The kitchen is an obvious source of "weapons" (like the heavy soup ladle used). It should be guarded more heavily and made less easily accessible. Routine searches of that area should be as thorough as possible. There was no video surveillance of this area -- a significant oversight. That is part of the reason the escape attempt went undetected for so long after the two employees were overwhelmed by the convicts.

There is no question that, in this situation, the escape attempt could have been stopped before it became dangerous if only one or two of the above recommendations had been followed.

~There existed too much open access to the security tower, and procedures to enforce security became lax and ineffective. Again, there is no doubt that had proper procedures been in place or had some of the existing procedures been followed, the attempt to enter the tower could have been thwarted.

Since prisoners were allowed into the tower when medicines were dispensed, it gave them an opportunity to see what the layout was and what security procedures were in place. This should be stopped and medicines dispensed elsewhere. Prisoner access to the tower should be prohibited. Because of constant prisoner access, security detection and visual checks of inmates became routine, boring and totally unsatisfactory.

In addition, all security procedures and policies should be thoroughly reviewed and improved to provide adequate security to the tower. All officers should be re-trained in the new procedures and random, spot checks should be initiated to ensure they are being followed.

~The use of negotiators to resolve this situation was against policy, according the Arizona Department of Corrections. Yet, in this situation, on-site commanders allowed it to occur. It was found that, due to the location of the escapees in a very secure environment with good visibility of the surrounding area, taking them by force would have cost lives and my not have succeeded since the convicts had a large inventory of weapons in the tower.

With the successful results of the negotiations to resolve the crisis and bring it to a peaceful end, the DOC policy of "no negotiations" needs to be reviewed...

Case by case decisions should be made in this area as determined by the on-site commander.
~Budget and staffing issues contributed to this crisis. Overcrowding of the prison leads to frustration on the part of prisoners. Significant understaffing of the security force at the prison also played a role in the exhaustion, poorly accomplished pat-downs, and lax security at the tower.

Budgets should be reviewed with appropriate expertise and state/federal assistance sought.

More guards need to be hired to ensure proper staffing, training and time off can take place.

Afterword

A prison warden was demoted and eight other supervisors reassigned after the investigation found the gaps in security compounded by "years' worth of bad decisions" in the state's prison system.

Steven Coy was sentenced to serve 7 life sentences (225 years) for his role in the attempted escape. Ricky Wassenaar received 16 consecutive life sentences plus 43 years (Baker, 2004).

Bibliography

Associated Press. (2004, March 4). Arizona prison standoff probe blames past decisions in part. Retrieved May 30, 2009, from USAToday.com: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-03-04-prison-hostages_x.htm

Baker, J. (2004). Anatomy of a hostage negotiation: An interview with a primary negotiator. Retrieved May 31, 2009, from The Negotiator Magazine: http://www.negotiatormagazine.com/article211_1.html

Epler, P., & Rushton, B. (2004, February 19). Federal judge questions credibility of Arizona department of corrections director. Retrieved May 29, 2009, from Middlegroundprisonreform.org: http://www.middlegroundprisonreform.org/news/NewTimesDoraCredibility.2004.htm

NICIC. (2004). Preliminary finding and recommendations: The morey unit hostage incident. Retrieved May 29, 2009, from National Institute of Corrections Information Center (NICIC): http://www.nicic.org/Library/019617

Skinner, E. (2005, February 4). Low pay, poor training, large turnover major causes of DOC hostage situation. Retrieved May 29, 2009, from National Coalition of Public Safety Officers: http://www.ncpso-cwa.org/news/doc-hostage.html