Gordon Graham
Category: Corrections
Gordon Graham here with Today’s Tip from Lexipol. Today, I’d like to talk to my corrections friends about the Correctional Emergency Response Team, or CERT, and one of their key responsibilities.
We often picture a scene out of a movie when thinking about CERT. We imagine correctional officers wearing tactical gear, bravely quelling riots, controlling unruly inmates, and performing high-stakes cell extractions. While those are certainly a big part of CERT, another aspect of their duties is equally as important.
Keeping detention facilities safe and secure requires corrections personnel to be proactive.
Besides managing high-risk situations, CERT members are responsible for conducting high-security shakedowns. They meticulously search detention facilities for contraband, looking for anything from unauthorized cell phones and drugs to improvised weapons. These searches help maintain facility safety, security, and order.
Handling shakedowns is no small task. It requires strategy, especially when dealing with threat groups. These groups might try to hide contraband, thinking they can outsmart officers. But CERT members are specifically trained to find and seize contraband before inmates use it. Think of the positive impact that comes from locating and removing just one improvised weapon from an inmate.
As with all facets of public safety, once the search is over, documentation wins the case. Proper documentation ensures evidence seized during a shakedown is appropriately handled and recorded. It’s absolutely critical your documentation properly reflects the chain of custody. Let’s face it, court cases are lost every day due to inadmissible evidence. Properly handling and documenting every item seized also plays an important role in ongoing investigations.
While the action-packed side of CERT duties might capture our attention, the team’s role in conducting shakedowns and managing contraband is just as vital. Keeping detention facilities safe and secure requires corrections personnel to be proactive. When actionable intelligence about contraband is received, taking swift, decisive action to find and remove it is crucial.
And that’s Today’s Tip from Lexipol. Until next time, Gordon Graham signing off.
