Corrections Today articles from April 2006

Corrections Today archives from April 2006

The gang culture continues to grow.(Guest Editorial)(Editorial)
April 1, 2006... The phenomenon of the gang culture continues to grow in numbers as well as in sophistication. Those who work in the criminal justice system and encounter the culture on a daily basis are very aware of the negative results gang activity has on...

Institutional management of security threat groups.(Commentary)
April 1, 2006... Gang or security threat group activity has increased dramatically throughout the nation in recent years. This increase has a parallel impact in the correctional environment as increasingly more individuals with gang affiliation enter the...

California University of Pennsylvania.(Profile)(courses provided)
April 1, 2006... California University of Pennsylvania began as an academy more than 150 years ago and has evolved into a multipurpose, comprehensive university. The university is one of 14 in the state system of higher education. Its Cal U Go Web College...

Vermont policy mandates lockdown and searches.(State News)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... A new Vermont policy requires correctional officers to periodically lock down and search the state's nine prisons, according to Boston.com News. Although there were no major security problems in 2005, according to Corrections Commissioner Rob...

Iowa regional jail becomes more of a reality.(State News)(Iowa's Mills, Montgomery and Freemont Counties plan jail)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... In February, county officials in a tri-county area of Iowa moved further toward building the first regional county jail in Iowa. The county supervisors signed agreements with an architectural firm to conduct a feasibility study, according to...

Superintendent makes a difference in Florida Juvenile Detention Facility.(BEST IN THE BUSINESS)(Stepheny P. Durham)
April 1, 2006... Stepheny P. Durham is the third man in his family to bear his name, one he has made proud during his 18 years with the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ). Growing up with a name like "Stepheny" made him a target for bullies, which...

Increase in reentry stabilizes prison population.(National News Briefs)(Statistical data)
April 1, 2006... The growth rate in prison population has been stabilized by rapid growth in offender reentry on both state and federal levels, according to a study by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). Since 1990, the state prison population nearly...

Crack offenders receive less prison time.(National News Briefs)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Without mandatory sentencing guidelines, federal judges are imposing lighter sentences for crimes involving crack, the USA Today reported on a study released by the Sentencing Project, a group that advocates alternatives to prison. The group...

Certification: the role of the examination.(Professional Development Update)(qualifying for correctional certification)
April 1, 2006... For correctional practitioners, many of whom have been out of the school environment for years or even decades, contemplating the certification process and taking an examination looms as a large and formidable challenge. The exam-passing...

Collaborative effort educates future correctional administrators.(Accreditation Byline)
April 1, 2006... Editor's Note: The views expressed in this article represent those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Pennsylvania State Department of Corrections, the Cambria County Prison or Cornell Companies. A new graduate...

Corrections calendar.(Calendar)
April 1, 2006... * National Commission on Correctional Health Care, "Updates in Correctional Health Care," April 8-11, 2006, The Flamingo, Las Vegas. For more information, call (773) 880-1460. * National Institute of Corrections, April 11-13, National...

Gang suppression & institutional control.(CT FEATURE)
April 1, 2006... Authors' Note: The data in this article were provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice under Research Agreement No. 016-R99. Points of view are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the position of the Texas...

Classification and security threat group management.(CT FEATURE)(managing dangerous inmates)
April 1, 2006... "The management of a relatively small group of adult male inmates who exhibit dangerous, assaultive... behavior of a chronic or intermittent nature... threatens to become of crisis proportions in every state. Failure to deal effectively with...

Prison gang and drug investigations: an Ohio approach.(CT FEATURE)
April 1, 2006... Prisons are caught between two worlds. In theory, prisons are a world of their own, where individuals who cannot function in society are sent. The fence, figuratively and literally, is the dividing line that keeps these worlds separate in order...

Intelligence: the key to gang suppression.(CT FEATURE)
April 1, 2006... From the cellblock to the community, from the prison yard to the street corner, the gangs continue their reign of terror. Across the country, gangs continue to impact our prisons, jails and communities. All too often gangs disrupt inmate...

Interpreting gang tattoos.(CT FEATURE)
April 1, 2006... Understanding how to interpret tattoos found on gang members need not be a difficult process. Learning the difference between a gang-related tattoo as an identifier versus a nongang-specific body marking is an educational process. Many gang...

