Evening star., 1935-01-17

Personnel needs of the District of
Columbia penal institutions, pointing
these institutions toward a status as
nearly ideal as possible without adding
further units in the system, range
from the guard force through all
types of specialized services.
Most pressing of these needs Is at
Lorton Reformatory, where, on the
whole, more intelligent class of pris-
oner is serving longer sentence. Such
circumstances produce the greatest
need and the greatest opportunity for
specialized treatment, just as they
produce the greatest need for strict
discipline and supervision of the pris-
onerS.
These needs have been recognized to
a great degree by local officials, Col.
w. L. Peak, superintendent at Lorton,
having sought the following additions:
One additional physician. one resi-
dent dentist, three male nurses, one
landscape gardener, one mail clerk,
one commissary officer and 81 guards.
Budget recommendations for the COM
ing fiscal year meet some of these re-
quests, but are considerably short OF
the suggested needs.
Guard Ratio Low.
Authorities on prison procedure,
however, declare that guard forces
should bear the ratio Of / guard
to each 10 prisoners. With a present
force Of Ito guards and a prison popu-
lation nearing 1900, Lorton Is short OF
requirements, and addition Of 8 as
recommended In the budget, or even OF
81 as asked by Col. Peak, still would
leave the institution handicapped
Even with the proportion of to TO-
leaves of absence. days of, illness and
other circumstances would result in
a condition where each guard would
be supervising the conduct of about
80 prisoners.
In connection with man power needs
at Lorton, as elsewhere, it is not q
numerical matter only Educated and
trained men are needed, such an au-
thority on prison procedure as San
ford Bates, director of the Federal
Prisons Bureau, sounding the need
for greater Selectivity In the following
words:
Under existing conditions it Is
astonishing to find the large number
of sincere prison wardenS conScien.
tiously devoted to their jobs and the
great proportion Of prison guards who
perform the disagreeable and the
dangerous task with fidelity and loyal
ty, but who have been chosen without
emphasis on the fundamental aspects
Of their duties"
One Physician Serves.
In the matter Of specialists available
at Lorton, an even greater margin
exists between the present and the
ideal. Medical needs are cared for by
q single resident physician, unaided
even by experienced nurses. A visiting
dentist makes periodic trips to the
reformatory for extractionS and tenn
porary work. A single educational d.
rector is attempting to take care Of
that part Of the institutions duties.
DR.. F. w. Hornbaker, chief medical
officer of the institution, has this to
say of shortage Of medical personnel:
Lack Of proper medical officers and
attendants is becoming more apparent
day by day. It is recommended that
another physician and at least three
trained male nurses be employed to
assist In the work at the reformatory
In addition to the physician and
nurses, q pharmacist should be EN-.
ployed in order to take care Of ouI
drugs and prescriptions. Some ar
rangement also should be made where
by the physicians at the institutions
could benefit by consultation with
specialists In psychiatry, otolaryngol'
ogy and opthalmology." .
Even with these officials supplied
however, an interesting comparison
between such an augmented medical
stan and that nov found at the Fed
eral Reformatory Qt Chillicothe, Ohio
might be made. The Chillicothe IN