Correctional Officers

Correctional Officers. Alcatraz Landing. An Evolving Prison System , World history is replete with forms of corporal punishment such as maiming and even death for slight infractions of the law. In the late 1700s, the United States began to adopt a system based on the Quaker philosophy of penitence that advocated reform rather than physical punishment. The new system enforced isolation and silence so that prisoners could achieve personal transformation. , By the 1900s, U.S. penitentiaries had moved away from isolation and towards a system that included group meals, work, recreation, and eventually rehabilitation programs., U.S. Penitentiary , United States Penitentiary Alcatraz Island opened in 1934 and quickly developed a reputation as the most dreaded maximum-security prison in the United States. The government initially transferred its most experienced guards to this prison, which would hold over 1,500 “desperate and irredeemable types of individuals” over its 29-year history., The prison closed in 1963 due to high costs and crumbling facilities., Escape Attempts , Despite 24-hour surveillance, bone-chilling water, and rapid currents, thirty-six inmates attempted to escape from The Rock. These men plotted to break out using a variety of tools and tactics, some escaping from outside work areas and others from within the cellblocks., During fourteen separate escape attempts, seven prisoners were shot and killed; two drowned; two made it to land but were immediately recaptured; and five disappeared. These five men are presumed dead, though some believe they survived., ”It looks like Alcatraz has got me licked.” , - AL Capone, inmate