From "guard" school to training school: New York's evolution.

Author's Note: All historical excerpts used in this article were taken from the August 2000 issue of DOCS Today, a publication of the New York State Department of Correctional Services.

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Lewis Lawes, who served as warden of Sing Sing Prison from 1920 to 1941, began his career as a guard (that was the title at that time) at Clinton Prison in 1905. On arriving in Dannemora, N.Y., by train, Lawes was shown around the institution. Older guards took him aside, he later recalled, "and whispered things": "Stay alert, enforce the rules rigidly, never trust an inmate." They handed him a pair of sneakers to make rounds in silence, "and a big club" for protection. Thus instructed and outfitted, Lawes was taken to a cellblock and left there alone.

As is well known, training programs for correctional staff have evolved since the days of Lawes. The basic on-the-job training for new employees of days gone by was asking for trouble. Unprepared staff placed not only themselves in danger, but also the institution and all those within its walls.

Today, recruit correctional officers in New York--approximately 1,400 are currently being appointed per year--receive 320 hours of rigorous and comprehensive academy-based training. The curriculum combines both correctional theory and practice. It includes classroom study of inmate behavior and the principles of inmate supervision; laws and rules governing both inmate and staff conduct, such as new policies on preventing sexual abuse and medical emergency response; physical training for the demands of prison duties; training in the use of chemical agents, batons and firearms; health and safety issues such as fire prevention and blood-borne pathogens awareness; and three weeks of on-the-job training guided by facility field-training officers, and experienced staff and supervisors.

In addition to correctional officer recruit training, new nonsecurity employees receive 40 hours of department and facility orientation, as well as 40 hours of classroom instruction in various basic correctional topics as they begin their career with the agency.

The New York State Department of Correctional Services (DOCS) Training Academy is located at the seat of the New York State government in Albany. The 40-acre campus offers a full range of training facilities to meet the professional development needs of more than 30,000 department employees. The academy is managed by a director of training, who is responsible for all training activities systemwide, including regional training lieutenants and staff at 10 regional training sites. A minimum of 40 hours annually of in-service instruction for employees with inmate contact and 16 hours for those with no regular inmate contact is required to support the operational requirements of the department. With the numerous training opportunities available, many employees far exceed the minimum requirement. The DOCS Training Academy has been fully accredited by the American Correctional Association's Commission on Accreditation since 1991, and many programs have also been recognized by institutions of higher learning for college credit.

The Introduction of Training

The department's current training program did not evolve overnight. A beginning in the 1930s was interrupted by World War II and not resumed until the 1960s. Great strides were taken when policy reform and funding became available after the deadly 1971 riot at Attica. The department's decision in the 1980s to seek ACA accreditation systemwide raised staff development standards, and the regional training centers introduced in 1989 brought improvements in administration and consistency.

The real story of correctional training in New York begins the year Babe Ruth slammed 60 home runs for the Yankees. Before 1927, calls for training were occasionally heard from Lawes and others; however, the prison department's central administration was never able to muster resources for systematic training.

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Then, effective Jan. 1, 1927, a department of correction was created in New York. A cabinet-level commissioner was given authority over the four prisons (Auburn, Sing Sing, Clinton and Great Meadow), as well as the state's adult reformatories (Albion, Elmira and Bedford), the hospitals for the criminally insane (Matteawan and Dannemora) and the Institution for Defective Delinquents at Napanoch.

Two years later, in 1929, 13 inmates and a principal keeper (known as a deputy superintendent for security today) were killed, and cellblocks and shops were destroyed in inmate riots at Clinton and Auburn. As a result of these incidents, a commission was formed to investigate the system. The commission, dubbed the Lewisohn Commission, was staffed with career corrections professionals, including three future presidents of the American Prison Association, later named the American Correctional Association: Sam A. Lewisohn, Walter M. Wallack and Walter N. Thayer. The commission report produced a blueprint for the future of corrections, which included progressive programs of classification, individualized study and treatment, and education and vocational training. Also included were recommendations for a stronger central administration, lower classified institutions and staff training at a formal "school," since the officers now were required to play a significant role in the rehabilitation of offenders.

The first "guard schools," as they were called, were set up at the various maximum-security institutions and were four weeks in length. Officers attended the training on their own time. Since the weekly work schedule consisted of six days and more than 60 hours, with just two weeks of annual leave, there was not much free time. New legislation enacted in 1937 reformed the workweek and called for an eight-hour day for the employees in all institutions. This resulted in the need for 536 new correctional officers. Then-Commissioner Edward P. Mulrooney saw this as an opportunity to finally organize a central training school.

