The 1954 Ohio Penitentiary Riot
On October 31, 1952, at about 4:40 P.M., a riot broke out at the Ohio Penitentiary which required direct Patrol involvement for three and one-half months.
The uprising started spontaneously when an inmate eating in the messhall began tapping his cup on the table, which was the signal for more coffee. A few more inmates joined in and the pounding became steadily louder. As mess hall guards attempted to regain control, the pounding increased to general bedlam. Warden R. W. Alvis, a former patrolman was standing about 100 yards away in the prison yard and heard the disturbance. He walked to the mess hall, stood on a table, and attempted to quiet the disorder -- with some success. At that point a second mess hall broke into disorder. Warden Alvis entered the second mess hall and was met with inmates throwing trays and utensils, and breaking up equipment. He then quickly made his way to his office and alerted police and the National Guard.
Many inmates sought places of refuge, returned to their cells, or found open areas and just sat down. But others formed gangs and roved the cellblocks and dormitories, breaking locks on cells and looting the dispensary of drugs.
The earliest responding patrolmen arrived soon enough to take control of the powerhouse and power supply before gangs of prisoners could. Columbus Police arrived shortly after -- fortunately, many extras were on duty or on call for the usually busy Halloween night. As the disorder unfolded, a number of buildings were set ablaze -- meaning the first duty of the assembling force was to protect the brave firefighters and their equipment.
By the time sufficient police were on the scene for a roundup of inmates several buildings were burning out of control (although others had been extinguished) and inmates were scattered throughout the 19-acre prison yard. Police action began as officers drove the convicts into the yard and then, as ample forces arrived at the scene, back into the cell blocks.
By 10:00 P.M., all convicts, except for a few stragglers, were in their dormitories and cell blocks. Unfortunately, in cell blocks G, H, I, and K, most locks and junction gates had been destroyed, necessitating Patrol presence within the blocks to hold the convicts at bay.
With the inmates back in their cell blocks, municipal and county officers were withdrawn, leaving a presence of 270 highway patrolmen and a support unit of Ohio National Guard troops.
For four days, the 1,600 inmates in blocks G, H, I, and K raged out of control in the cell blocks. On November 3, a "starve or freeze out" policy was put in to effect, causing a number of already hungry inmates to drop "kites" with written offers to surrender. Tensions in the cell blocks began to mount and on November 4, "things got hot" as one member put it, as inmates began fighting and hurling heavy objects onto the patrolmen below. After issuing several warnings for convicts to cease, shots were fired, killing one prisoner and injuring four others. After the shootings, inmates were ready to surrender. Many lessons were learned in the Halloween riot — such as the need for advance knowledge of individual institutions, the effectiveness of total involvement of all agency commanders, proper deployment of squads during sieges lasting several days, and the value of still and motion picture taking to the subsequent investigation. The riot also gave Patrol personnel first-hand experience in handling a mob, allowing them to observe how such a body acts and the important role of agitators. These lessons would be valuable when the division returned to put down another riot in 1968.