By Rob Stallworth, American Military University
InPublicSafety.com
We are charged these days in the criminal justice system to do more with less. Everyone who works in this system faces that reality and is challenged to come up with various strategic ways to do their job. Unfortunately, it may mean risking the public’s safety in order to make ends meet.
For example, a Michigan inmate, Michael David Elliot, recently escaped from Ionia Correctional Facility, a maximum security prison, virtually undetected. The Ionia prison perimeter security has two 12-foot fences with razor wire, one which is supposed to shock you with electricity on contact; they also have motion sensors, roving patrols, and even gun towers that were allegedly in good working order.
It was stated by Michigan DOC spokesman, Russ Marlan, in a report by the Associated Press that Elliot wore a white kitchen uniform to avoid security and to blend in with the snow at the prison. Once at the fences, he dug a hole to get through, again undetected, abducted a woman, and stole her SUV. Thankfully, the woman managed to escape and call police once they stopped at a gas station in Indiana.
Full story: Cost Cutting Versus Public Safety: Should There be a Choice?