Girls in gangs: on the rise in America.(CT FEATURE)(Corrections Today)
April 1, 2006... Unfortunately, biases, misconceptions and a general lack of awareness in the past have led to what the authors believe to be a vast misreporting and underreporting of female crime connected to street gangs. In 1999, Chicago Crime Commission...

Security threat groups: it is more than managing gangs in a local facility.(CT FEATURE)
April 1, 2006... Author's Note: The following is not classified or sensitive information from the Arlington County Sheriff's Office that could be detrimental to the members of the unit and the processes used to obtain information and intelligence. Think...

Security threat groups' effect on corrections during the past decade.(CT FEATURE)(street gangs in prisons)
April 1, 2006... In 1994, the National Major Gang Task Force conducted a national trends assessment on security threat groups (STGs) and street gangs. At that time, the task force held conferences and training seminars to address the spread of STGs within state...

The parole supervision of security threat groups: a collaborative response.(CT FEATURE)
April 1, 2006... W.B. was back in business, and business was pretty good. The gang was his life, and this was his corner. Recently released from state prison, he was back on the street every night, wearing his colors for all to see. The time he spent in prison...

"Music city, USA" served as the perfect backdrop for the 2006 Winter Conference.(2006 Winter Conference Recap)
April 1, 2006... Thousands of corrections professionals converged in Nashville to network with colleagues and friends at the American Correctional Association's 2006 Winter Conference, Jan. 28-Feb. 1. The conference proved successful as attendees packed...

Linda Armstrong Kelly inspires conference attendees to persevere.(2006 Winter Conference Recap)(Speech)
April 1, 2006... Linda Armstrong Kelly, author and mother of cyclist legend Lance Armstrong, addressed ACA 2006 Winter Conference attendees at the Opening Session with her inspiring story of courage and determination. Growing up poor with divorced parents (an...

Former U.S. Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell addresses Annual Luncheon attendees.(2006 Winter Conference Recap)(Speech)
April 1, 2006... Ben Nighthorse Campbell, former Republican U.S. senator from Colorado, was the keynote speaker at ACA's Annual Luncheon. Campbell is the only Native American to have served in Congress. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Campbell was first elected...

Craig Karges delights, amazes Closing Breakfast attendees.(2006 Winter Conference Recap)(illusionist)(Speech)
April 1, 2006... If you have never experienced something that you just cannot explain, you had your chance at the close of the Winter Conference. Craig Karges, an award-winning illusionist, was the keynote speaker at the Closing Breakfast. His presentation on...

Individuals honored at ACA's 2006 Winter Conference.(2006 Winter Conference Recap)(American Correctional Association)
April 1, 2006... During the 2006 Winter Conference, the American Correctional Association presented awards that honored individuals who have demonstrated their dedication to the corrections field. Rebekah Vann, a student at Mid America Nazarene in Kansas,...

Monday Night Exhibit Hall Reception: "Barbecue Bonanza".(2006 Winter Conference Recap)
April 1, 2006... Hundreds of attendees and exhibitors gathered together in the Exhibit Hall as they savored the flavor of some great chow and a smorgasbord of activities, while the tempting aroma of grilled delights filled the open room at this year's Monday...

Tuesday Morning Exhibit Hall specialty break: "Forging the Frontier".(2006 Winter Conference Recap)
April 1, 2006... Attendees explored the Exhibit Hall in search of new opportunities while experiencing ACA's Tuesday Morning Event, "Forging the Frontier." This adventurous event allowed them to meet and interact with colleagues and exhibitors as they pioneered...

Grand Prize Giveaway Game.(2006 Winter Conference Recap)( 2006 Winter Conference)
April 1, 2006... The din of silence filled the exhibit hall Tuesday afternoon, January 31, during ACA's Grand Prize Giveaway Game, the much-anticipated, crowd-pleasing event of the 2006 Winter Conference. Hundreds of attendees gave pause, each one hoping to...

ACA policies and resolutions.(2006 Winter Conference Recap)(American Correctional Association)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Editor's Note: The existing policies printed below were reviewed, amended and approved for continuation by the Delegate Assembly in Nashville. Public Correctional Policy on Adult and Juvenile Female Offender Services Introduction: ...

