Reported by Matt Long, SCRN
Charleston corrections officers will have a new way of dealing with unruly prisoners. In a demonstration Friday at the Charleston County Detention Center, a private contractor showed off ten guards newly trained as the Special Operations Group or S-O-G for short. These officers are equipped with helmets, a Kevlar vest, and a shotgun that can shoot a variety of different rubber bullets that have varying levels of pain.
The goal of the S.O.G. is to change how officers deal with uncooperative inmates. In the past,a team of five officers would barge into the cell behind a shield and take the inmate down which U.S. Corrections said often resulted in injuries. Officers from the new team are now trained to diffuse the situation without entering the cell.
The officer first tries talking to the inmate. If that fails, they turn on a blinding light and laser pointer. If the inmate continues struggling the guard can fire an assortment of rubber rounds that inflict pain on the pirsoner until they stop.
