Training Tips

By Tracy E. Barnhart
Backgate Contributing Author

 Assessing behavior and preventing a physical assault should be accomplished whenever possible. It is critical for an officer to recognize and assess aggressive verbal and physical actions of a person. Recognizing verbal and nonverbal aggressive behavior signals will aid the officer in preventing and de-escalating situations. Also, it prepares the officer mentally and physically to take immediate counter actions should a physical assault occur. Before physical action by an aggressor occurs, that individual usually begins to threaten to attack, in an attempt to intimidate the opponent, through a process sometimes called posturing, ritualized combat, or affective aggression.

1. The individual may tell you what they are about to do, “I’m going to kick your ass!”

2. Visible overt awareness - visible weapons/unusual bulges/unusual nervousness/hands in view.

 3. Their face may show tension and will tighten or twitch, the jaws and lips will tense into a biting position as well as quiver and mouth expressions will frown and tighten over the teeth.

 4. Their body posture will display broadside with their hands on their hips or clasped behind their head. They subconsciously will take a bladed boxers stance and will rock back and forth or bob up and down on the balls of the feet. Stands taller, sets head and shoulders, moves away/moves closer, points, forms fist and/or loads the arm.

5. Their hands will pump open and closed and then clench into a fist so much that their knuckles will go white. Always look at the hands and what they are doing with them.

6. They will deepen their voice tones and the volume increases. The more threatened or aggressive an individual becomes the lower, harsher and louder their voice turns thus the bigger and tougher they seem. The deeper the voice the more authoritative they seem.

 7. The eyebrows will come down as if to shield the eyes. This makes them look more aggressive and intimidating.

 8. The nostrils will flare and their breathing will become rapid and deep. Lips separate to show teeth.

 9. Aggression redirected to something/someone else, such as breaking pencils, kicking, chairs, yelling at bystanders.

 10. The individual will seem to be looking through you; their eyes become glazed over with an empty stare. The individual will take on an uninterrupted stare with alternating eye stares and the eyelids will tighten down. They may attempt to get chest to chest with you.

 11. They may start sweating and beads of sweat will form on the forehead.

 12. Eye blinking; the blink rate reflects psychological arousal. The normal blink rate is about 20 closures per minute. Significantly faster rates may reflect emotional stress.

 13. Individuals will show exaggerated movements such as pacing, finger pointing, and threatening fists with bent arms. Their verbals will be relentless and rapid to get you to change your mind or change your last orders that have sent them over the edge. They want to win the confrontation.

 14. The individual may shed clothing such as taking off their shirts or jackets bend down and tighten their shoes or remove items of value such as watches and hats and set them aside.

 15. The individual will start to look around to assess witnesses, back-up available, escape routes or will start to target glance at the places they want to strike on your person.

 16. Vasodilatation and vasoconstriction or flushing of the face will also be evident at the tops of the ears by a darkening redness due to the release of adrenaline and noradrenalin into the bloodstream.

There is an inherent danger associated with the corrections profession. Whether an officer is in a county jail or a closed security segregation facility, wearing a uniform will put them in dangerous situations. Threat assessment is the act of becoming aware of a situation directly through the senses, including hearing and seeing, thereby making a reasonable determination about the risks involved. Any inmate potentially can be assaultive and use deadly force. However, approaching every inmate in a high-risk mode would be unreasonable. There can be many articulable facts that support threat assessment. Some of the facts used in this judgment decision are listed above; it is not a comprehensive complete listing.

TDCJ to undergo Sunset Legislative Review by Ledge, Nows your chance to sound off.

The mission and performance of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ), the Board of Pardons and Paroles (BPP), Windham School District (WSD) and the Correctional Managed Healthcare Committee (CMHC) are currently under Sunset review by the Legislature. Sunset review is a periodic assessment of a state agency by the 12-member Sunset Advisory Commission, which consists of five members of the Senate and one public member appointed by the Lieutenant Governor, and five members of the House of Representatives and one public member appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.


The Legislature established the Sunset review process in 1977 to ensure that state funds are spent efficiently and to eliminate duplication in state government. The Commission asks whether the state needs an agency's functions, and helps create legislation to make necessary changes to its mission and operation. The Sunset process can also set a closing date for agencies determined to be obsolete or redundant. Agencies are typically reviewed once every 12 years, although larger state agencies may be reviewed more frequently, and those that perform similar functions are reviewed at the same time.

Sunset review: a three-step process

The review process begins when Commission staff evaluates an agency's mission and determines whether the agency has effectively achieved its goals. Information is collected from many sources, including a Self-Evaluation Report, which allows the agency under review to participate in the process. The Commission then issues a report recommending either abolishment or continuance of the agency. If continuation is recommended, the report may contain recommended operational changes. For TDCJ, BPP, WSD and CMHC, this report will be published in April 2012.

Step two of the agency's upcoming Sunset review is currently scheduled for June 2012, when the Commission hears public testimony and comments from Sunset staff. After consideration, the Commission issues recommendations during September 2012 for the Legislature to consider when it convenes in January 2013.

Step three of the review process takes place when the Legislature considers the Commission's recommendations and concludes when laws are enacted to make the final changes.
Most recommendations from the Sunset Advisory Commission involve matters of policy, organizational structure or agency operations. One very unusual example of a Commission recommendation regarding legislative appropriations occurred in 2007, when the Commission recommended additional funding for TDCJ's treatment and diversion programs.
That same year, the 80th Legislature allocated more than $200 million for community corrections, substance abuse treatment and mental health care for offenders. These additional funds greatly expanded treatment opportunities for probationers, parolees and prison inmates.
Given the tight fiscal climate and Sunset's emphasis on issues other than appropriations, TDCJ Executive Director Brad Livingston said he would be surprised if any recommendations speak directly to funding, but emphasized that doesn't mean the recommendations wouldn't be beneficial to the agency.

