I worked in corrections for our Sheriff's dept. before returning and gettin my LE cert. I was also a training officer for the newbies.
Every jail set up is different, so I will try and give general things that should apply to all jails. My experience comes from a "direct supervision" jail setup. That means I was locked in a large room with 27 two man cells, and 2 one man cells for the inmate workers (56 total inmates). They were out and about 14 hrs a day with lockdown times being from 10pm to 7am and 2-3pm for afternoon headcount and shift change. I also worked in EVERY area of the jail from book-in to administration segregation, and all of the general population housing units (low risk to high risk). Also, there is a difference in how jails and prisons run. In jails they are there for only a year at the most (some states 2) and then they are out or go to prison. Many of them have pending cases and have that hope they will beat it or get let out, so they don't want to get into more trouble while there. Prisoners, many times don't have anything to lose and are more apt to use violence because they don't care and don't have that hope that they did in jail (yes, I know this is a big generalization but holds true alot of the time).
First, COMMUNICATION IS YOUR FRIEND!!!! When you are by yourself dealing with an angry inmate, learn to talk with him without resorting to cussing at him or calling him names. You'd be surprised how many people you can "talk down" just by talking to them like their a real person. At our facility the majority of deputies who were assaulted in the housing units were ones who thought their crap didn't stink and PURPOSELY would screw with the inmates because they could and thought it was funny. I really enjoyed the book "Verbal Judo" it talks about ways to talk with someone who isn't cooperative, but can be convinced if talked to properly. It has a lot of good ideas that work and make your life easier.
Second, AWARENESS. You can't always keep your back to the exit or keep yourself between the exit and the inmates, especially in a direct supervisions setting. Learn to use windows and other reflective surfaces to see behind you. If you do have to stop and talk with an inmate position yourself accordingly so someone can't sneak up behind you. Also, as part of awareness, listen to your gut. If something doesn't feel right, trust it.
Third, RADIO COMMUNICATION. Depending on how your setup you should have a radio on. If you have a situation you aren't sure of, get someone else there to help out. Someone should ALWAYS know where you are at and what you are doing. We have people whose job is to monitor the cameras as an eye in the sky.
Fourth, APPEARANCE. The inmates have nothing better to do than to watch you and how you carry yourself everyday. They will notice that you polished your boots, got a haircut, wore a watch 3 days and then didn't, almost anything. You want to look professional and carry yourself in a way that shows you care about yourself and your job. If you look slobby and casual they will relate to you in that way.
Fifth, KNOWLEDGE. This is very important. Know all of your policies and procedures, what you can or can't do. In our facility we issue our own discipline up to a 96 hr. lockdown without having to get a sgt. approval, so you had better know the inmate handbook. They will, and they will try to find every loophole possible or try to change it just a little to get something over on you. Also, learn what types of scams the inmates try and pull after a short time you aren't going to see many new ones just a lot of variations on the old. Learn what inmates will tell you what's going on and get info from them (still take it with a grain of salt). This kind of ties in with the first one, but you also need to learn when talking ISN'T going to work and it's time to go hands on.
This also goes with learning the inmates, be aware of what they are charged with (trust no one no matter what) and when they have big court dates, this can affect their behavior. Also, their normal demeanor/behavior, is it drastically different? Make note, and try to find out why.
Learn what local gangs you have in your area, what their signs, colors, symbols are etc. Learn some of the hand gestures to know when/what they are communicating. Remember, there is no such thing as a "wannabe" only "gonnabes" and jails are great places to recruit new members.
Sixth, CONSISTANCY. Always deal with inmates in a firm, fair and consistant manner. If they know how you run your shift and what to expect it curbs ALOT of the problems. They will still try and push it, but if they know how you deal with issues and rule violations it won't cause issues like it will if one day you act like you are their best friend and let them do whatever, and then the next day come in like Judge Dredd.
Seventh, KEEP WORK AND HOME SEPERATED. It will cause more problems than you can imagine if you can't do this. I have worked with people who would go out of their way to be nice to inmates and talk to them and then when they dealt with their own family had nothing left and were rude and mean to them. Also, I have seen deputies have a bad day at home and come in and take it out on the inmates. This also goes back to #6, if your mode is up and down and they don't know what to expect from you it will cause problems.
I know there is probably TONS more I could share, but those were the things that came to mind in no particular order. Physical techniques are easy to learn and don't require much time to learn. It's the mental game that you have to learn that will make you a great deputy/CO.
If you do have more specifics let me know and I will try to answer them. I'm no expert by any means, but every little bit of knowledge helps. Oh, one last thing...every inmate will do one of three things in jail. 1) Become medically incapacitated in some manner. 2) Finds God/Allah, etc. 3) Suddenly becomes a fitness buff.
