Employee Interaction With Prison Inmates
Employee Interaction With Prison Inmates
Division of Administration Personnel Policy No. 20
EFFECTIVE DATE: September 28, 1992
REVISED DATE: March 14, 1994; October 10, 2008
SUBJECT: Employee Interaction With Prison Inmates
AUTHORIZATION: Barbara Goodson, Deputy Commissioner
Policy Sections
Policy Content
I. POLICY:
It is the policy of the Division of Administration (DOA) that all employees shall follow the procedures set out in this policy in all instances when interacting with prison inmates.
II. PURPOSE:
The Division of Administration utilizes prison inmates to perform certain functions in the buildings and on the grounds occupied by Division employees in order to preserve the State's financial resources. In buildings where these services are utilized, inmates can be readily identified by the uniforms they wear [males (dark green) & females (red)] with the appropriate correctional institute name.
To ensure a safe work environment for Division of Administration employees under these circumstances, the procedures contained in this policy have been developed.
III. APPLICABILITY:
This policy applies to all employees of the Division of Administration in all sections, both general and ancillary appropriation.
IV. PROCEDURE:
A. The following applies to all employees during working hours, on State premises, and/or while utilizing State resources:
- Employees shall not engage in conversation with an inmate other than simple courtesies ("Good Morning/Afternoon", "Thank you", etc.). An employee should not respond to questions, interact in conversation, ask work-related questions or give instructions to an inmate. If conversation is required other than simple courtesies, the correctional officer must be contacted.
- Employees shall not correspond with an inmate by letter, memorandum, note, telephone, mail, or any other method.
- Employees shall not mail letters or any other articles for inmates.
- Employees shall not be affectionate with an inmate in any way, including casual touching, either alone or in the presence of others.
- Employees shall not call or accept calls from an inmate, his family or friends. If you receive a call either from an inmate or for an inmate, reject it and report it immediately to your supervisor and the correctional officer or the institution.
- Employees shall not develop a non-professional relationship with an inmate, his family or friends. This includes, but is not limited to, the writing of personal letters and making personal calls to an inmate's family or friends, dating of an inmate who is on work release, probation or parole.
- Employees shall not allow an inmate to use any telephone and should report any use of a telephone to their supervisor and the correctional officer immediately.
- Employees shall not make a telephone call for an inmate.
- Employees shall ensure that items of value are not accessible to inmates (i.e. jewelry, cell phones, postage stamps, etc.). These items should be placed in desk drawers or locked in a safe place while inmates are working.
- Employees shall ensure that contraband (i.e. money, cigarettes, cigarette lighters, weapons, alcoholic beverages, drugs, medication, etc.) are not accessible to inmates. (Note: Knives, other kitchen utensils, and tools are contraband.) Questions regarding what are considered contraband should be directed to the correctional officer.
- Employees shall not give anything to an inmate (i.e. money, tips, cigarettes, candy, pictures, telephone numbers), nor should an employee accept anything from an inmate (i.e. painting, drawings, art of any form, poems, correspondence, etc.)
- Employees shall not bribe, influence or coerce an inmate, his family or friends to violate institutional policies, procedures, rules, or State or Federal laws (or attempt to do so).
- Any employee who is related to or acquainted with an inmate assigned to the building in which the employee is domiciled, must report this to their supervisor and/or correctional officer immediately.
- Employees shall not leave on their desk or discard into garbage cans any materials containing personal information (i.e. home address, bills, social security number, bank information, credit cards, credit card receipts or statements).
- Employees should secure their personal computer when not in use and should not leave their password where an inmate has access to it. Employees shall not allow inmates any access to a work computer.
- Employees shall ensure that office supplies (i.e. scissors, letter openers, etc.) are not accessible to inmates.
- Employees shall not assign an inmate work outside their regular work area. All communications and/or jobs regarding an inmate must be directed to a correctional officer.
- Employees shall not ride elevators alone with an inmate without a correctional officer present.
- Employees should not enter rest rooms while inmates are cleaning. There are other facilities that may be used.
- Employees should report any and all unusual occurrences concerning inmates immediately to their supervisor and the correctional officer or the institution.
B. The following list provides some general guidelines on prohibited inmate behavior so that all employees may be aware of an inmate's limits in conduct:
- Inmates shall not possess contraband (i.e., alcoholic beverages, weapons, drugs, medication, cash money, syringes or any other item not permitted by institutional policy). Questions regarding what are considered contraband should be directed to the correctional officer.
- Inmates shall not commit or threaten physically or verbally to commit bodily harm upon any person.
- Inmates shall not engage in disruptive and/or boisterous behavior.
- Inmates shall not participate in and/or operate any type of game of chance involving bets and wagers.
- Inmates must be in the areas assigned to them at all times and must perform their tasks with reasonable speed and efficiency. Any inmate that refuses to work will be transferred back to Dixon Correctional Institute (DCI).
- Inmates shall not make threatening or non-threatening, affectionate or overly sexual conversations, correspondence or phone calls; nor shall an inmate direct inappropriate conversation or comments toward an employee.
- Inmates shall address employees by their proper title or by "Mr., Mrs., Miss, or Ms.", at all times.
- Inmates shall not bribe, attempt to bribe, influence or coerce anyone to violate institutional policies, procedures, rules or State and Federal laws (or attempt to do so).
- Inmates shall exit the passenger elevator when an employee is entering the elevator. (Note: Employees should not use freight elevators.)
- Inmates must ask a female correctional officer or female employee to search the women's restroom prior to entering it to clean.
V. REPORTING PROCEDURE:
Employees should immediately notify their supervisor, the correctional officer, and contact work control at 219-4820 in the event an incident occurs pertaining to an inmate.
VI. RESPONSIBILITY:
Deputy/Assistant Commissioners are responsible for:
Holding accountable the section heads under their supervision for adhering to all aspects of this policy.
Section Heads are responsible for:
Assuring that each employee under his/her supervision, current and new:
- Is made aware of this policy and its contents as well as any forthcoming revisions, and
- Is informed that he/she must abide by the terms of the policy as a condition of employment, and
- Is informed of the consequences of violation of this policy.
Providing for formal review of this policy with all employees upon hire and on an annual basis.
Monitoring the effectiveness of the policy instructions and making recommendations for change to the Appointing Authority.
Bringing violations to the attention of the Appointing Authority and dealing with violations in a fair and consistent manner.
Immediately notifying the Appointing Authority and the correctional officer assigned to the building upon receipt of any report from an employee that the employee is related to or acquainted with an inmate assigned to the building in which the employee is domiciled.
Managers/Supervisor are responsible for:
Complying with this policy in any fashion instructed by the section head.
Employees are responsible for:
Adhering to the stipulations as outlined in this policy.
Complying with all aspects of this policy and immediately bringing violations, and/or suspicious activities, to the attention of a supervisor.
VII. QUESTIONS:
Questions regarding this policy should be directed to the staff of the Office of Human Resources.
VIII. VIOLATIONS:
Employees found to have violated this policy may be subject to disciplinary action.
NOTE: This policy text is provided online for your convenience. The signed original policy document remains on file in the Division of Administration Office of Human Resources.
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Baton Rouge, LA 70804
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Baton Rouge, LA 70802
