Maintaining the security of a correctional facility is a tall task. From monitoring the daily activities of inmates and staying vigilant in the search for contraband to intervening every time an inmate dispute arises, COs have a lot on their plates. But when it comes to personal safety – both of staff and inmates – the challenge becomes even greater.
Incarcerated individuals turn to violence for any number of reasons, whether it stems from feeling wronged by another inmate, a grudge that began long ago or simply out of sheer boredom. “You’re talking about people who have nothing better to do than sit around and figure out how to make weapons and outsmart staff members who already have many jobs to do in a day,” said Tami Reigle, founder of Aris Chemical & Supply Co.
As a distributor supplying correctional facilities with a range of janitorial products, Reigle knows firsthand how dangerous prison-made weapons can be. Inmates will use whatever materials they can get their hands on to create items that can be deadly, including what seem to be the most benign cleaning tools available.
Rather than risk the safety of staff and inmates by purchasing wooden and aluminum janitorial supplies that can easily be used in acts of violence, correctional facilities can use cleaning tools from Briarwood Products. In fact, the chance of inmates making the three most common types of weapons can be dramatically reduced simply by switching to items made from Briarwood’s unique materials.
1. DANGEROUS BROOM HANDLES
Wooden and aluminum broom handles might seem customary in a prison setting, but inmates often eye these tools as ways to injure others. Not only could they be used as-is to hit someone on the head or body, but they can also be broken to create shanks or spears. Wooden handles will naturally have a sharp point once snapped, while aluminum can be repeatedly rubbed against concrete or asphalt to make a dangerous weapon.
Replacing wooden and aluminum handles with ones from Briarwood means inmates can no longer create weapons out of these tools. Briarwood’s handles are crafted from a strong yet flexible plastic that will bounce off someone rather than break bones.
“Even if you try to hit someone with it, it’s soft,” explained Reigle. “It might sting a little bit, but you’re definitely not going to take anybody out or cut it apart and make a shank out of it.” Injuries to other inmates and staff members are typically much less severe if these metal-free tools are used as weapons.
2. FORMING SHANKS FROM STAPLES
The staples used to attach broom and brush bristles to their bases might seem ordinary to the untrained eye. However, inmates have figured out how to repurpose these small pieces of metal to create sometimes deadly weapons. It only takes a handful of staples to create a shank, especially when they are bound together, and the end is ground down to become a point.
Even the discovery of such a small item as a shank crafted from staples can lead to a lockdown and cell searches, significantly disrupting the daily duties of corrections officers. “A minor incident can turn into a huge deal, so anything they can do to prevent that makes their jobs easier,” said Reigle.
Correctional facilities can avoid giving inmates the opportunity to create these types of weapons by switching their brooms and brushes to those from Briarwood Products. The bristles of these items are attached using fusing, which essentially melts each strand to the plastic rather than using staples or other metal attachments.
3. THE DANGERS OF PLASTIC
While traditionally constructed broom handles and brushes should remain on officers’ radars, the reality is that nearly any type of plastic cleaning item could be turned into a weapon. Hard plastic items, like trash cans or mop buckets, can be chipped into pieces, melted and reformed into sharp objects. Inmates may also use plastic tools as fuel for fires, further creating safety issues for other inmates and staff members.
To combat these dangers, correctional facilities can replace some of their current cleaning items with Briarwood’s fire-resistant tools, like trash cans and toilet bowl brush holders. These products are made from self-extinguishing materials and cannot be sharpened down to create shanks.
GO BEYOND THE OBVIOUS BENEFITS
Reducing the risk of inmate and staff injury is important, but cleaning tools from Briarwood Products can help facilities in other ways, too. The company’s window squeegee handle is made of translucent materials and has an open end rather than a cap. This prevents inmates from attempting to hide contraband inside.
The lightweight and metal-free nature of most Briarwood cleaning tools also prohibits them from being used in other situations. “It’s not always that someone’s trying to hurt someone else, but some people will use wooden mop handles to create their own chin-up bar,” said Reigle. “While they’re not trying to hurt someone else, they could hurt themselves, which is a liability in a prison setting.”
Correctional facilities that want to see if Briarwood Products are a good fit can request samples directly from the company. Reigle says the company is easy to work with and passionate about what they do.
“When Briarwood items are brought into an institution, officers will look them over to make sure there aren’t any safety issues,” she said. “Once they actually put them to use, they don’t have any problems.”
Visit Briarwood Products for more information.