The new Wallkill Prison, opened in 1931, was selected as the site due to its central location and lower security classification (no walls or fences), which facilitated the movement of trainees and instructors. The eight-week, 320-hour curriculum would "promote professionalized service" by stressing communications skills, the principles of human behavior and the operations of the criminal justice system. Three hours per day would be devoted to military drills, calisthenics, boxing, ju-jitsu, use of gas and firearms training.

The Central Guard School opened in November 1936 with 80 recruits in attendance. The following fall, eight-week in-service sessions were offered for staff appointed before the establishment of the school; participants could be no more than 34 years old and were required to pay their own expenses. Later, in 1941, the Central Guard School organized advanced courses that were conducted outside the working hours at selected institutions.

Certainly, the contribution of the Central Guard School to modern-day operations and training of the department and the correctional community was significant. It was the first school of its kind operated by a state prison system (the New York City Department of Correction started a Keepers School in 1927). For the first time, the work force was tied together by a common professional bond. By using instructors from across the state, the school promoted systemwide teamwork and sharing of information. Officials from other jurisdictions came to lecture and to learn. Nevertheless, the school fell victim to the budget axe after less than three years of operation and closed on June 30, 1939. Funding was restored a year later, but the Central Guard School at Wallkill closed forever in April 1942.

Improvising in the Absence Of the School's Structure

At the advent of World War II, the system's work force began eroding when able-bodied men were called into military service. Most men who were disqualified for military service were also not suitable for service in the prisons. Temporary staff of questionable ability were hired to fill in. These men would only serve until the regular officers returned from the war. Resourceful facility administrators instituted modified in-service training programs, which were conducted at various facilities based on a course first offered at Great Meadow after the Central Guard School first closed in 1939. This "introductory course" was conducted on a semicorrespondence basis--classes were taught by facility security supervisors and teachers. Assignments and quizzes were forwarded for evaluation to Wallkill where a few former Central Guard School staff members remained.

With the return of the regular correctional officers at the end of the war, recruitment and training of new officers lost its urgency. Without a clear, statewide training policy and funding, the state of recruit officer training fell to pre-Wallkill days.

In the 1950s, the first-day stories of officers directed to report for line-up via letter from Albany, consisted of being issued a set of keys and told to "follow the inmates." However, during this period, many facility administrators continued to provide a basic level of training for new staff through on-the-job programs, where periods of time were spent working closely with senior officers. The trainees were tested on facility and central office policies and correctional law. In the early 1960s, Green Haven Correctional Facility began daily lunch-hour, in-service sessions. A unit of material would be covered for five consecutive days while the staff had been relieved to eat their lunch. These efforts were innovative and provided some sharing of relevant information, but they were inconsistent and undependable.

During the suspension of centralized officer recruit training, two courses materialized to address the training of matrons (the official title of female officers until 1960), which began at Albion in 1945 and at Westfield State Farm in Bedford Hills (now Bedford Hills Correctional Facility) the following year. In 1953, special courses were developed for the correctional hospital attendants at Matteawan and Dannemora state hospitals.

In 1953, the position of director of correctional training was created, but little progress was made on developing a comprehensive program of instruction for correctional officer recruits or for in-service programs. Some seminars and in-service programs were conducted at various times and locations from 1947 through 1965, where staff were afforded the opportunity to earn college credit.

A Second Try

In 1965, a formal central school once again was reestablished to address the training needs of newly hired recruit officers. Beginning with a class of 27 male and female officers on the grounds of the Mattewan State Hospital (now Fishkill Correctional Facility in Beacon), a dozen sessions were held per year to address the need for about 300 new officers. The three-week, 120-hour curriculum covered a variety of basic correctional subjects, which were taught by instructors "borrowed" from the institutions and from other state agencies.

Riots and restructuring had provided the impetus to the Central Guard School of the 1930s. Forty years later, it was to happen again. In September 1971, the devastating riot at Attica, followed by special commissions and investigations of not just the Attica riot, but of correctional practices nationwide, spurred public consensus for needed reform. Among the reforms recognized was the need for a professional training program. Funding became available and the department would expand training to 13 weeks, dwarfing even the old Wallkill program. The first class of officers to receive the expanded course graduated on June 6, 1972.

With the advent of a 13-week program, the department saw a need for a separate training facility. In 1972, a vacant seminary located in Albany was rented from the Catholic church. This is the site of the present-day academy, which was eventually purchased from the Catholic Diocese of Albany in 1987. As the academy was getting started in 1972, so was the dramatic rise in inmate populations, which saw the population in New York rise from 12,500 inmates to a peak of 71,538 in December 1999. During this period, the struggle for resources--money, bed space and staff--was consuming as the relentless pressure to get additional officers into the prisons severely strained the department's new training program.

