heightened awareness of crime brought on by gangland violence, the effects of prohibition, and the presence of organized crime. In the public's mind, the country was in the midst of a "crime wave." Although the actual increase in crime was relatively small, a number of sensational crimes during the 1930s significantly altered the public's feelings of personal security. These crimes included the Lindbergh kidnapping and the notoriety of "gangsters" such as John Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde, and the Ma Barker gang. The public's perception prompted a corresponding response from government officials: "The short-term panics about crime waves reinforced long-term trends in the administration of criminal justice. The fear of crime fostered a demand for greater efficiency in apprehending, convicting and punishing criminals."
The public's demands for crime control led to the federal government's acquisition of Alcatraz as a prison in 1933. The first warden was James A. Johnson, who oversaw the transition of the island from a military operation to a maximum security penitentiary. Johnson served as warden from 1934 to 1948. The first order of business was modification of the existing physical plant and construction of new facilities. Among the improvements made were tool-proof cell fronts, additional guard towers and barbed wire, tear gas canisters in the dining rooms, and automatic gun detectors. As the work progressed, Warden Johnson turned his attention to the procurement of qualified personnel. He insisted on maintaining a ratio of one guard for every three prisoners. Johnson's goal was that no prisoner should ever be left unattended. In 1934, a year after the island was acquired, Warden Johnson and his staff welcomed Alcatraz's first inmates.
Alcatraz only accepted hardened criminals, "the most desperate irredeemable type." Prisoners did not come to the island straight from the courts. They were all transferees from ...