Originally Posted by letiole
Yes, I've been on a flight from Hawaii to the mainland with prisoners on board (as I suspect many of us have whether we knew it or not). The prisoners board first and deplane last. They sit in the last row of coach with armed but non-uniformed police officers. I don't know if I can remember all the specifics, but I believe they have the window seat and are cuffed to the arm rest. There are more officers on board than prisoners so when one needs to use the lav one officer inspects the lav, then the prisoner goes, then an officer again inspects. You wouldn't have known prisoners were on this flight had you not been watching the ground activity in advance (and gotten to see the paperwork on this, which my husband was privy to). The vehicle transporting the prisoners pulled up to the plane prior to everyone else boarding and the prisoners boarded via stairs, while other passengers were in the gate area above and used the jetway. The prisoners were dressed casually as were the officers.
This is a pretty accurate description of the process. I did several extradition transports back in my younger days before I retired. Generally, the prisoner is dressed with long sleeves and you probably won't notice the cuffs unless you are looking closely. They are always preboarded and always sit in the back in a window seat with an officer beside on the aisle and one behind if it is 2 across seating. Although I never flew where the side section was 3 across, I suspect the prisoner would then be in the middle, with the officers on either side. We usually used an ankle holster back then to minimize the chance of being seen to be armed.
All that was long before 9/11, so procedures are probably different now for clearing security. Back then, we just signed in at check-in and were escorted around the screening point.
JR