| Justice Prisoner And Alien Transportation System |
Article Index for Justice |
Website Links For Justice |
Information AboutJustice Prisoner And Alien Transportation System |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT JUSTICE PRISONER AND ALIEN TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM | |
| airlines of the united states | |
| united states department of justice agencies | |
| 1995 establishments | |
|
The Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System ('''JPATS''') is a or U.S. Immigration And Customs Enforcement ; its services are also available to Military and state law enforcement. The agency was formed in ; Mesa, Arizona ; Alexandria, Louisiana ; and the Virgin Islands . Additionally, the Federal Transfer Center at Oklahoma City's Will Rogers World Airport was built especially to facilitate prisoner transport on JPATS. Usually, the Airline employs Boeing 727 or Boeing/McDonnell-Douglas MD-83 aircraft to transport convicts and illegal residents of the United States for extradition. Smaller jets and turboprops are also used to transport individual prisoners who are considered particularly dangerous. According to the Boeing Jetliner Databook, JPATS operates 4 Boeing 727s. JPATS also operates an additional 4 MD-83 aircraft. JPATS aircraft use the ICAO designator DOJ with the callsign '''JUSTICE''' Some of the leased JPATS aircraft are also flown for Pace Airlines under the name of Vacation Express. For example, the aircraft with registration N375PA can be seen in at Airliners.Net in both liveries. Immediately after the September 11, 2001 Attacks , when the Federal Aviation Administration grounded all civilian air service, JPATS was the only non-military air service allowed to continue flying in U.S. airspace. HISTORY AND EVOLUTION Prior to the existence of JPATS, the transport of an inmate over long distances was complicated. The process required an escort by two U.S. Marshals, accompanying the inmate on a regular passenger airplane. This posed numerous problems, including danger to civilians, a backlog of marshals needed to perform such escorts, and a high taxpayer expense. In the early 1970s, the U.S. Marshals were offered a donation from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of a Boeing 727 aircraft. Though no purpose was originally designated for this plane, one official had the idea of using it for the mass transportation of federal inmates. Hence, the new ''Con Air'' was formed. The airline ultimately improved the efficiency of inmate transportation and made the sight of a shackled commercial airline passenger a thing of the past. For a plane full of 200 inmates, only 12 marshals are required. ''CON AIR'' TODAY Today's JPATS fleet has expanded to eight full-sized aircraft. These planes fly a large series of routes that serve nearly every major U.S. city. The schedule of ''Con Air'' is kept secret from the public, and is known only to those directly involved in its operation. Even passengers scheduled to fly are given no advance notice of their flight and are taken by surprise. There are several benefits of keeping the schedule secret.
Passengers aboard a Con Air flight are restrained by handcuffs as well as ankle and waist chains which are double or even triple locked. Those who pose additional danger may be given additional restraints, such as reinforced mittens that completely isolate and almost completely immobilize the hands and face masks to prevent biting and spitting. All passengers are held by a code of total silence, and are only permitted to speak to marshals as necessary. Flight and seating arrangements are made carefully with the intent to separate inmates who may be of conflict to one another. Members of rival prison gangs may be transported on different days to help reduce the risk of an in-flight incident. Unlike in penitentiaries, male and female inmates fly together on the same planes. Unlike most other modes of transport, prisoners are not physically restrained to the seats due to FAA safety regulations. When a ''Con Air'' flight lands, passengers are greeted by a line of marshals with their guns drawn. REFERENCES IN POP CULTURE
EXTERNAL LINKS |
|
|