The role of a correctional officer demands versatility at every turn. Officers are responsible for many tasks that require them to wear various hats every day. From offering meals and passing meds to issuing supplies and completing checks on time, there’s never a dull moment as a corrections officer. The seemingly hundreds of open tasks can become difficult and overwhelming to manage, especially when short-staffed.
With plates already full, it’s easy to miss a simple task. However, even the slightest oversight can jeopardize the safety of both the staff and inmates. If an officer misses a single round, they’re not only out of compliance but they’re left unsure of where an inmate may be located and what they are doing, which is a huge safety concern. What may seem like the smallest missed task can have detrimental consequences.
This blog highlights effective strategies for managing daily tasks in the correctional environment, including leveraging one specific tool, GUARDIAN RFID’s Command Cloud, to streamline operations and implement robust tracking mechanisms.
How many times have you gone to the grocery store without a list and completely forgotten to get something you specifically went there for in the first place? Almost everyone has experienced this face-palm moment. When you’re simply relying on memory, distractions and time restraints can result in forgetting even the easiest tasks.
While forgetting to get groceries is annoying and inconvenient, it is a very minor example of improper task management. This is not the case for corrections. If an officer forgets to do something, they risk their facility's safety and security. For example, if an officer fails to give an inmate their prescribed medication, it not only puts the inmate in danger but also puts the entire facility at legal risk of a lawsuit.
Now, let’s say an officer organizes a daily schedule to ensure security rounds are conducted every 30 minutes. While the officer is trying to keep on track with their responsibilities, they are also making their round times predictable. This can open up a substantial window of opportunity for inmates because they know when (and when not) to expect rounds.
An officer can’t rely on memory to ensure all their tasks are addressed and completed. Corrections isn’t a cookie-cutter job where officers perform the same duties daily. Each shift is subject to change based on the environment. To avoid consequences, agencies can provide tools to ensure all staff have solid task management and are always kept on track and held accountable. Technology, such as Command Cloud, can provide a more effective and efficient way to track and manage tasks.
How?
Technology has played a significant role in redefining task management as we know it. Instead of officers wondering to themselves, “Wait, when was my last check?” and other forgotten mental notes, they can quickly pull up the exact time stamp and determine how much time they have remaining before their upcoming check is due. Command Cloud, the market leader for streamlining tasks, makes this data accessible where and when you need it.
Each time an officer scans an RFID wristband or Hard Tag, they capture valuable data that is sent securely to the Cloud. Command Cloud then leverages various tools to run advanced data analytics and deliver round compliance percentages, round randomization analysis, meal refusal tracking, returnable supplies that have not been returned, and much more. With all these tasks at hand, correctional officers must have a clear and concise directive to avoid miscommunication or misinterpretation.
Some of these task management tools embedded in Command Cloud include:
Mobile Command XR: One of correctional officers' most important tasks is conducting rounds. Mobile Command XR optimizes cell checks and inmate tracking by extending capabilities to promote a more efficient and effective workflow. Mobile Command XR gives correctional staff all the information they need on each inmate or unit at the palm of their hand including information to track:
Special Status: Oftentimes, inmates hold a special status, such as a dietary restriction, suicide watches with more frequent checks required, enhanced security precautions, universal medical precautions, etc. It is critical that officers can easily access these specific inmate statuses so they’re aware of any risks or requirements related to that inmate.
Returnables: If an inmate is issued any object, there must be documentation on the supplying and returning of the object, especially if that object can be used for actions other than what it is intended for like razors. Documenting these actions helps to answer grievances and provide trend analysis data in Operational Intelligence to coach staff to document when they have issued supplies to be more defensible.
Check Randomization: Officers can see their randomization score and next check time recommendation in Mobile Command XR to optimize check randomization. Getting recommendations to optimize randomization ensures you do not fall into a predictable pattern and keeps the facility and those within the walls safer.
Mission Command: Mission Command works hand in hand with Mobile Command XR so that all staff members have a shared operational perspective across your inmate population. This tool uses data-driven insights to identify areas of improvement for your facility, as well as individual and team performance. Staff can better manage tasks and determine where they should focus their time by pinpointing threats to security, compliance, and legal liability.
Accessing real-time data: Mission Command provides officers and supervisors with analytics to power real-time, data-driven decisions. The quicker officers and supervisors receive information, the quicker they can make necessary decisions. If an officer or an entire pod is late on a check, supervisors can clock it immediately and direct their attention to it. This real-time data helps reduce dangerous activity by tracking suicide watches, mental health crises, and quantities of meal restrictions, which all provide invaluable insight to ensure compliance.
Building insightful reports: Mission Command takes the dashboards from each module, creates a report by pulling up all related records, and then filters to display only the information you specifically need. This becomes an immensely powerful tool for boosting productivity and meeting compliance.
My Compliance Monitor: Built into Mission Command, My Compliance Monitor is a valuable tool for tracking units and inmates that YOU, the officer, are responsible for. My Compliance Monitor synchronizes to deliver the most accurate and current information regarding your personal compliance. This ensures that when it’s time to conduct security rounds, officers can effectively prioritize their checks based on the latest data.
Common Operating Picture: Mission Command requires focusing on one's area of responsibility to know What’s Important Now. Officers can filter their view to their area of responsibility to see their compliance timers, inmates in temporary locations, tasks due, special statuses, returnable supplies, and created records in My Activity Stream.
Operational Intelligence (OI): OI serves as a performance coaching tool by breaking down officers' compliance percentages, identifying staff needing additional support, and pinpointing areas that receive a lower compliance percentage. The data captured is easy to read and understand, as they are presented through visual charts and graphs that ensure clear and concise insights for decision-making processes. These actionable insights can be leveraged to organize, delegate, and prioritize tasks throughout any corrections facility, regardless of size.
Administrators, supervisors, or any other leader can ensure that all staff tasks are adequately being managed by:
Identifying and analyzing trends: OI provides officers and supervisors with analytics to power data-driven decisions. Trend analysis of past officer activities, for example, allows for an assessment of who are the top performers as well as the underperformers. This enables identifying areas of improvement with precision and driving data-informed decisions that enhance staff task management, performance coaching, and overall facility compliance.
Centralizing feeds: Compile interactive dashboards, send scheduled emails, and diagnostic tools to show staff’s round compliance, randomization, and observations. This helps to ensure all staff are on the same page and provides the opportunity to confirm all tasks are completed.
Randomizing cell checks: Inmates should never be able to predict when officers are about to conduct their rounds. All officer actions and behaviors should not be predictable, period. If an inmate knows they have a 14-minute window to do something they’re not supposed to do, they will undoubtedly take advantage of that time. To avoid making officer rounds predictable, OI helps officers identify how their patterns have evolved and where they can become more random.
Gaining staffing level insights: Determining the correct number of staff needed to avoid being understaffed can be challenging. However, when there is data to provide insights into such matters, supervisors can ensure they have adequate staff members for particular days or operations and even avoid possible overstaffing. Using compliance percentages and booking activity unlocks a deeper understanding of necessary staffing levels.
Because corrections is a high-demand job during all hours of the shift, balancing different responsibilities without direction and organization can be challenging. That’s why uncovering more efficient and effective ways to manage tasks helps clarify what officers need to know, and what they need to do. Utilizing Command Cloud as a task management tool enhances your defensibility by uncovering patterns and practices that may expose you to legal risks.