Freedom and Death Inside the Jail.pdf - The Action Program for ...

installed with barbed wires on top, appear too fragile to survive
just one forceful kick. The Jail also does not have fire exits in its
buildings because these would need additional custodial officers.
The Jail’s communications system is limited to a paging facility
in the chapel.
Inadequate Personnel
Firewood: The Root Causes of Problems
lack of FACILITIES : IMPLICATIONS ON JAIL MANAGEMENT
The jail is basically a facility-based institution. Inadequacy
of facilities hampers the management from delivering reformation
services efficiently and effectively.
Just like in any other professional organization, jail officers have
work assignments according to their designations. What they
actually do is entirely a different story. They are made to work
beyond their job descriptions. They are given additional assignments
sometimes without consultation and most times without
additional compensation.
Jail officers are deterred from performing their tasks properly
because of the sheer number of inmates under their charge. Of
Quezon City Jail’s 126 personnel, 31 are custodial officers and
47 are escort officers. Ideally, one custodial officer should be in
charge of 7 inmates while an escort officer (along with a jail personnel)
should keep watch of one inmate only. In Quezon City Jail,
however, the ratio between custodial officers and inmates is an
alarming 1:128, and between escort officers and inmates, 1:10.
To save time, custodial officers count inmates by fives or lima-lima.
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