How to Conduct Observation Checks for Two Residents Sharing One RFID Hard Tag

There are three types of observation checks: low-quality, average quality, and high-quality. 

The lowest quality checks are those in which staff passively look through the cell window as they’re walking by and scanning the Hard Tag, or what we call a “scan-by.”

The highest quality checks note an individual’s body position and a sign of life, such as confirming the rise and fall of their chest. 

But what do you do when you have more than one person in a cell – whether juveniles or inmates? 

In this blog, we’re going to explore the best approaches to conducting high-quality checks in scenarios where more than one person is assigned to one RFID Hard Tag. 

Let’s get started.

Two Residents in the Same Cell or Room are Observed Doing the Same Thing. How do I Log This?

I’m conducting rounds and when I visit one cell and scan the Hard Tag with my SPARTAN, I notice two names and mugshots appear in Mobile Command XR. What should I do?

First, take note of what the residents are doing. Are you observing they’re doing the same thing? If yes, select both names and use your WordBlocks (and talk-to-text, too, if appropriate) to log your observation. 

For example, let’s say both residents are lying down on their bunks. You can log:

• Lying on bunk, appear to be resting, confirmed rise and fall of chest.

You logged this entry once in Mobile Command XR, but here’s how Command Cloud works:

Your log, “Lying on bunk, appear to be resting, confirmed rise and fall of chest” is actually created once for each inmate selected. So, when you run an inmate log report under John Doe, this log appears. If you run an inmate log report under his cellmate, Jim Doe, the same log entry will appear, too.

This prevents you from having to re-scan the Hard Tag (the wall-mounted RFID tag) twice because there was no need: the inmates were observed doing the same thing.

Two Residents in the Same Cell or Room are Observed Doing Different Things. How do I Log This?

This scenario is obviously different than the first. Let’s say one resident is lying on his bunk, appears to be resting, while the other is doing push-ups.

It would be inaccurate to select both inmates’ names and apply the same WordBlocks to the observation check since their observed activities are vastly different.

In this case, you’ll need to:

1. Scan the Hard Tag
2. Tap one of the inmate’s names
3. Log the observation for that inmate (e.g. Lying on bunk, appears to be resting)
4. Scan the Hard Tag again and tap the other inmate’s name
5. Log the observation for the other inmate (e.g. Exercising, doing push-ups)

In Command Cloud, you’ll have two distinct observation checks: one for each inmate and their unique observation. Both log entries will appear in rapid, chronological succession in the Activity Stream.

You can also run an inmate log report under John Doe, to show he was “Lying on bunk, appears to be resting.” If you run an inmate log report under his cellmate, Jim Doe, the log will show the “Exercising, doing push-ups” entry.

Do I Need to Log Observation Checks on Every Resident and Cell or Room?

The short answer is no, but this is also dependent on your facility’s observation check policy.

In most instances, observation checks are expected:

• Based on inmate classification, such as an inmate on a special status like “Suicide”
• An inmate is placed into an emergency restraint device, such as a chair or the WRAP
• The resident is observed behaving poorly, aggressively, etc.

Jails and prisons will often mount different colored Hard Tags to denote their uses. For example, our original, red-colored Hard Tags are often placed outside cells. Yellow and green tags may represent what we call “Run Tags,” which are tags that are linked to a cluster or grouping of cells.

For many juvenile facilities, when youth are placed in lockdown, observation checks are the only type of permitted log entry during sleeping hours. They will seldom perform security checks, which verify staff presence without the requirement to notate any observations during lockdown hours. Instead, most juvenile facilities log well-being checks that note the observable behaviors of each juvenile.

How Does Observation Check Apply to Dayroom Observations?

This is a good question! Let’s say you observe a group of residents playing cards, or they’re on their tablets, and you want to log this observation.

This scenario isn’t dissimilar to having two residents observed doing the same thing in their cell or room. In this situation, you would want to scan the Pod Tag, which displays a roster of all residents assigned to the unit or pod.

You’ll then tap the residents’ names of those who you know. Then, use WordBlocks to describe what you see the selected residents doing (e.g. In Dayroom, Using Tablet). If you selected six residents, Command Cloud created seven log entries.

1. One log entry that says, “In Dayroom, Using Tablet”
2. Six separate log entries that also say, “In Dayroom, Using Tablet” under each resident who was part of the group observation 

Do I Need to Log Dayroom Observations?

Not necessarily. If your policy does not stipulate logging dayroom observations, but you encounter observable behaviors that you think are important to document, we highly recommend logging this information for future protection.

You may overhear threatening behavior or arguments that could become combustible later. It’s always good to err on the side of caution and capture this information to share with your team or supervisors. In general, the highest performing correctional officers log what they believe to be important – even if their policies and procedures do not stipulate it. 

We know time is valuable, especially for front-line staff and supervisors on day shift who are pulled in a thousand directions every hour. But don’t overlook the importance of knowing that logging information that may not seem crucial or obvious in the moment, can have vital importance later.

If you’re using a mobile inmate tracking system, like Mobile Command XR, it’s important to consider the technology more as an ally than a big brother device. Your memory may fail you. Your security cameras won’t always capture things that may help you in the future. It’s a highly effective CYA tool that’s not meant to burden you. It’s not in your hands because of administrative distrust. It’s there to protect your integrity and your team.