1. The intent of the Legislature in enacting the County Jail Officers Training Program (CJOTP) was clearly to establish standards for the selection and training of detention officers as soon as possible upon beginning the detention officer's career. This action was for the benefit of all the people of the state in that trained detention officers could better meet the needs of a complex society. Due to that very complex nature of today's society, coupled with the ever-increasing demands for the services of the detention officer professional, the need for competent, capable, and credible detention officers has never been greater. The issue of competence will become a much-debated topic in the nation's courts as the incidence of litigation against detention officers for negligence inevitably will begin to rise. To further exacerbate matters, detention officer agencies, towns, cities, counties and even state levels of government are being named by litigants for negligence. Simply stated, the potential penalty for failure to do the right thing at the right time is so great that the state and local governments cannot afford to ignore the risks. In a large measure, training and standards reduce the risk potential for failure on the part of detention officers. The Board's policy is to ensure that the established standards are enforced to the maximum extent practically possible and that detention officers receive needed training throughout their careers. As a part of ensuring that standards are met, the Board will strive to encourage agencies and detention officers to achieve compliance by utilizing every asset and resource available to the Board.31 Miss. Code. R. 101-5.2
Miss Code Ann. § 45-4-5, 45-4-9, 45-4-13