut with a razor blade by an inmate today because the officer was not complacent, shift briefing kept the officer alert and on his or her toes. An escape was prevented today and our community is safe because of shift briefing. Shift briefing saved an officer from committing suicide — he was under a lot of stress and an agency program and sharp supervisor saved him. A visitor was saved today from being taken hostage by an inmate because of a training scenario given at briefing.
We should not discard shift briefings/roll call so the county or state can save a dime — not on our watch! It is our job to provide safety and security for everyone involved in the prison system.
