Cliff Notes on the Workshops

Stress Survival for Corrections Officers

In this hands-on workshop, Roger Johnson discussed the ways in which the human body can react to stress — both short- and long-term. Short-term reactions may include rapid breathing, a pounding heart, more acute hearing and trembling knees. Long-term reactions may include migraine headaches, ulcers, backaches and rashes.

Johnson then challenged participants to manage their stress appropriately — by expressing their emotions, laughing and keeping a sense of humor, thinking positively about events and challenges in their lives, and taking care of themselves physically. He urged them to stop complaining that they have too much to do and "take time for [themselves]." Speci-fic suggestions included eating 30 grams of fiber a day, and taking three 40-minute walks a week. Finally, he led participants through a session of meditation — and suggested they use it as a means of releasing stress and relaxing.

Janis Griffin of AFSCME Local 3807 (Council 7) was one of many who described the workshop as "helpful and inspiring."

Johnson is a retired member of the New York City Police Department and has served as a faculty member of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Cornell University and Rockefeller College. He is now the director of programs with the Northeastern New York Safety and Health Council.

Gang Recognition

Taught by Andy Davila, this workshop offered a detailed look at the insignias and codes by which corrections workers can recognize and identify gangs within correctional institutions and the community.

Davila centered the workshop on a series of slides illustrating insignias commonly seen in Texas correctional institutions. Though these insignias were once openly displayed, he explained, they are now often hidden within other intricate designs.

Jackie Arbaugh of the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association (OCSEA)/ AFSCME Local 11 said what made the workshop "really interesting" for her was viewing the gang signs used in Texas, some of which she had also seen in Ohio.

Davila is a member of the Texas National Major Gang Task Force and has been employed for 15 years with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ), 13 of those years in Gang Intelligence. He is the program administrator for TDCJ’s Security Threat Group Management Office.

Sudden In-Custody Death Syndrome

Sgt. Robert Eastlund’s workshop took an in-depth look at the phenomenon of sudden in-custody death syndrome (SICDS), the unexpected death of a subject that occurs during arrest or while the subject is in the custody of another, and that is not attributable to suicide or to physical trauma.

During SICDS, Eastlund explains, a number of stresses overload a victim’s body and he reaches "terminal apex," where things start to go wrong — for example, core body temperature goes up but the body doesn’t sweat, the heart is pounding but the rate of breathing slows.