Escape of the prisoners from the Limoeiro, at Lisbon, 29 April 1847, during the Patuleia civil warEscape from prison in Greenville, Ohio, USA (1909)
A prison escape (referred as a bust out, breakout, jailbreak, jail escape, or prison break) is the act of an inmate leaving prison through unofficial or illegal ways. Normally, when this occurs, an effort is made on the part of authorities to recapture them and return them to their original detainers. Escaping from prison is also a criminal offense in some countries, such as the United States and Canada, and it is highly likely to result in time being added to the inmate's sentence, as well as the inmate being placed under increased security that is most likely a maximum security prison or supermax prison. In Germany and a number of other countries, it is considered human nature to want to escape from a prison and it is considered as a violation of the right of freedom, so escape is not penalized in itself (in the absence of other factors such as threats of violence, actual violence, or property damage).
Many prisons use security features such as CCTV, perimeter sensors, barred windows, high walls, barbed wire, razor wire, and electric fencing to prevent escapes. Even natural geographic features can play significant roles in preventing escapes; historically, mountains and islands were chosen as ideal settings for prison construction, given their significance in creating territorial isolation from outside worlds.
Methods
Numerous methods have been used to escape from prisons over time. Many escapes have been successfully conducted by inmates who have invented their own methods. Weaknesses that are found as prisoners escape are often corrected at numerous prisons around the world to prevent future escapes in a similar manner. This leads inmates to finding new ways.
The following are methods that have commonly been used by prisoners in escapes. In some instances, a combination of these are used.[1]
Cell escape
While some prisoners are allowed out of their cells at times, others remain locked in their cells most of the time, particularly those in solitary confinement. Many prisoners who are kept in their cells must find ways out of the cells. Even those who are allowed out of their cells at times still have plans that involve escape from their cells.
Cell escapes occur through either the door, the window, the light, the ventilation system, by breaking down the walls, or by tunneling underground.
Containment penetration involves breaking down or slipping through the physical containment of the prison, including that of the cell itself or the surrounding complex. Methods include the destruction of the cell or compound walls, squeezing through tight spaces, or entering off-limits areas. Prisoners often destroy their containment with homemade tools, smuggled objects, or other contraband.
Most prisons are contained on the outside by one or more fences, often topped with barbed wire or razor wire. Escapees manage to scale these fences successfully or cut holes in the fences, damaging them. These fences are also watched by one or more guards from a tower, but escapees manage to pass the fence when the guard is turned away, unable to see in the dark, or sleeping on the job. Outside the fences is often a perimeter patrol conducted by an officer in a vehicle, which stands as the final line of defense. Escapees manage to evade this by studying the length of time between passes, waiting until it is on the other side, or using the cover of darkness.
An uncommon method that has been used at times involves the digging of a tunnel under the facility that exits outside the facility.
Physical force
Physical force involves attacking guards with blunt force, homemade weapons, smuggled weapons, or weapons stolen from overpowered guards.
Some escapes involve one or more inmates taking over an entire unit or section of the prison, subduing guards, and stealing weapons or other objects they can use to their advantage.
Deception
Deception may involve fooling one or more guards into believing the prisoner is authorized to depart prison grounds for a legitimate reason, or the prisoner disguising himself or herself as a worker or civilian who can exit prison grounds without arousing suspicion, or the creation of a ruse to mislead guards.
In some escapes, inmates construct makeshift dummies to give the appearance that they are in their cells asleep in bed. This enables the inmate to gain a head start before guards discover they are actually missing. Such dummies are crudely constructed often using papier-mâché, human hair, clothing, shoes, and other miscellaneous materials to serve as stuffing to create the appearance a body is present.
Exploitation of weaknesses
Finding holes in the security of the facility, and taking advantage of them. This may include the discovery of overlooked security issues, or taking advantage of guards who are not following policies or procedures, or are otherwise not doing their jobs properly.
Exploitation of corruption
Taking advantage of intentional wrongdoing on part of prison staff. This may include the use of weapons or other contraband smuggled in by staff, or receiving assistance from staff who assist due to their personal initiative or by other means of compensation.[2]
Failure to return
Some lower security inmates are permitted to leave prison grounds temporarily on the honor they will return. These include those who depart for employment outside the facility or furloughs that allow time outside for periods of time.
Escape from outside
Breaking while in custody outside facility grounds. Prisoners are often transported for work duties, to be moved between facilities, attend court hearings, for hospitalization and medical appointments, and other reasons.
