Darrell Avery

I have been the Master Control Sergeant at AIrway Heights beginning Nov 11 2021. I am responsible for the the identification of all incoming and outgoing employees, volunteers and visitors. I also,as a part of this identification duty determine eligibility of the aforementioned individuals to enter the facility. The primary task, in this identification process is remaining vigilant to the possibility of escape, singularly or by use of coercion of individuals that are incarcerated at the facility. This involves the use of policy, local facility norms, and the training of Master Control staff whom I supervise.

Supervision and development of the Master Control Officer is important to the maintenance of the facility perimeter and proper direction and handling of radio traffic that occurs throughout the shift. The development of this officer is critical as this employee will be responsible for the tasks I have previously mentioned when I have duties that take my out of the control room. The proper training of these officers takes time and patience to install the vigilance and thoroughness required of the position.

Additionally, I supervise the Hospital Watch staff that are on third shift. This is primary done from relaying information passed to me from reviews of the hospital watch logs and from input given from supervisors at the facility when they are not a watch.

I also supervise the Public Access Officer. This position works closely with the MasterControl staff as they are the point of entry to the facility. This supervision requires me to ensure they are up on facility search procedures and the need to be vigilant of their surroundings being the primary access point to the facility.

Other duties include assisting in the maintenance of the various types of releases, transfers and making sure the database reflects these. The third shift Sergeant is also responsible for using OMNI , release paperwork and chronos to determine the validity of all facility incarcerated individual moves the following day.

As the AL relief Sergeant I worked most Sergeant positions at the facility. This would include property, crews, control, units, main shift and float. This position helped my career by integrating the facility together as a unit. Working property helps you to understand what happens when procedures are not followed in the units. This type of learning is carried on from each position to another and instills a team aspect to the various areas. It is difficult to limit tort claims, grievances and other areas of conflicts if the interconnectivity of the areas is unknown. In the relief position I also acted as the Shift Sergeant and was responsible for the direction and response of shift staff during emergency response. I, as will be mentioned in my Shift Sergeant portion of this, like to preplan with my officers what the initial response will look like. This includes having two or more transport teams identified and the accompanying sally port response officers. This was taught to me and allows me to focus on the incident at hand knowing the peripherals are in motion.

My duties as the Main Shift Sergeant primarily included the direction and supervision of emergency response at the facility. At this time there was not an SMU Sergeant at the facility. My focus as the Shift Sergeant was to have my team respond to the various emergency situations as a coordinated team. That does not imply we all went to the same place at one time, unless directed so, but to the various jobs which will next be performed. If a medical emergency, the transport staff to the Control area for access to trip gear. sally port operators announcing enroute when the 911/stable call goes out. This accomplishes a few things. It allows Shift Command Staff, the Lieutenant and myself, to know that the personnel on shift are trained in their jobs and most importantly, paying attention to what they are doing.

If the situation is a fight, responding safely, achieving compliance and designating whom is taking pictures, possible officer on crime scene and the many variations that can occur.

This type of training came through many tiny teaches and an overall desire to communicate and be part of a functional team.

Other duties included roster management and the supervision of the Response and Movement Officers. My philosophy is generally outlined above.

This was my first Sergeant position and worked one day SL, two Main Shift and two MSU Shift days. I would consider this my trainn