Don't Accept Favors or Give Personal Information to Inmates

This post is only offered as a discussion topic only and does not represent legal advice. Officers must refer to the laws in their own State as well as their agency's policies, which can be more restrictive on officers that the law requires.

Scenario:  An officer is working as a custody officer in a county jail.  An inmate worker approaches the officer and starts talking about what he does for work on the outside. The officer lets it slip that they need some work done on their house and he lets them know he has a friend that can do the work for cheap.

He seems like a good guy who just slipped up, should the officer take him up on his offer? 

Answer: This scenario is a setup. The inmate is trying to manipulate the officer into doing him a favor. One small favor can lead to more favors. Those favors can lead to serious consequences including termination or prosecution. 

The inmate manipulation may not be so forward or obvious either. It could start subtly like an inmate asking for extra food during mealtime, or extra bedding, or something else they are not allowed to have. Once an officer bends the rules, even a little, they will continue to ask for more and more. Before you know it, an officer could be caught up in smuggling items into the facility for the inmate.

It sounds like common sense, but we read and hear about custody officers getting into trouble by inmate manipulation frequently. One thing that an officer can do to better arm themselves against being manipulated is to understand that most, if not all inmates understand the art of manipulation. Not all participate in it, but all have the potential so stay vigilant by not discussing anything personal with inmates, especially information they can use against someone.

This blog topic serves as a summary of our video lesson on this crucial topic. If you're interested in accessing the full video lesson and additional resources, click the link to register for your free 30-day trial.