Outside help
Receiving aid from an accomplice outside prison walls, including those who provide a ride to the inmate following their penetration, smuggle in contraband as visitors, or use helicopters, among other methods.
When a banned item is smuggled, it can either be slipped through or tossed over the fence from outside, hidden in a gift to the inmate that is legal, or slipped past corrupt security officers. In some cases, the staff are the source of the smuggling themselves.
Escape from island prisons
Escaping from an island prison brings another challenge of crossing the water to free land. This can be done by construction of a makeshift raft or receiving outside help from the owner of a boat. In the famed 1962 Alcatraz escape, a makeshift raft from raincoats was confirmed. One additional theory is that a boat was used to transport them in the water.
Prevention
Prevention of prison escape includes the numerous security measures that are in effect. How many and which measures are used depends on the security level and specific institution. Some of the preventive measures are:
Structural
Prisons often have structural features such as barbed or razor wire, motion sensors, high walls and guard towers to prevent escape.
One or more fences surrounding the facility
Barbed wire or razor wire on topping fences that surround the facility
Razor wire on the ground between fences, thereby making one's presence in this area dangerous and possibly deadly
Multiple locked doors between the "pods" (sections of cells) and the exit
Cell windows made too narrow for a human body to fit through; iron bars are often fitted
Rounds: Guards within the facility make rounds checking inmates at set intervals
Full-time watch: High-risk inmates are watched non-stop around the clock one-on-one
Guard towers: Guards in towers at corners of compound can observe edges of the facility and are often authorized to use deadly force against fleeing escapees
Perimeter patrol: A guard in a vehicle circles the compound from the outside, watching for escaping inmates
Technology
Surveillance cameras allow guards to monitor areas of the compound without being physically present
Security lighting provides nighttime visibility of exterior areas, including entrances, exercise yards and perimeter fencing
Microwave or buried RF sensors alert security if an inmate nears the fence or has entered a sterile area (protected area, such as the space between a pair of parallel fences, in which inmates are not allowed).
Thermal cameras detect heat signatures and can notify guards if an inmate (or other unauthorized person) is present in a restricted area or moving towards the fence
Video analytics that detect, track and classify people, objects, and vehicles near the perimeter
Alarms, buzzers, or sirens make guards aware if any doors or gates are open, signifying a possible breach
Head counts at set times to ensure the number of inmates in the facility matches the number on record
Cell searches to make sure inmates do not have contraband that can be used to aid an escape or commit violence against guards or other inmates
Punishment
In some jurisdictions, including the United States, escaping from jail or prison is a criminal offense. In Virginia, for instance, the punishment for escape depends on whether the offender used force, violence, or set fire to the jail, as well as the seriousness of the offense for which they were imprisoned.[4][5][6]
In Russia, escaping from prison is an offence that can result in up to four years being added to the inmate's sentence.[7]
In the United Kingdom, escaping from lawful custody is a common law offence; if any force is used, the common law offence is termed "breaking prison."[8]
↑ Boyle, Robyn (10 Sep 2015). "No prison escapes so far this year in Belgium". thebulletin.be. The Bulletin. Archived from the original on 2018-08-07. Retrieved 7 Aug 2018. Prison escape in Belgium is not punishable by law, but escaped prisoners are punished if they commit criminal offenses in the course of trying to break out.
↑ "Correctional Services in Austria"(PDF). justiz.gv.at. Republic of Austria Federal Ministry of Justice. 1 Aug 2016. Archived(PDF) from the original on 2017-10-24. Retrieved 7 Aug 2018. Considerable attention is being focussed upon rights and obligations of prisoners [...] The violation of certain obligations of conduct is called a misdemeanour. Some misdemeanours are listed as examples: − Escape
Folsom California State Prison is a California State Prison in Folsom, California, United States, approximately 20 miles (32 km) northeast of the state capital of Sacramento. It is one of 34 adult institutions operated by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Minnesota Correctional Facility – Oak Park Heights (MCF-OPH) is Minnesota's only Level Five maximum security prison. The facility is located near the cities of Bayport and Stillwater. The facility is designed and employed with trained security officers to handle not only Minnesota's high-risk inmates but other states' as well. They also have the largest contract to house federal inmates with serious, violent histories. The prison has never had an escape, and only one homicide.
Mount Gambier Prison is an Australian prison located in Moorak immediately south of Mount Gambier. It is managed and operated by G4S.
Greenough Regional Prison is an Australian prison located in Narngulu, a suburb of Geraldton, Western Australia. The prison was opened in 1984 and had an operational capacity of 328 as of November 2012. The prison houses prisoners from around the Mid West region, including a large proportion of Aboriginal prisoners. A mix of maximum (remand), medium and minimum security prisoners are held at Greenough, including 25 female prisoners, with two cells available for mothers and babies and a minimum security facility that houses 36 male prisoners.
