By Dr. Jarrod Sadulski | 09/08/2026
Prison safety is typically on the minds of every prison administrator and correctional officer. Because correctional facilities house some of the most dangerous people in society, threats to correctional staff and inmates are always evolving. Unrest within a prison can happen very quickly and can cost the lives of both correctional staff and prisoners.
Factors that lead to unrest in jails and prisons include:
- Inadequate responses to inmate complaints or healthcare concerns
- Allegations of staff corruption
- Verbal or physical abuse
- Stress associated with overcrowding, gang activity, or violence
- Food quality
- Lack of opportunities to air grievances about prison conditions
- Inadequate supervision that could result in physical and sexual assaults to inmates
Hostage Situations within Prisons
One of the most dangerous situations occurs when an inmate takes an officer or another inmate hostage. A hostage situation typically occurs due to a perceived grievance and can escalate quickly.
Typically, there are warning signs of an impending problem. These warning signs may include:
- Changes in inmate behavior
- Unresolved disputes between prisoners and staff
- Increased tensions within the prison due to changes in policies
When a hostage situation occurs, the emergency response should be immediate and de-escalation strategies should be employed. For the hostage, it is essential to communicate calmly with the hostage taker as much as possible. Finding common ground with the hostage taker that does not increase tension can be helpful.
In the event of a prison officer being taken as a hostage, the officer’s initial reaction is likely to influence the situation’s outcome. Often, the hostage taker may have planned the attack for a particular target, and the attack may be part of an escape attempt.
Correctional officers should receive training on emergency responses, especially hostage situations. In a hostage situation, strategies that correctional officers can use to produce a positive outcome include:
- Focusing on the hostage taker’s interests rather than the situation
- Generating options without complying with unreasonable hostage taker demands. For example, providing a hostage taker with food or a drink would be a reasonable concession. Agreeing to unrealistic demands – such as giving the inmate an escape path from the prison – is not a good option.
- Establishing clear, objective criteria to foster inmate behavioral change
- Initiating hostage negotiations immediately to encourage dialogue and de-escalate the situation
- Restricting the hostage taker’s mobility and evacuating other people in the area for safety
- Listening actively for opportunities to defuse the situation and break down the hostage taker’s defenses
Once everyone’s emotions are controlled and the trigger that led up to the event is identified and addressed, the more willing the inmate may be to find a solution.
How Riots Affect Prison Safety
Riots also represent a significant danger to both inmates and prison staff in correctional settings. Indicators of a potential riot include:
- Changes in inmate behavior
- Hoarding materials or contraband
- Stockpiling food
- Increasing inmate-staff confrontations, threats, and voluntary lock-ups
- Demanding protection from other inmates
- Requesting voluntarily to be in solitary confinement
Mental Health Risk Assessments Improve Prison Safety
A significant issue within the prison population involves inmate mental illness. A prisoner’s mental health is a major medical concern, because it places everyone at risk and can quickly result in violent behavior within correctional facilities.
Inmate mental illness can result in substantial danger for an inmate, correctional officers, prison healthcare workers, and civilian staff in any department within the prison. Also, the general population can be at risk if an inmate with mental health issues is not identified.
Mental health problems in prison are often exacerbated by a lack of mental health care, solitary confinement, and pre-existing conditions that get worse over time. These problems can be due to substance withdrawals, missed medication, the trauma associated with incarceration, and pre-existing conditions that an inmate keeps secret.
Limited access to mental health care can be devastating for incarcerated individuals, so a medical risk assessment is needed for inmates with mental health problems. Proper medical care and suicide prevention for these inmates are essential to maintaining safer correctional environments for everyone who lives or works in a prison.
How Contraband Threatens Prison Safety
Additional threats within correctional facilities include contraband such as weapons, drugs, and a wide range of other dangerous items. There is growing attention on the use of drones to drop contraband into correctional facilities.
However, technologies such as cameras, biometric access control, and surveillance systems are important tools for detecting contraband deliveries by drone and monitoring inmate behavior for incident detection. Coupled with regular safety checks on inmates and correctional officer body cameras, these technologies can also improve officer accountability in prisons.
Protections for Incarcerated Prisoners
State and federal prisons have an important responsibility in preventing sexual assault to people incarcerated in jails and prisons. To aid this effort to protect anyone in custody, Congressional lawmakers created the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) in 2003.
This federal legislation applies to all correctional facilities. PREA is designed to protect incarcerated people from any form of sexual assault or harassment through:
- Correctional officer training
- Education for inmates on their rights under PREA
- Required risk assessments
- Mandatory investigations
- Report filing of potential incidents
The Vera Institute of Justice®, a nonprofit involved in prison reform, has been instrumental in assisting correctional facilities to implement PREA. The Vera Institute of Justice also provides various services and recommendations to provide improved protections for inmates.
Prisoner Rehabilitation
Prison safety issues can be mitigated through rehabilitation programs that address the issues that resul in a prison sentence. For example, effective rehabilitation programs can help to resolve inmates’ problems and prepare them to be productive members of society. These programs can result in increased public safety and better protection for communities.
Effective rehabilitation can include teaching inmates useful job skills that can be applied once an offender is released from prison, which can reduce recidivism. In my experience in prison work around the world, I have found that Christian-based rehabilitation programs within prisons are the most effective in giving prisoners the ability to change.
By promoting rehabilitation within the prison population, state and federal prisons can reduce overcrowding and promote human dignity. Rehabilitation is instrumental in helping inmates support their families and be responsible for their actions. It will also aid them from failing in society once they are released from a prison and return to their communities.
The Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice at AMU
For adult learners who want to improve their knowledge of criminal justice, American Military University part of American Public University System (“AMU”) offers an online Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice. For this degree program, students can take courses in U.S. law enforcement, criminal law, corrections and incarceration, and the criminal legal process. Other courses include criminology, criminal investigation, and constitutional law.
This bachelor’s degree in criminal justice also has four concentrations, enabling students to choose the concentration best suited to their professional goals. These concentrations are:
- General
- Entrepreneurship
- Maritime law enforcement
- Organizational law enforcement leadership
For more information, visit AMU’s criminal justice degree program page.
Note: The Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice degree program is not designed to meet the educational requirements for professional licensure or certification in any country, state, province, or other jurisdiction. This program has not been approved by any state professional licensing body and does not lead to any state-issued professional licensure.
Vera Institute of Justice is a registered trademark of Vera Institute of Justice.
Dr. Jarrod Sadulski is an associate professor in the School of Security and Global Studies and has over 20 years in the field of criminal justice. He holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Thomas Edison State College, a master’s degree in criminal justice from American Military University, and a Ph.D. in criminal justice from Northcentral University.
His expertise includes training on countering human trafficking, maritime security, mitigating organized crime, and narcotics trafficking trends in Latin America. Jarrod has also testified to both the U.S. Congress and U.S. Senate on human trafficking and child exploitation. He has been recognized by the U.S. Senate as an expert in human trafficking.
Jarrod frequently conducts in-country research and consultant work in Central and South America on human trafficking and current trends in narcotics trafficking. He serves as an expert witness in criminology. Jarrod has provided academic presentations across the United States and in Europe, Southeast Asia, and in Latin America on various criminal justice related topics. Also, he has a background in business development.
