Corrective Action

Corrections security team delivers leading-edge technology

• By Felix Gonzalez
• Jan 03, 2008

Correctional facility infrastructures are aging, inmate populations in the United States are increasing, and the cost of operating jails and prisons is growing twice as fast. Correctional facility officials know these facts all too well.

The government spent more than $35 billion on direct expenditures for criminal and civil justice in fiscal 2005, state governments spent more than $65 billion and local governments spent more than $104 billion.

“What it comes down to is that corrections, which is the business of keeping criminals locked up, is two to three times more expensive than protection and security, which is the normal police function of keeping the community safe,” said John Wetzel, warden of the new $30 million Franklin County jail in Chambersburg, Pa., which opened in early 2007.

The expense poses a constant budgetary stress for Wetzel and the thousands of other local, county and state correctional professionals who are on the frontline of maintaining control of the nation’s correctional institutions.

Growth and Change
The U.S. correctional population in 2006 hit a record 2.2 million, according to the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics. On average, the cost of operating a jail or a prison has increased about 5.5 percent each year for the past 15 years, with county correctional budgets totaling more than $38.5 billion, while combined state and federal budgets total $28 billion.

“We see a tremendous future in the corrections market. Stanley Systems Integration’s Corrections Team provides some of the nation’s leading correctional services, and we will continue to leverage our expertise in county facilities. Franklin County is one of the latest examples where a sophisticated solution was developed by our engineers to meet the highest security standards for a county correctional facility,” said Tony Byerly, senior vice president of marketing and national accounts for HSM.

Mark Baruzinni, general manager of Stanley’s Indianapolis-based corrections team, agrees that the correctional securit business is evolving. Typically, county and state projects were always a low-bid, lowtech business, he said.

“Now, as a result, many older systems are becoming outmoded and need to be replaced and upgraded. Many of those local low-cost, low-tech providers have gone out of business, leaving very few, if any, sources for service and parts. That’s a solution with diminishing returns,” Baruzinni said. “Technology is changing the nature of the job. One of the biggest adjustments is that governments want the best solution for the best value from a reliable provider. The system that can be customized to address the specific and unique needs of the facility and jurisdiction, yet use many off-theshelf technologies is ideal. This helps control costs, yet meets the critical security needs in the corrections environment.”

A High-Tech Fortress
Providing services to more than 600 correctional facilities throughout the country, Stanley’s corrections team focuses on the development of custom integrated solutions. The team begins with a consultation, progresses to software development, system assembly, testing, start-up and commissioning, and then performs on-going inspections and service.

“In the case of Franklin County, Stanley was able to take this particular correctional customer’s vision and develop a solution that addressed their No. 1 priority: security and safety,” Baruzinni said.

From the beginning of the design stage to sign-off, Franklin County wanted a system that met their requirements—to be adaptable and flexible for future security needs. Combining the vision of the county officials with the latest in security and electronic technology, the new high-tech fortress has become the centerpiece of the justice system.

With the primary focus being the protection of the public, a state-of-the-art, leading-edge technology integrated security solution was sought that improved the safety and functionality of the facility for staff, inmates and the community as a whole.

Unlike other correctional facilities that operate purely with a centrally manned command station controlling all facets of the facility, Franklin County officials wanted line staff to be mobile inside the housing units while maintaining maximum control of physical security. The centerpiece provides a secure, dependable and professional-grade handheld wireless security device, the mobile control units or MCUs.

“In its most basic form, it is like a portable inventory device that you might see at a large retailer,” Baruzinni said. “Yet, it is interactive and carries push-to-talk wireless technology.”

The correctional team also developed integrated audio communications functionality, allowing officers to have conversations with inmates using their cell intercoms via PDAs. The system uses a VoIP connection between PDAs and the digital intercom system. Officers also can hear alarm annunciation on the PDAs while communicating with an intercom. VoIP technology is designed to provide excellent voice quality without requiring significant network bandwidth, and the staff always has the ability to remotely disable a PDA if it were to fall into the wrong hands or turn up missing.

Bettering the Community
In the middle of Franklin County’s technology is a programmable logic controller, with touchscreen control functionality, for 24/7/365 control of all doors, intercoms, cameras, duress receivers, lights, access control and complete data logging for the prison facility. The distributed PLC architecture includes eight networked PLC locations connected over fiber, more than 162,000 digital I/O points, a software interface to the digital intercom system, integrated control of the CCTV matrix switcher and Ethernet communication links to the access control system and staff touchscreen control stations. The entire system is monitored by a security management server, which logs operation of the PLC, touchscreens and handheld devices, as well as the status of every door position and lock status switch in the facility. This provides the facility with specific information on how officers are using the system and gives the administrators valuable historical data when incidents occur.

More than 110 CCTV cameras throughout the facility allow staff to view inmates, staff and visitors as they go about their daily routines. DVRs provide recordings using facility cameras at 10 frames per second with more than 30 days of online storage. Along with the data logging system, the DVRs provide liability protection for the facility, as they are better at piecing together inmate incidents. Video and data can be stored on DVDs for use by the county in court.

“Our county officials envisioned a truly world-class correctional facility that would benefit all members of our community. Working with the Stanley Systems Integration’s corrections team helped us achieve this goal and more. In our world, security and safety are always our first priority,” Wetzel said.