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The use of force is inherent in the very nature of
involuntary confinement. In prisons, “the responsible
deployment of force is not only justifiable on many
occasions, but absolutely necessary to maintain the
security of the institution. ”The need to use force in a
prison may sometimes include the forcible removal of an
inmate from his cell, called a “cell extraction.”
Cell extractions are
security measures, not disciplinary mechanisms. In
well-managed correctional systems, they are used only in
response to an imminent and serious risk to the safety
and security of an individual or of the institution. In
such prisons, officers know cell extractions are rarely
needed; in some prisons, however, the institutional
culture permits cell extractions simply to show inmates
“who’s in charge” or to retaliate against defiant
inmates, even if there is no real emergency.
When the decision has been
made that an inmate cannot be allowed to remain in his
cell, properly trained staff will make every effort to
avoid a forced cell extraction. Officers will talk with
the inmate. Indeed, it may be necessary for corrections
staff to talk to an inmate for a prolonged period and
then allow the inmate a “cooling down” period to
increase chances that forcible extraction will not be
necessary. Counselors or mental health staff may be
brought in to talk to the inmate. If verbal efforts
fail, in many facilities pepper spray is used to
overcome the inmate’s resistance.
If officials decide to go
ahead with a forcible cell extraction, the increasingly
prevalent practice is to use a team of four to six
specially trained correctional officers. They wear
protective equipment that typically includes major torso
padding, Kevlar sleeves, big black gauntlets, a helmet,
a face plate, and a groin guard. The team lines up in
front of the cell, and the officers ask the inmate one
more time whether he is willing to “cuff up”—submit to
restraint and leave the cell. If the inmate continues
his resistance, the team enters the cell. Often, the
first member of the team to enter the cell carries a
large convex Plexiglas shield or a stun shield (a shield
equipped with an electric current which stuns the inmate
on contact) with which he pins the inmate against the
wall. The other members of the team then gain control of
and place restraints on the inmate’s arms and legs. In
most cases, a well trained cell extraction team is able
to secure the removal of even a violent prisoner with
minimal or no harm to him or staff.
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