Classroom space at the new academy could not accommodate the steady flow of new officers. Various temporary academies were established and thousands of officers were trained. With the rapid rise in inmate population came years of budgetary constraints. The ambitious 13-week recruit program could not continue because not only was it expensive, it could not quickly provide the number of officers required for the new facilities. The program was cut to eight weeks in 1976 and then to as low as three weeks in 1979. The Recruit Training Program duration fluctuated over the subsequent years until the present day. Recruits train for a total of 11 weeks, with eight weeks at the academy and three weeks of on-the-job training at selected facilities.

Coming Full Circle

As the department moves forward in the new millennium, the lessons of the past are not disregarded. It does not go unnoticed that the curriculum of the Wallkill Central Guard School of 1936 called for eight weeks of instruction, as does the department's curriculum today. Some in corrections feel that there is nothing new; it has all been tried before.

Today, the DOCS Training Academy offers 23 primary programs to support department operations, with three new professional development programs in design. The ever-changing correctional landscape dictates that an agile training program be maintained, designed to react to the needs of departmental operations. This year, new lesson plans on topics such as suicide prevention, ethics awareness, preventing sexual abuse, security awareness and others have been developed to address such needs. The collaboration between department operations and training functions ensures that relevant training is offered to employees in support of the department's mission and policies. It is recognized that training is the right arm of operations and should be designed to directly support operational requirements.

The foundation of any organization is built upon the investment made to ensure that new employees receive comprehensive and effective basic job skills training. The department's Recruit Training Program is the cornerstone of the agency's training plan. It is here that new correctional officers are first introduced to the department and the beginning of their career. As it is said, "First impressions are lasting impressions." The program is operated in a para-military setting, which instills discipline and respect for authority in the recruits, as well as creates an atmosphere where all components of the program work more efficiently.

The staff who perform duties as instructors, counselors and drill instructors are a combination of permanent staff and those temporarily assigned to the academy from a list of specially selected, highly motivated facility staff who have completed the Instructor Development Course. The department's statewide Corrections Emergency Response Team (CERT) also is located at the academy. In addition to CERT training activities, CERT members are also involved in teaching and guiding recruits through the program. All drill instructors at the academy are expected to complete the department's Drill Instructor Development School in addition to completing Instructor Development School and any other available specialty schools, such as firearms, defensive tactics, chemical agents and others.

DOCS Commissioner Glenn Goord's commitment to the employees of the department is evident in the renewed efforts to improve the professional development program. The professional development series includes current sergeants, lieutenants and captains schools and the new Supervisory Challenge and Leadership Development program, which are being developed. In addition, the National Institute of Corrections "Building Effective Work Teams" curriculum is being adopted and will be available in Spring 2006 on a regular basis to support the leaders of tomorrow. New facility executive team members (deputy superintendents) are offered a 40-hour management program, which is under review for expansion, and a proposal for a new superintendent's training program is under review.

Given that New York state is very large geographically and all of its 70 facilities are located throughout the state, the use of technology to more effectively deliver training programs cannot be discounted. Accordingly, the department is beginning to develop a distance-learning network, starting with the construction of a distance-learning classroom at the academy, where training can be broadcast to remote locations. Using Tanberg Co. communications technology, which facilitates an interactive medium, almost any subject matter can be effectively delivered to specially designed distance-learning classrooms. This system, along with nine regional computer-training labs under construction, will greatly improve the efficiency of the department's curriculum delivery.

Meeting the demands of an ever-changing correctional system and work force has never been an easy task from the days of Lewis Lawes to today. Ensuring that department staff are prepared for what many say is "the world's toughest beat" is an awesome and humbling mission. New York's correctional training history is not necessarily unique, but it has been a long journey through prison disturbances, world wars, budget crises and exploding inmate populations. The demands do not seem to be waning; correctional training programs must continue to be innovative, flexible and relevant to meet these demands.

In the words of Lawes during a 1937 lecture at the Central Guard School: "In the year 1905, I was appointed to the position of guard at Clinton Prison. The salary then was $55 a month. For this modest sum I was required to be on duty at least 12 and sometimes 14 hours a day for seven days a week. Without any training or instruction, I was at once assigned to night duty in what was known as the West Hall. My equipment consisted solely of a pair of sneakers, a club and a gun." Indeed, the department has traveled far.

Bruce E. Olsen is director of training for the New York State Department of Correctional Services.