Photo By Master Sgt. Paul Rider | Pierce County Corrections Deputy Torvald Pearson asks members of the Washington Air...... read more read more
TACOMA, WASHINGTON-A team from the Washington Air National Guard’s 194th Security Force Squadron (SFS) toured the Pierce County Jail here on June 8 to assess potential issues in providing security should a catastrophic earthquake strike the facility. The walk through allowed security forces personnel the chance to become familiar with the layout of the jail and also be introduced to the leadership of the correctional facility.
“I’m just really excited that we are able to have this opportunity,” said Patti Jackson, Pierce County’s Chief of Corrections. “We’ve never had it. We’ve talked about doing it…so when this opportunity came up, we jumped on it!”
Chief Jackson invited the 194th SFS to provide feedback regarding any issues they may discover within the jail, whether it be doors, gates, or even where things might fall down, anything, Jackson said, “to help the staff train for things a little bit better.”
The jail visit was part of Cascadia Rising 2016, an earthquake response exercise that commenced a day earlier and involves several governmental agencies and military members from fourteen different states.
The jail is the second largest in Washington state, housing nearly 1200 inmates incarcerated for a wide variety of criminal activity ranging anywhere from misdemeanor to murder. “The nets (on the walled rooftop courtyard) keep the birds out and the pests in,” said Torvald Pearson, a corrections deputy at the jail, who led the tour of the facility. “The first thing we are going to do (in the event of a catastrophic earthquake) is lock the facility down and try to get out any civilians or non-essential personnel that we have, then start evaluating the damage we may have experienced.”
Pearson said it is an asset knowing that they can call on the 194th SFS to potentially assist in securing the jail because they don’t anticipate that all of their staff would make it back to the building for their next shift after such a massive disaster. “The outside perimeter service that would be provided in the security of the building is going to be huge,” said Pearson. “In the event of a disaster we’re probably not going to be able to transport these inmates out to another facility, so the military’s assistance is going to be greatly appreciated in that point in time.”
The potential level of damage throughout the region in a natural disaster of the magnitude being replicated during Cascadia Rising also means that tough choices have to be made, especially in light of possible damage to the building and a loss of staffing. “Depending on the scope of the event, we will probably end up releasing some of our less heinous criminals,” said Pearson. Misdemeanor offenders or those that have close release dates would be released, creating a void with the jails janitorial services and food preparation. “We are told that we would be able to rely on the National Guard for assisting with food preparation and delivering water if we needed.”
“We do have policies in place and they’re good outlines and good policies, but each event is going to be unexpected and we will just deal with that as best we can,” said Pearson. And the Pierce County Jail is yet another place where citizen-soldiers and -airmen may be asked to make a difference within the community.
| Date Taken: | 06.08.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 06.09.2016 13:38 |
| Story ID: | 200528 |
| Location: | TACOMA, WASHINGTON, US |
| Web Views: | 159 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, 194th Security Forces Squadron trains for simulated jail failure, by MSgt Paul Rider, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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