Millhaven Institution is a maximum security prison located in Bath, Ontario. Approximately 500 inmates are incarcerated at Millhaven.
Pul-e-Charkhi prison, also known as the Afghan National Detention Facility, is a maximum-security prison located next to the Ahmad Shah Baba Mina neighborhood in the eastern part of Kabul, Afghanistan. It has the capacity to house 14,000 inmates, but as of October 2024 it only has around 5,000 inmates, most of whom have been arrested and convicted within the jurisdiction of Kabul Province. It is considered the country's largest prison.
The Metropolitan Correctional Center, Chicago is a United States federal prison in Chicago, Illinois, which holds male and female prisoners of all security levels prior to and during court proceedings in the Northern District of Illinois, as well as inmates serving brief sentences. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice.
Auckland Prison is a prison facility consisting of medium security and maximum security compounds in Paremoremo, Auckland, New Zealand. The two compounds are separate but located close together in a rural area.
Long Binh Jail was a U.S. military stockade located at Long Binh Post, in Đồng Nai Province, South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. 90% of the prisoners in the jail were African Americans. The handshake known as the "dap" was created here.
The Maze Prison escape took place on 25 September 1983 in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. HM Prison Maze was a maximum security prison considered to be one of the most escape-proof prisons in Europe. It held prisoners suspected of taking part in armed paramilitary campaigns during the Troubles, with separate wings for loyalists and for republicans. In the biggest prison escape in UK peacetime history, 38 Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) prisoners escaped from H-Block 7 (H7) of the prison. One prison officer died of a heart attack during the escape and twenty others were injured, including two who were shot with guns that had been smuggled into the prison.
Northpoint Training Center is a medium-security prison located in Boyle County, near Danville, Kentucky. It opened in 1983 and had a prison capacity of 1,256 as of 2006.
United States Penitentiary, Alcatraz Island, also known simply as Alcatraz or The Rock, was a maximum security federal prison on Alcatraz Island, 1.25 miles off the coast of San Francisco, California, United States. The site of a fort since the 1850s, the main prison building was built in 1910–12 as a U.S. Army military prison.
In most jurisdictions, prison inmates are forbidden from possessing mobile phones due to their ability to communicate with the outside world and other security issues. Mobile phones are one of the most smuggled items into prisons. They provide inmates the ability to make and receive unauthorized phone calls, send email and text messages, use social media, and follow news pertaining to their case, among other forbidden uses.
A prison break is an unlawful act under Nigerian law, of a prisoner forcing their way out of a prison. It can also be described as attacks on the Nigerian Prisons Services by terrorists such as Boko Haram and armed robbers in which many prisoners are released. Often, when this occurs effort are made by the Nigerian Prisons Services in conjunction with security agency to rearrest the escapee and return them to the prison and this may result in the extension of their jail term. Prison break in Nigeria may be attributed to corruption, poor funding of the prison services, poor prison facilities, inadequate security features such as CCTV, motion sensors, high wall made up of barbed wire and sometimes electric fencing of the wall.
The 2015 Clinton Correctional Facility escape was a jailbreak that took place on June 6, 2015, when two inmates, Richard Matt and David Sweat, were discovered missing during a 5:17 a.m. bed check at the maximum security Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York, United States. Matt was serving 25 years to life and Sweat was serving life without parole, both for murder. The two prisoners had escaped by cutting a hole in their cell walls gaining access to the utility areas behind and above their cells. Eventually they cut a hole in a steam pipe and used the pipe to escape from the prison into the city sewer, with tools obtained from two cooperating prison employees. Nearly three weeks after the escape, Matt was found in Malone, New York, where he was shot and killed; two days after that, Sweat was shot and taken into custody.
St. Louis Correctional Facility (SLF) is a prison located in Saint Louis, Michigan. The facility is operated by the Michigan Department of Corrections.
Carson City Correctional Facility (DRF) is a Michigan prison, located near Carson City, for adult male prisoners.
Kinross Correctional Facility (KCF) is a Michigan prison for men. It is located in the eastern Upper Peninsula of Michigan, in Chippewa County on the south side of Kincheloe, adjacent to Chippewa County International Airport. The original facility closed in October 2015, with most of the inmates relocating to the formerly closed Hiawatha Correctional Facility. Upon the move, the Kinross Correctional Facility name was transferred to the reopened complex.
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