NCJ Number
130625
Journal
Corrections Today Volume: 53 Issue: 4 Dated: (July 1991) Pages: 126,130-131
Date Published
1991
Length
3 pages
Annotation
In 1989 the Florida Department of Corrections (DOC) began the external audit program which involves the use of staff from other institutions to work with central office staff to audit the security operations of other institutions.
Abstract
The program uses chiefs of security in correctional facilities throughout the State to audit institutions in regions of the State that do not include their own institutions. Two or three visiting chiefs of security work with a security administrator or an assistant security administrator in the DOC to conduct external audits. The audit team members interview security staff at their posts about their post orders and how they would respond to emergencies, and they stage simulated emergency situations to observe and assess staff reactions. The team also reviews post orders, post charts, and daily and master rosters. It checks tool and arsenal sign-out sheets, tool inventories, count slips, and key-and-lock cross-reference indexes. It also observes shakedowns of inmate property and assesses the entry and egress procedures for delivery vehicles and outside work squads. The system for correctional officers' uniform storage, issuance, and return procedures is checked, and the team randomly tests selected security equipment. All unsafe or ineffective practices identified in the audit must be discontinued or corrected during or immediately after the audit.