Is it rational to call a prisoner extremely dangerous just because they escape before their release date? Prisoners who do this are treated by the police and media as major threats to society. But if they serve out their time and get released they are not subject to the same character references. Theoretically, the time between an escape and a parole date could be anything - hours. But it could mean the difference between being shot on sight or maybe getting a job.
In my experience, the officials do NOT always use the term “extremely dangerous”
In fact, when the escapee was a trustee from the local jail, they made it clear that while he WAS an escapee, they did NOT feel the public was in danger from him.
OTOH, when the escapee had a history of violence or the escape itself was a violent act, they DO use that term.
I have heard escapees in this area referred to from ‘extremely dangerous’ to ‘not considered a threat’.
I think they are pretty selective with dangerous label.
I think it’s worth pointing out that a prisoner who escapes from custody, at any time, is signalling his disregard for the law and the penal system. A prisoner that is lawfully released from confinement labors under no such burden.
- Rick
I would like to point out that by escaping (even by a few hours) they are showing that they are not reformed (or penatant) at all.
To me, this is insane behavior for anyone not locked up for life. Its like running away from a police officer. They WILL get you and it WILL be so much worse once they do that you can’t justify it. You did the crime, now deal with the consequences.
Of course, having someone named butch making you his bitch nightly might make me think twice about this position, even if I was doing a couple years.
CandyMan
Candyman and Bricker, with all due respect, how do you get to the place where you think some one isn’t caring that the inmate escaped?
the OP was “why do they always call 'em dangerous” and the first two answers were “they don’t”.
At no point in either KelliBelli (and not to speak for her of course) or my reply did the officials in question think “gee, Fred’s such a nice guy, I’ll bet he had a real good reason for walkin’ off, we won’t worry about it”. There is a justifiable difference in the expressed level of concern for the population. I would worry more about Charles Manson escaping than I would, say, the Junk Bond King. While neither should leave prison w/o authorization, I’m liable to change my day to day activities knowing that some Charlie’s on the loose.
Well I guess the media beat stories up occasionally.
Escaping does sometimes suggest an air of desparation and if it is really close to a prisoner’s release date escaping may indicate that one has become unhinged.
picmr
having testified in a number of “escape” hearings myself -
while the term “escape” conjures up movie scenes involving tunnels, quick witted inmates and surly guards, helicopters, etc. in reality the great majority of escapes are from minimum custody settings - such as half way houses, work camps etc. where the person either walks away or fails to return on time.
Our state went to a ‘zero tolerance’ rule, so if some one is on tether, allowed to go to work and is supposed to be home by 5 pm, arrives at 5:05, cops come out, arrest them and they may be charged with escape from custody. (do they always? for 5 minutes? no, not necessarily, but they almost always have them in custody right away, tho)
Having run the correction center, I know that in most cases, enough “travel time” is usually given to allow for the more mundane “late excuses” (there was this train you see…), so some one being late at all, generally was probably stopping some where else or something like that. but it’s certainly not like the movies.
It would also depend on the method of escape.
Most escapes are not directly from prison premises and Wring has pointed out many of them.
The category that causes most escapees to be classified as dangerous is the one where they escape from inter-prison or court-prison escort as it will usually involve threats or violence to the escorting staff.
You might expect that the highest risk inmates are the ones most likely to break free of escorts but the security precautions are so stringent that even attempts are rare.
Some escapees are part of an attempt by others and are used by them, once they are out they often spend only a short while out before handing themselves in.
When a con gets out in a violent manner he (as it invariably is) knows all too well that being caught will extend his term by rather a lot, which is what makes him even more dangerous.
In New York, we have two different classifications: escapees, inmates who ran away from custody, and abscondees, inmates who ran away while on a temporary release from custody. Abscondees are far more common than escapees (probably by a 50-1 ration). But considering these inmates were eligible for temporary release in the first place, they’re generally not considered dangerous to the community.
Actually, wring, I was responding to the portion of the OP that seemed to suggest it was irrational to worry about an escapee who had little time left to serve anyway. The OP said:
- Rick
Bricker - Ok, I read what you cited, but I guess my take on the OP wasn’t that we shouldn’t be concerned about escapees, just not necessarily call them “extremely dangerous”, which is entirely different, IMHO.
I think someone who wanders out of jail because they just don’t want to serve the rest of their DUI conviction probably won’t be tabbed as “dangerous” and you probably won’t be told that the person escaped.
If a convicted murderer escapes, I think the media will be alerted and s/he will be described as “dangerous.”
But what was Christopher Boyce described as? I don’t think he was considered “dangerous”. I think the FBI wanted him back in jail because they were afraid of what he knew.
Bob T, I disagree. You might not notice being told about the DUI case walking away just before release, but ** I ** do (since I work in the biz). I see it routinely.
As a matter of fact, the local folks used to do a TV piece once a week profiling all of the “walk aways” from the local center (some had been “gone” for quite a while). Rewards were offered. BUT they were not termed “to be considered dangerous”
By “being told” I was referring to there being news about in on TV and radio. In Los Angeles County, I’ve never heard of these cases getting any sort of publicity, although the County’s “Honor Rancho” has had a few escapes.
We do tend hear a lot about riots and lockdowns however from what I recall.
Is there an uncomfortable connection here between violence and poverty? Are assessments of escaped prisoners’ characters made on their ability to connect with some form of income on the outside? Ronald Jorgensen is a notorious New Zealand criminal who has been on the lam for 20 years. When there was a possible “sighting” of him recently he was seen as a folklorish character by the media rather than a killer. But that opinion only developed over time.
Because someone who escapes is probably pretty desperate not to get caught. Desperate people do desperate things.
Marc
Absolutely. In fact, generally if a prisoner escapes the first thing we do, even before setting up road blocks and notifying the police, is run a thorough credit check on him.