1. Jail operations final reprt - Laserfiche WebLink

rule enforcement and other policy and procedure implementation issues. Priority must be given to the issues that most directly impact on the officer~inmate contact in the housing units. Any backlog of inmate grievances must be resolved as quickly as possible and within the time limits specified in the policies and procedures. During inmate interviews, Mr. Bowker was informed that inmate grievances are going unanswered. One inmate showed him eight (8) unanswered grievances. With the limited time available, Mr. Bowker was unable to verify whether or not the inmate's grievances have been answered. He believes it may be a valid complaint based on discussions with staff. Inmate perceptions of unfairness are greatly magnified in jails and prisons where staff totally control inmate actions and activities. The direct supervision principle of "just and fair" is seriously violated when inmates have no legitimate mechanism to air grievances with management. Unanswered and/or unresolved grievances are going to cause more inmate frustration, more inmate-staff tension and erode management credibility with both inmates and staff. Inmates wil~ rebel against perceptions of injustice. Again, this issue requires the constant dally attention of the jail administration to ensure grievances are hand]ed in a timely and consistent manner. The inmate handbook indicates the shift supervisor must provide a written response to a grievance within 7 days. (Inmate Handbook page 1 7) A staff committee should be immediately formed to work out the inconsistencies between the shifts and the Individual officers. This committee would meet to resolve rule, policy and procedure, and practices issues. This means reviewing of the key management tools: the master facility schedule, the operational policies and procedures manual, the post orders, the inmate handbook, and staff training materials. Agreement must be reached on the application of the inmate rules and operational practices and then all of the management tools must be amended to reflect the agreements. Since the staffing of the facility wa5 intended to be as conservative as possible, staff do not have much free time on shift to undertake this effort. Overtime pay may be necessary for a team of line and supervisory staff to meet on these issues until such time as there is uniformity and consistency among all staff and between all shifts. Once the management tools have been revised to eliminate inconsistencies, line staff will have to be retrained. Revised copies of the policies, procedures, post orders, the master daily schedule and the inmate handbook must be placed at each workstation for ready reference. If a staff person is unsure they must refer to these materials for the correct answer. Also, the shift supervisors will have to monitor daily operations carefully to hold staff accountable for implementing the policies and procedures in a consistent manner. In turn, the jail administration must hold the supervisors. Anyone who is unable or unwilling to work together to maintain consistency (both line staff and Cass County Jail Project g