Corrections Connection, an online news network for prison guards and other corrections professionals, is critical of Utah and Maryland security policies that led to the deaths of two officers.

A little more than a year ago, Stephen Anderson, a 22-year veteran of the Utah Department of Corrections, allegedly was shot by swastika-decorated inmate Curtis Allgier at University Hospital. Allgier, right, then high jacked a car with the officer's gun, but was later captured with the aid of a civilian at a fast-food restaurant.

In many states, including Massachusetts, two officers escort inmates on trips outside prison. One officer is armed but never comes within reach of the prisoner. Only the unarmed officer has direct interaction with the inmate. Says Correction Connection:

With gangs rampant, transporting inmates outside of an institution had become more dangerous then ever. Why on earth did the [corrections departments] in Maryland and Utah provide for only one officer on these details? Was it a staffing issue, a cost cutting measure, failed policies or just negligence?

We will probably never know because in both instances any review is more likely to be geared towards covering the department’s respective backsides than uncovering their glaring failure to properly staff outside details.