"Sunset review brings a fresh perspective to many issues, and many useful recommendations typically emerge from that process. In order to maximize the benefits, it is important for the agencies and staff who participate to treat this as an opportunity for improvement. That perspective has served us well in prior sunset reviews and in all our dealings with Internal Audit and the State Auditor."

To learn more about the Sunset process, go to the Sunset Commission website at www.sunset.state.tx.us. To share your ideas about agencies under review, you may send a letter to: Sunset Advisory Commission, P.O. Box 13066, Austin, Texas, 78711, or e-mail your views to sunset@sunset.state.tx.us.

In 2009 TDCJ had an issue with hiring immigrant workers, is there still a language barrier creating a safety concern?

 By Marcus Williams, Backgate Website

Are Nigerian Officers coming in to the agency after just entering the U.S. creating a language barrier and work ethic that is putting other TDCJ staff members at risk? Stay tuned for our upcoming story. If you have working information please email us..

TDCJ sheds light on pay deduction issues, but who dropped the ball ?

By Tonya Peters, Backgate Website,

The Backgate received an email this morning from TDCJ regarding the controversy over pay deducted from employee pay checks this month. The following letter was sent out to all TDCJ human resources offices statewide in "late"  December as per TDCJ. Apparently the units did not  post the notice on bulletin boards. If you do not have time to follow the main stream media news, you wouldn't have known this was coming. 

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Texas Department of Criminal Justice

Payroll Update Notice

January 2, 2012

The following information is a payroll update notice for TDCJ employees

regarding Social Security and federal income tax changes effective January

1, 2012. This is being provided for Human Resources use and information.

Please post this notice on your employee bulletin board through March 31,

2012.

The Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 signed by the

President on December 23, 2011 extends the reduction of the Social Security

tax rate for employees by two percentage points, from 6.2 percent to 4.2

percent, for an additional 60 days. Without further Congressional action,

this tax rate will return to 6.2 percent beginning March 1, 2012.

Updates are being made to the payroll system during the first quarter of

2012 to account for the required adjustments to the Social Security tax

withholdings. For most employees, this translates into a Social Security

tax deduction of 6.2 percent on their December 2011 monthly salary (payable

January 2, 2012) and 2.2 percent on their January 2012 monthly salary

(payable February 1, 2012). This will ensure that the total amount of

Social Security tax paid by each employee for the 60 day period will not

exceed 4.2 percent.

The Federal Income Tax Withholding tax table provided annually by the

Internal Revenue Service (FIT deduction) has also been revised for calendar

year 2012, and each employee’s net pay will be dependent upon their

individual taxable salary based on their deductions. These changes will

begin with the December 2011 monthly salary that will be paid on January 2,

2012.

Let us hear from you !

Have information of wrongdoing within the TDCJ ? Waste, fraud, or ethics issues ?  Kudos or a job well done? We want to hear from you. You can remain anonymous. Help us help you to make the agency a better place to work. Email admin@thebackgate.org.

Home of the TDCJ UTMB hospital, Galveston again alive with Mardi Gras!

By Max Rodriguez, Backgate Website

Just three blocks from the hospital that houses some of the TDCJ's sick or injured, the UTMB hospital stands in the distance from Galveston's historic Strand boulevard and the site of the popular annual Galveston Mardi Gras celebration. Incoming TDCJ Offenders may even be able to see the celebration as it takes place if they are lucky.

The Backgate did a feature story on the proximity of the UTMB/TDCJ hospital to Galveston area attractions back in 2011 and how the facility fit in to the culture of the city. Daring hospital escapes, and potential contract failures have been in the headlines over the past few years regarding the hospital. In October of 2011, the Texas Legislature reached a deal with the UTMB that would allow UTMB to continue serving the TDCJ.  UTMB provides medical care for about 80 percent of the 156,000 prisoners in the Texas system and also employs 589 employees in correctional and other capacities. So as the celebration grows near, step aside TDCJ and watch as the annual celebration gets ready to kick off.

Understanding Congress' payroll tax cut fight - where your money went !

This is why you lost money on your TDCJ paycheck this month!
  

TDCJ says the money was taken out prior to a temporary agreement that was made that would have stopped the deductions from happening. Did TDCJ human resources drop the ball on passing information to employees ? Statement from TDCJ forthcoming!

From the AP,

WASHINGTON — If President Barack Obama, the House and the Senate all want to extend a Social Security payroll tax cut and jobless benefits through next year, why are they fighting so bitterly over doing it? Obama, House Democrats and lopsided majorities of both parties in the Senate want to immediately renew the tax cut and jobless benefits for the next two months, and find a way later to extend them through 2012. House Republicans want to do it for a full year right away.

That doesn't sound like an unbridgeable gap. Yet the fight has evolved into a year-end partisan grudge match with no clear resolution in sight and with huge political and economic stakes.
Without action, the payroll tax paid by 160 million workers will rise by 2 percentage points to 6.2 percent on Jan. 1. That would mean $1,000 a year less in the pockets of people making $50,000, or about $19 weekly. In addition, 3 million people currently receiving long-term jobless benefits will begin to lose weekly payments that average under $300 — for many, their only support.

See entire article HERE!