Alcatraz officers receiving martial arts training.
The guard-to-prisoner ratio on Alcatraz was one to three, which compared favorably with other prisons where there could be twelve or more inmates to every guard. The Alcatraz guards were able to keep extremely close track of each inmate, thanks to the Gun Galleries at each end of the cellblocks and the high frequency of prisoner counts. Because of the small number of inmates on Alcatraz, the guards generally knew each one by name. Salaries for the correctional staff were also better than at most other penitentiaries. In 1934 the average annual salary of a correctional officer at Alcatraz was $3,162, and by the time the prison closed in 1963, salaries for officers had risen to nearly $5,000 a year. Officers at Alcatraz were provided with extensive training, and were considered to be the best in the federal system. After being signed into service on Alcatraz, they would undergo a formalized program to help prepare them for their new position.
A photograph of Captain of the Guard Emil Rychner (standing), during an officer training session.
The shooting range at Alcatraz, which was used for weapons training.
The guard-training curriculum was condensed into an extremely intensive four-week program. The classes covered self-defense skills, aggressive Judo as well as defensive maneuvers. Officers also were expected to qualify with the various firearms used at the secure posts. They would learn how to operate the cell mechanisms and became versed in the rules and regulations governing the prison. Furthermore, officers were trained in basic psychology, including role-playing techniques for deescalating potential riot situations and identification of unusual behavioral patterns. Inmates frequently made contraband weapons that could put the unarmed officers assigned to inmate areas at significant risk. As an additional precaution, officers would learn the language of the underground prison code and the importance of not getting too friendly with the inmates. The officers were expected to remain firm, and to enforce the regulations to the letter.
Warden Johnston and Attorney General Sanford Bates created a set of rigid guiding principles under which the prison would operate, and the first of these was that no prisoner would be directly sentenced to Alcatraz from the courts. Instead, wardens from the various federal penitentiaries were polled and permitted to send their most incorrigible inmates to The Rock. They chose inmates with histories of unmanageable behavior and escape attempts, but they also sent high-profile inmates who were receiving privileges because of their status and notoriety. Assistant Director of the Bureau of Prisons James V. Bennett later commented, “In a sense, I was a talent scout for Alcatraz. One of my jobs was to review the records of all the men in the various federal prisons and decide who would be sent to the Rock.” Inmates would be required to earn their way back to another federal institution before they could be considered for parole. Those who sought an attorney to represent them while incarcerated at Alcatraz would have to do so by direct request to the U.S. Attorney General. All privileges would be limited, and no inmate, regardless of his public stature, would be extended special entitlements.
Visitation and Inmate Rights
Another training photograph with Associate Warden Arthur Dollison seated in the center, and Warden Paul Madigan seated on the far right.
The visiting area, called Peekin’ Place by inmates because they were only allowed to talk with visitors through small bulletproof glass portals. The visiting area was located next to the main prison entrance. The barred gate on the right was the access gate to the stairway leading to the prison Chapel.
Bureau officials are seen here posing as visitors seated in the visitors’ gallery. No physical contact was allowed between family visitors and inmates for any reason.
An inmate talking with family members in the visiting area, using a hands-free intercom.
A correctional officer sitting at the desk in the inmate visiting area.
Conversations were monitored by prison officers, and the visit was immediately ended if an inmate violated the prison rules and regulations pertaining to visits.
Inmates had to earn visitation rights, but no visits would be allowed for the first three months of their residence on Alcatraz. The warden would personally approve all requests and only one visit, per month, per inmate would be permitted. The visitor was required to be a spouse or blood relative, and would be allotted two hours. Visitors were not allowed any physical contact with the inmate, so there would be no opportunity for a visitor to pass any form of contraband. All visitors were conducted through a two-inch-thick bulletproof squared porthole, via a telephone intercom that was monitored by a correctional officer. Any discussion of current events, topics specific to the prison or other inmates, or anything that could have a potential link to crime would be forbidden. An inmate or visitor who violated this rule would immediately be cut off and the visit terminated. For inmates with relatives traveling from outside California, the Warden would sometimes allow consecutive visits (i.e., January 31st and February 1 st).
Inmates were given restricted access to the prison library, but no newspapers, radios, or other non-approved reading materials would be allowed. Mail service was considered a privilege, and all letters, both in-coming and out-going, were to be screened, censored, and typewritten. Work was also assigned as a privilege and not a right. Consideration for work assignments would be based on an inmate's conduct record.
Each prisoner was assigned his own cell and allotted only the basic necessities, such as food, water, clothing, and medical & dental care. Inmate Willie Radkay (who occupied a cell next to Machine Gun Kelly at Alcatraz), later indicated during an interview that having your own cell was a great advantage over other federal prisons. When inmates lived in separate cells, the chances of being sexually violated were reduced, and the privacy afforded was also a cherished benefit. Personal property was generally limited to a few photographs, and the cells were subject to meticulous inspections that were frequent, random and unannounced.
The inmates’ contact with the outside world was completely cut off. Convicted spy Morton Sobell stated that the rules at Alcatraz were so stringent that inmates were never allowed to explore the cellhouse on their own. They would be marched from one location to another, always in a regulated manner. The routine was unyielding, day after day, year after year, and even on most holidays. As quickly as a right was awarded for good behavior, it could be taken away for the slightest infraction. Johnston would tell the press on opening day: “The essence of Alcatraz is a maximum security prison, with minimum privileges”.
Transition to a Civilian Prison
When the Military evacuated the island on June 19, 1934, they left behind thirty-two hard-edged prisoners to serve out their sentences on Alcatraz. The remaining military inmates were assigned Alcatraz numbers alphabetically with Frank Bolt as 01-AZ. These men later became resentful of being imprisoned with what the media had publicized as America’s worst criminals. There was a thread of dissention among these inmates, who thought that they should be released to more lenient institutions. The first civilian to be held at Alcatraz was Frederick Grant White, who arrived on July 13, 1934 from McNeil Island. The next civilian inmate had an interesting connection to the island prison. Robert Bradford Moxon had once served at Alcatraz as a soldier. Ironically, after being discharged, he was arrested on charges of forgery and sent back to serve out his sentence on the Rock, arriving on August 2, 1934.