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

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A Desk Officer on duty
Freedom and Death Inside The Jail
Custodial Officers
In Quezon City Jail, one custodial officer on duty is
in charge of at least 128 inmates.
Custodial officers are tasked to monitor the movement of inmates.
They conduct headcounts on a daily basis to make sure
that no inmates get to escape. They are at the frontline during
riots and noise barrages. They provide security for jail visitors
and volunteers.
There are three types of custodial officers: the Desk Officers, the
Gaters, and the Annex Officers. Desk Officers receive newly committed
inmates from law enforcement agencies and give inmates
their cell designations. Gaters man the exit and entry points of
the brigades; they see to it that no illegal items are sneaked inside
the cells. Annex Officers, meanwhile, are detailed in the building
where inmates who are non-gang members are housed.
Even then, custodial officers find it difficult to monitor all of
the inmates. They cannot, for example, conduct the headcount by
bed bunks inside the cells because, to begin with, inmates do not
sleep on bed bunks but on the floor. Only a privileged few have
small cubicles or kubol. The headcount, therefore, has to be done
outside the cells with only five to seven custodial officers on duty
monitoring all of the inmates. Besides, it poses
too much risk to the security of escort officers to
conduct the headcount inside the cells considering
the population of inmates who can easily
overpower them. Although assaults on jail officers
by inmates are a rare occurrence in Quezon City
Jail, escort officers cannot take chances.
Custodial officers count inmates by fives or
lima-lima instead of calling them individually by
name. Doing the latter, although more accurate,
would take at least five hours.