A recent attack on a North Carolina detention officer highlights the dangers associated with direct supervision housing

The recent story of the brutal – and I would add cowardly – attack on a North Carolina detention officer has highlighted what I consider to be one of the worst ideas in corrections: direct supervision housing. To be specific, I am referring to the style that puts the detention officer physically within a housing unit, with no physical barrier to separate them from the inmates – exactly the kind of unit that Officer Sheldon Kaminsky was working when he was viciously battered by an inmate.

[MORE: Video released showing attack that left N.C. detention officer on ventilator]

I will make the case that these kinds of assaults – of which this particular one is just a single example of many over the years – would not happen or would be minimized in a linear-style jail. As my experience has been in, and this situation transpired in a county jail, I will be speaking of that system. Although the dynamic applies, I will not be concerning myself with prisons.

Direct supervision has only been around for a few decades as opposed to jails with bars to contain detainees that have been around for a few thousand years. During this time period, the philosophy behind jailing people has changed from detention to housing. What I mean by that is that the emphasis has gone from keeping people behind bars for the benefit of society at large, with no particular concern for creature comforts (i.e. a bread and water approach, metaphorically speaking) to create a comfortable existence, with no real loss of creature comforts (flat-screen TVs, unlimited commissary, mail and visitation).

Of course, I’m not advocating for draconian conditions in jails, but I’m also not advocating a country club setting either. In my experience, direct supervision has pushed the detention officer away from maintaining order and security to being more of a concierge – one who is likely to one day get their face kicked in. 

While the proponents of direct supervision will tout its upside – mainly that it's all about being able to respond quickly to inmate "needs" while also promoting inmate safety – I argue that any operational approach that puts officers in danger has no upside. The bottom line is that direct supervision puts the welfare of inmates above that of staff. And let's be honest, the inmate needs officers are generally responding to involve changing TV channels, laundry concerns, commissary queries, and a hundred other daily, repetitive interactions born mostly out of boredom and attempts to distract staff.

Inmate welfare is driven more by the caliber and training of staff than by physical set-up. Caring, professional staff in a linear jail will ensure inmate welfare, but without exposing staff to the inherent dangers of direct supervision.

In both models you are still going to have inmate drama, ranging from gossip to assaults; it’s a fact of jail life. But in a linear facility, these problems are going to be behind bars, glass, or something else – where I argue they belong. And with electronic surveillance capabilities these days, as well as regular physical rounding through housing areas, these issues can be kept to a minimum.

Additionally, when all heck breaks loose in a linear cellblock, you have the luxury of not going in until you have amassed adequate staff – a luxury you would not have with an officer already trapped in a direct supervision pod.

Those who claim more pragmatic reasons for direct supervision, such as cost efficiency, confuse me. In both facilities where we ran supervision, the combined officer to inmate ratio averaged around 1 to 50. In one of them, we also had linear, where the ratio could be as high as 1 to 150. Now, I’m no mathematician, but linear sure seems much more cost-efficient. And guess what? In linear, we didn’t have any inmates pushing laundry carts out of the way and beating on officers!

I can also add two very practical benefits of linear style as it relates to staff, with officer safety coming in first and foremost. Keep all your studies and statistics; when an officer is physically exposed to inmates on a consistent basis, the chances of assault are higher. This is not rocket science. Although the vast majority of inmates are not a physical threat to staff, that doesn’t alter the fact that some are. Just like many crimes are crimes of opportunity, the same could be applied to officer assaults. Why present the opportunity by placing staff right in the “crosshairs” of an inmate with ill intent?

Staffing is also likely to improve under a linear supervision model. A safer, less stressed staff will call out of work less frequently, and the job will be more attractive to potential applicants. When you are dealing with inmates for eight, 10, 12 hours, or more, you need time to decompress during the shift. Linear-style afforded this opportunity as you could walk away from the cellblock, unlike direct supervision. And while I grant that the percentage of “problem” inmates is relatively small, when you’re sitting in there, all it takes is a few (or one!) to make for a long day. Even a well-run pod, with rule-abiding inmates, has its accompanying stress. Dozens of inmates talking, watching TV, showering, approaching the desk, etc. can wear on the best of staff. Until you get a break, you’re stuck, and Heaven forbid if you’re not feeling top-notch or are tired – which never happens in a corrections setting, as overtime is practically non-existent!

We have to get our priorities straight: Are we a jail or not? Direct supervision, at least in its broad application, needs to go away. It's just another example of form over substance. It reminds me of the jail I worked in, where they would not put razor wire around the perimeter of the roof. Since the jail was located in a popular tourist area of the city, they didn’t want to appear “intimidating." The criminals can intimidate us, but we better be warm and fuzzy.

I was proud to work in the jail. I would have been proud to be called a jailer, but at one facility our patch read: Corrections. I hated that. Call me a jailer, guard, detention officer, even flashlight cop. I worked in adult facilities. The time for corrections had long passed. Leave that to the social workers and clergy (vitally important to a smooth-running facility); I’m there to ensure the detainees are not a threat to society, each other, and most importantly, me and my team.

The detention field is rampant with hard-working, caring officers that see to the care, custody and control of detainees on a scale and in a world that would boggle most people’s minds. With this is an inherent amount of danger. Detention staff get it, but they deserve to be as safe as possible. Detention pods and cell blocks are where detainees live, not where these brave people should have to spend their shift.

NEXT: What’s the difference between direct and indirect supervision?

Daniel Veith is a former corrections deputy with the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office in Flint, Michigan. Prior to his two years of service in Michigan, he retired from the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office in 2014 after almost 15 years of service, 12 of those years as a sergeant. He was included on the sheriff’s strategic planning board one year and was number one on the lieutenant’s promotional list at the time he and his family decided to move back to their home state. Holding a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Michigan State University, he has been involved in every facet of county corrections in two different facilities in Florida and Michigan.

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