Complicated prisoner transport

dasleben

dasleben

That's just, like, your opinion, man
This situation happened to me this afternoon, and I thought I'd throw it out there for discussion. This was definitely one of the more interesting decisions I've had to make. Definitely a good answer for a "TMAAT" question on an interview. :)

As you walk into the terminal building and to the gate, you see a young man (15-16 years old) in shackles surrounded by two nicely dressed adults. Waiting next to the gate is a TSA supervisor and the station manager. They flag you down and give you the scoop: The juvenile in shackles is flying to the west coast today to be near his family. However, there's a twist: The two gentlemen escorting him will take him to the aircraft door, and no further. At the door, they'll take off his shackles and will allow him to board and fly on your aircraft unescorted. Only when he's on the west coast (after his connection onto United) will another team of escorts meet him and, presumably, put him in shackles again.

Your company's FOM is very straightforward in terms of prisoner transport rules, but does not address this situation. According to the escorts, the young man will not be legally considered a prisoner for his journey. Both SOC and corporate security simply tell you "It's your decision."

Your aircraft does not have an armored and reinforced cockpit door, and the passengers are all aware that this young man is in shackles before the flight.

What's your play?
 
What did he do? Is he a serial killer that eats babies, or did he just run a few too many red lights?
 
If he's not a prisoner then he's a passenger.

Oh, and tell the FA to only accept cash for his inflight purchases.
 
N18040 said:
What did he do? Is he a serial killer that eats babies, or did he just run a few too many red lights?
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Dunno! The escorts wouldn't say.

SteveC said:
If he's not a prisoner then he's a passenger.
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What about the other passengers seeing him being uncuffed right in front of them before boarding the aircraft? They have to sit with him, and they can see that there's no real cockpit defense. Remember, we're talking general public.
 
I would need alot more information to determine why he is in shackles before I felt comfortable allowing him free roam on my airplane. If he is simply a runaway risk and not a violent or troublesome teen, I might, and I emphasize might, consider allowing him to board. With my personality, even if I bought off on letting him go, I would have a brief and frank discussion with him making sure that he understood that I will have zero tolerance for him causing trouble on the flight. The supervisors and company personnel would also clearly understand from me that if he became a security issue on the plane I would be stopping enroute to have him taken off. That would give them the opportunity to consider their part and willingness to put him on. I would also consider the crew's feelings and comments.

Unless I had a compelling level of comfort here, I would not allow him to go. Managing risk sometimes results in unpopular decisions and I am OK with that.
 
Yep... Not getting on my plane. With the lack of information (and the unwillingness of the LEOs to give it to me) it's not happening.

That said, I've had a pretty bad experience involving prisoner transport on the RJ so I'm a bit gun shy (literally) of situations like this.
 
I had a similar situation, and if he is not free to go where he wants, he is a prisoner. Just because he is locked on my aircraft, and has no escorts, doesn't mean he is not under the control of the authorities. He would need an escort or he does not fly.


I would ask one question...why don't you just leave right now and leave him here? If he is not a prisoner, then he is free to do what he wants, right?
 
Thanks all for the solid discussion!

I ended up denying boarding unless he was escorted per our FOM. The escorts weren't terribly pleased, but they made the journey to BWI and back with me. Everything went off without a hitch, and I'd imagine he's now in Portland near his family.

Actually, a juvenile who's been incarcerated and in shackles is a pretty big deal. Juveniles who run away from home, drink underage, etc. are generally considered status offenders, not delinquent. Status offenders won't see the inside of a prison cell, simply because you don't want these youths to "label" themselves as criminals as they reach adulthood. Delinquents (the juvenile version of an adult convicted of a misdemeanor or felony) are often "diverted" to court-ordered programs and also won't generally be incarcerated for the same labeling reasons above (among other things).

So, which type of juvenile delinquents DO see a prison cell? Well, not very nice ones. Usually repeat and violent offenders.

Anyway, there's one way a non-aviation education can help you in an aviation situation. Glad I paid attention in that Juvenile Justice Procedure class. :D
 
We do the conair thing all the time, and we don't have a cockpit door. We are required to have escorts, and on one flight I think we had 3 or 4 prisoners and 5 escorts. We have a small plane, and the Cruzan escorts are all over 350lbs. I'm big too, so talk about squeezing up the isle. :)

I'm sure other airlines have the same policy right? You have to have an escort to transfer prisoners?

Before I opened the thread, I thought we were going to have a conair moment. I am waiting for John Cusack to chime in!!!
 
We can take low risk prisoners as long as they are escorted by a LEO.

We actually have the following in our FOM

Juveniles and AWOL military personnel delivered by a Law Enforcement Officer (LEO) are considered prisoners and must be accompanied by a LEO during the flight(s) to their destination.
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So, per the OP's situation, they would have required an escort.

We can take deportees with no escort though.
 
I refuse any prisoner transport without an escort, even then I make them sit in the back of the aircraft and the prisoner is never allowed to sit behind me, the same rules apply to the mentally unstable.

Even when transporting a prisoner the escorts are always asked, 'Is this person violent.' I have never had one refuse to answer but when they say no it puts my mind at ease a bit.

Transports can and do get ugly, when it hits home that they are going to the clink people do crazy things. Some people become suicidal and that is your main fear.

There are few things more distracting than having a 300 pound 'special' person hitting you in the back of the head repeatedly with a wooden spoon on final. :crazy: :eek:
 
Sounds like you made the right decision.

I think in a plane with a cockpit door, flight attendants, and lots of other passengers, this is a considerably different situation. But the fact that the escorts didn't want to tell you if he was violent or not would automatically make it a no go for me.
 
If he was a juvenile they may not have LEGALLY been able to tell you anything about his status--so it's not necessarily a conspiracy of silence.

Some agencies have, shall we say, "overly enthusiastic" guidelines about shackling prisoners. Keep in mind he may have been shackled because of the bad press surrounding the meth head who made the news last year escaping from custody...or whatever.

With LE, things aren't always as they seem nor do they make sense. Kinda like aviation.
 
Inconceivable said:
If he was a juvenile they may not have LEGALLY been able to tell you anything about his status--so it's not necessarily a conspiracy of silence.
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That's nice and all...and understandable. But what he's in for is pertinent information to someone flying him in an airplane with no cockpit door.
 
"Hey look mr police officer. If I don't know why this guy was in shackles, then I don't know what I need to look out for. Why don't you call his mommy and daddy that society is mad at him and won't help him out because he's a punk. If they want him home, then they can drive their asses out her to get him. Not my problem."


If he trys to get wirey on the flight, what are you supposed to do? You have an airplane to try and keep control of. Remember the Fed-Ex flight we discussed a while back where a crew member (even though he was jump seating) went nutso?


Stay off my airplane, go Greyhound.
 
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