At one point or another, you’ve likely experienced an inmate complaining about you or another officer. What they’ll allege, and how far they’re willing to take that complaint, varies case by case. Whether it be a missed meal, not receiving medicine, or whatever else they might claim, it can be damaging for you as the officer and the facility as a whole. 

Documentation is the proof you need to fight these allegations because without it, you’re S.O.L. While your team and supervisors may have your back, there is no real proof of what really happened. A lack of reporting makes for a game of “he said, she said” that no one wants to play. This is when thorough and accurate documentation becomes extremely valuable.

We know that the seemingly hundreds of responsibilities you have during your shift leave little room for additional time to document your day. So, how can officers balance all of their shift responsibilities that take place within an eight or twelve-hour shift? 

This blog breaks down four tips to consider when working towards stronger, better officer documentation.

1. Review and Improve Facility Policies and Procedures

The first step in determining if your documentation methods are up to par is reviewing and reflecting on your facility’s current policies and procedures. If they’re related to daily activity logging but lack clarity, consistency, oversight, or detail, then it’s time for revisions that create the efficiency and effectiveness needed.

These changes could, and should, include eliminating paper logging, radio traffic to central control, keystrokes into your jail management system or Word processor, and other roadblocks. Using paper logs often leads to decreased productivity, inaccurate and hard-to-find-or-read documentation, and other headache-provoking issues.

For example, how many times have you or someone else quickly jotted something down and then you’re left trying to make out the illegible handwriting? With manual logging, it can take hours of sorting through paperwork to find what you’re looking for. 

Moral of the story: if your facility can afford to, adopt technology that can streamline the documentation process. There is no extra time to be spent rifling through paperwork or trying to read someone else's chicken scratch, especially in corrections. Implementing newer, advanced technology improves the effectiveness, efficiency, and accuracy of the documentation process in its entirety. Having updated documentation tools allows you to quickly record, sort through, and pull up the information you need in a matter of seconds. 

2. Capture EVERYTHING

Everything you do during a shift should be documented, no matter how mundane it may seem.

Performed a check? Document it. Gave an inmate medicine? Document it. Offered an inmate a meal? Document it. Give an inmate anything? Document it. Regardless of whether or not you’re performing your checks, if you interact with an inmate, it should be documented.

An inmate can easily say, “Well, Officer Smith didn’t give me my meal yesterday” and you should be able to quickly pull up records stating that the meal was offered and whether or not the inmate accepted it. Documenting everyday tasks isn’t meant to give officers more work, but rather to ensure that they can cover their a$$ if a claim is ever raised to the level of a lawsuit..

Consistent and aggressive logging efforts aren’t dissimilar to the theory of community policing. By taking a systematic, proactive approach to what you’re documenting and how you’ll effectively reduce inmate grievances, you have more than enough data to prove you were doing your job efficiently. When you’re documenting every interaction you have with inmates, you also promote a sense of randomness to your checks. When there are gaps and missed documentation, it’ll raise questions about whether something was done or not. 

3. It’s Better to be Safe Than Sorry

What should you do if you can’t remember whether a security or cell check in a certain area was logged? When in doubt, log it again. There’s no harm in double-logging. If you did miss a check, the potential consequences outweigh the few minutes that it takes to perform a cell check again. 

Say an inmate complained of a stomach ache for the third time in the last eight hours? You should be logging it and documenting exactly what you did after each complaint. A benign stomach ache could be just that. But, it may also be a telltale of a serious, underlying medical issue. While it’s not your job to diagnose them, it’s your job to take notice of and document these complaints as well as how you responded.

Overcompensating documentation is safer than under-capturing information.

4. Promote Personal and Collective Accountability

Some facilities rely on line staff radioing to control room operators to log certain events or activities into a master logbook, whether paper or electronic. However, the control room operator has to respond to calls, monitor security cameras, and quarterback your access control system. Instead, consider decentralizing all logging efforts by using handheld scanners, such as GUARDIAN RFIDs SPARTAN, to empower your line staff to document in real-time.

By encouraging a mobile practice, all staff members are equally responsible for the success or failure of staff documentation. This helps accelerate accountability for the quality of work being done. Each team member has a legal responsibility to address all inmate allegations, including claims that they were not fed, offered recreation time, their medications, or whatever else the case may be. 

Robust documentation is crucial in mitigating risks within correctional facilities. Selecting the best system for your facility’s unique needs and implementing these four tips into your documentation process will only benefit your operations. Promoting officers to continuously document their tasks helps provide solid evidence of what they are (or aren't) doing. This not only ensures that the officers are getting the credit they deserve, but has their back covered in the case of allegations.