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Care and custody, public safety and security are the hallmarks of correctional facilities. The primary asset associated with a correctional facility is its personnel. An unfortunate aspect of reality is that human behavior is subject to individual failings that have the ability to Inflict adverse consequences on any enterprise. In any organization, one common security mishap that may be attributed to personnel is insider threat. Recent history clearly establishes that no organization is immune to this threat. Administrators and managers of a correctional facility must always be aware and concerned with insider threat during their normal operational activities.
Correctional institutions are essentially enterprises that revolve around the day-to-day interaction of those charged with the care and custody of the incarcerated population. Human behavior, with its associated strengths and weaknesses, assures that a small percentage of individuals within organizations will abrogate their responsibilities and violate the provisions of trust they have sworn to uphold. Some correctional facilities will inevitably face the trauma of an insider gone bad; this article presents information that may prove useful in mitigating insider threat.
Three ingredients are typically present when insider abuse occurs - motive, opportunity and a specific triggering event(s). Motives vary but typically Involve a sense of bitterness or dissatisfaction, or a desire for revenge, financial gain or increased recognition. The opportunity for insider abuse is obvious; an insider must have access to sensitive information or the power to influence the environment in a positive manner for those incarcerated. In a correctional environment, the susceptibility of employees to receive bribes by or on behalf of inmates has historical precedent and requires constant vigilance and training as a deterrent. The coalescing of motive and opportunity must be triggered, and this occurs when an event ignites the underlying tensions that push an employee beyond the threshold of acceptable behavior. In situations where motive, opportunity and triggering events converge, insider betrayal occurs.
A 2005 insider threat study sponsored by the United States Secret Service developed data pertaining to the specific event or series of events that triggered the insiders' actions.1 In 9 percent of the cases, work related events such as termination, disputes with a current employer, and employment related demotion or transfer were the specific triggering event resulting in the insiders'...