Prisons and Guards
This Iowa prison break illustrates an important security principle:
State Sen. Gene Fraise said he was told by prison officials that the inmates somehow got around a wire that is supposed to activate an alarm when touched. The wall also had razor wire, he said.
“The only thing I know for sure is they went over the wall in the southwest corner with a rope and a grappling hook they fashioned out of metal from somewhere,” Fraise said.
Fred Scaletta, a Corrections Department spokesman, said the inmates used upholstery webbing, a material used by inmates who make furniture at a shop inside the prison, to scale the wall. The guard tower in that section of the prison was unmanned at the time because of budget cuts, he said.
“I don’t want to say I told you so, but those towers were put there for security, and when you don’t man those towers, that puts a hole in your security,” Fraise said.
Guards = dynamic security. Tripwires = static security. Dynamic security is better than static security.
Unfortunately, some people simply don’t understand the fundamentals of security:
State Rep. Lance Horbach, a Republican, criticized Fraise for suggesting budget cuts were a factor in the escape.
“In reality, we should explore why the taut wire system failed to alert guards and security staff that these two convicts were attempting to escape,” he said.
Actually, in reality you should be putting guards in the guard towers.
Michael Ash • November 18, 2005 4:03 PM
Of course, Horbach’s intention is not to improve security at the prison, and he probably doesn’t actually believe that the tripwire is critical.
A failed tripwire puts the blame on the prison warden, or other low-level prison officials. Budget cuts put the blame much higher up. What is the higher-up going to blame? Just another example of an agenda distorting things.