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Direct Supervision Jails: The Role of the Administrator

This guide provides jail administrators the necessary information they need to effectively perform their jobs. Chapters comprising this publication are: introduction; the jail administrator’s leadership role; recruiting, hiring, and promoting staff; training staff; supervising staff; determining the number of inmates one officer can supervise effectively; rotating housing unit staff assignments; ensuring that officers interact with inmates; addressing the isolation of the housing unit officer; decisionmaking using the principles of direct supervision; assessing direct supervision operations and outcomes; annotated principles of direct supervision; and strategies for managing a direct supervision housing unit.