2006 ACA election--candidates.(American Correctional Association)
April 1, 2006... This year's slate of candidates was selected by ACA's Nominating Committee during its meeting, Nov. 8, 2005. Candidates were chosen for president-elect, vice president and treasurer positions, along with a full slate of nominees to the Board of...

Membership news.(recruiting student members )
April 1, 2006... Membership and Financial Services would like to share this letter from a chapter officer and ACA member: Attending ACA's Winter Conference in Nashville, representing the Indiana Correctional Association (ICA), made me aware of many new...

Welcome new members.(Membership News)(American Correctional Association)
April 1, 2006... ORGANIZATIONAL ARIZONA -- Gila River Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation MICHIGAN -- Livingston County Jail TEXAS -- Professional Claims Managers Inc. WASHINGTON -- Monroe Correctional Complex SUPPORTING PATRON...

Juvenile justice education, No Child Left Behind, and the National Collaboration Project.(Juvenile Justice News)
April 1, 2006... This article introduces the National Collaboration Project, a project intended to help states successfully implement the juvenile justice education requirements of No Child Left Behind (NCLB). Funded by Congress, the project recently was...

Emergency preparedness is a necessity.(NIC Update)(programs offered by National Institute of Corrections)
April 1, 2006... NIC has had a long-term commitment to emergency preparedness for correctional institutions. We know that in prisons maintaining a serious level of readiness for crises and emergencies is difficult; it requires budget, time and management...

Evidence-based programs: results from research in the United Kingdom.(Probation and Parole Forum)(Column)
April 1, 2006... Regular readers of this column will recall that I have been interested in the efforts in England and Wales to reduce re-offending through the introduction of evidence-based programs. The late Sir Graham Smith, inspector of the Probation...

Research's two modes for discovering evidence-based programming.(Research Notes)(programming for correctional facilities)
April 1, 2006... In recent years, researchers have attempted to summarize various bodies of program evaluation research in an attempt to answer the practitioner's question, "What works?" A paper by Mark Lipsey, co-director of the Center for Evaluation Research...

Web-enabled system helps Pennsylvania comply with federal mandates.(Technology Update)
April 1, 2006... The federal Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (PREA) mandates that all state and local correctional agencies implement certain policy requirements including developing and implementing inmate and staff education, training and tracking...

Controversies in Criminal Justice: Contemporary Readings.(Book review)
April 1, 2006... Controversies in Criminal Justice: Contemporary Readings, Scott H. Decker, Leanne Fiftal Alarid and Charles M. Katz, Roxbury Publishing Co., Los Angeles, 2003, 362 pp. To expose students to diverse views on current social issues, many...

Handbook of Correctional Mental Health.(Book review)
April 1, 2006... Handbook of Correctional Mental Health, Charles L. Scott and Joan B. Gerbasi (Eds.), American Psychiatric Publishing Inc., 2005, 313 pp. The 12 chapters of the Handbook of Correctional Mental Health were written by 26 authors, each...

Bob Barker Co. (BBC).(Private Sector News)(Stacey Petyak is appointed)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Bob Barker Co. (BBC), the industry's largest supplier to correctional facilities, announced the appointment of its new sales manager, Stacey Petyak. Petyak is responsible for designing innovative sales and marketing programs to support BBC's...

Emerald Correctional Management, LLC.(Private Sector News)(Africa-Israel Investments and Minrav Engineering given contract to design, finance, build prison)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Emerald Correctional Management, LLC, provider of professional services, was selected, along with its Israeli partners, Africa-Israel Investments and Minrav Engineering, to design, finance, build and operate the first private prison in Israel....

The Turner Corp.(Private Sector News)(construction costs and its earnings)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... The Turner Corp., the nation's leading general builder, announced in December that construction costs for the fourth quarter of 2005 are projected to increase. According to the Turner Building Cost Index, the fourth quarter 2005 index will rise...

No more "cell" phones.(NIJ Update)
April 1, 2006... Editor's Note: This article was reprinted from the Winter 2005 edition of TechBeat, the quarterly news magazine of the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center, an NIJ program. Analyses of test results do not represent product...