Published: October 26, 2009 11:44 pm      

Graduating corrections officer trainees conduct cell search, ready to begin work

CUMBERLAND — As a new class began its training Monday at the Maryland Police & Correctional Commissions Academy at Allegany College of Maryland, its current class conducted a final step before graduation.

Seven members of the class, who begin work at local prison institutions Wednesday, participated in a hands-on cell search at Allegany County Detention Center. Two class members start work on the same day at the detention center.

Lt. Ronda Downton, training director at the detention center, and Lt. David Miller, a state prison official serving as supervisor of academy operations at the college, oversaw the training. Downton said the first step was to brief the students on allowable items at the facility. Since five of the seven members are set to work in state prisons, the list is quite different, Downton said.

The students then devised a search plan. In this case, they agreed to let the prisoners in B block, which houses the inmates performing jobs inside and outside the facility, watch the search. Often, the inmates are strip-searched before being removed from their cells and taken to another location.

Student officers Growden and Broadwater, both of whom are scheduled to start work at North Branch Correctional Institution, teamed up to search two bunks at the far end of the cell block. They searched through the prisoners’ belongings, including mail from family and friends and lawyers. All of those items, Downton said, are permissible.

Then the two came across a picture frame.

“Where did you get this?” an inmate was asked.

The inmate said he had made the frame and banded it together with string. It was delicate, creative — and contraband.

“We check through everything,” Downton said.

She said the frames likely were made from folders distributed to inmates in the jail’s substance abuse program. The binding string likely came from sheets or blankets, Downton said.

“It’s interesting some of the things they find to make things out of, Downton said. “Most of it’s not harmful. We still can’t allow it.”

It took time and student officers’ nimble fingers to unband the handmade picture frames, untie the string and search through the paper’s folds for additional contraband.

Downton said sometimes what is issued or sold to inmates can become contraband — if they have more than the authorized amount. One inmate had three rolls of toilet paper. One roll was confiscated. Downton said having more than the allowable number of an item is a sign the inmate could be running a store, which is an illegal operation inside the confines of the Allegany County Detention Center.

While the student officers were not yet on the job, Miller said the group was ready. They had already completed a cell search practical exercise at the college earlier in the five-week academy.

“That’s where we pick up on their mistakes,” said Miller, noting that session was a pass/fail exam. “Once they get to this point, they pretty much know what they need to do.”

Contact Kevin Spradlin at kspradlin@times-news.com.