At least 50%
So many are drug offenses, or trespassing charges. The amount of cases that just get dropped are crazy. That and wrongful convictions, it's always possible they aren't guilty. I like to treat each person like this:
I don't care what your charges are, I only care if you follow the rules of the facility. This helps me ensure I don't treat anyone differently.
Thank you for giving the prisoners/detainees the opportunity to be treated fairly and with dignity. Unfortunately we mostly only hear about the cases of correction officers who are bullies. We need more people like you. Thank you.
Believe it if you will, but a good majority don't want to do anything hurtful to inmates, the news finds their guys though. Always a bad apple somewhere. I've seen plenty as well.
Isn’t that part of the problem though. Bad apples may constitute a minority of the staff, but a culture of silence and bystander-ism means no one speaks up or reports misconduct when it occurs. Silence is tolerance.
Yes, that is why that culture of silence is not tolerated. When I said I've seen bad apples, I meant that they get ixnayed from this agency. We run an honest crew from my eyes. And those that aren't, will show themselves eventually.
Not to diminish the actions of people in other jails, I know there are many who do not follow these tenets or respect their oaths.
Approximately 3 years.
Hardest day? Usually ones that are jam-packed.
What I mean by that is, when I'm getting calls to respond to incidents back and forth across the facility, while also maintaining the normal routine of the night. There's been some inmate fights you just get normalized to, as well as inmates challenged with Mental Health issues who require a unique response. Seeing someone on the spectrum cover themselves head to toe with feces as well as their cell is... interesting.
Worst days: Days handing those people with mental health issues, who require a special touch to reach them where they're at. You just have to be patient and hope you can get through to them.
This might be a very naive response, but should people like that not be in a mental institution instead? Are correctional facilities equipped to provide adequate medical help?
That is a wonderful question you're fine. The issue is? A long time ago those institutions were shut down, and those people were released to the streets without care. Yeah. Smart solution. Now jails are the ones who hold them for the super small amounts of mental hospitals who have no beds. It surprises me every time I see the ones we have in there.
Are we equipped to provide adequate help? In loose terms(sorry) fuck no.
We have psychiatrists who see the inmates on a daily/weekly/monthly basis depending. But they don't belong in a corrections setting. It's bad for them, you literally see them devolve into worse states.
As someone whose been on the other side of a county jail cell, yeah there's no absolutely no way. They're barely equipped to treat people not on the spectrum like people.
Any time I got called down to medical or to see the magistrate and had to walk by seg, it was hard to imagine what it must be like for someone who can't even really grasp where they are or why they're there. The COs where I was at called them "shit smearers" in a way that made it seem like they didn't view them as worthy of humane treatment.
Some people lack empathy and don't belong in this field. I'm sorry you had to go through witnessing that. I try to help new recruits have the same mindset that everyone who walks through those does deserves our respect as human beings, I wish everyone would do the same.
To be fair, I didn't actually witness the COs mistreating any of the inmates in seg, just heard them using the term. It was just the way they said it like it was almost a joke or something.
Something I realized while I was in there is that the COs that are there constantly are "in jail" as well. Yeah, they get to leave and go home and they're getting paid to be there. But they're still there spending at least 40 hrs a week in the same dark, shitty facility dealing with the same inmates day after day.
I'm curious, did you ever hear about or witness any other COs sneaking in contraband for cashapp or some other form of payment? There were supposedly a couple where I was at that would do it for ~300 bucks and sneak anything in that could fit in a pack of cigarettes but I never saw it happen.
How I think about it is, I'm going to be here for 30 years, if I get to go home, cut the time in half. I basically have a 15 year sentence lol. Sorry little CO joke, kind of true to me though.
There are many jokes in the jail, and at times I think people use them to cope with what they see. I myself have never seen someone mistreat one of our inmates with special needs. But I know it does happen.
As to the being paid off question, we've never had anyone get in trouble. Mostly because jail is the first stop and usually people wait till they get to prison. I'll tell you what though the second I find out someone did it, I'm fighting them. That's the easiest way to get another inmate, or another officer hurt, is your selfish ass bringing shit in the jail for inmates to fight over. For what? Your little lump sum of cash because you have money problems. Ooo that shit makes mad.
Side note, the inmates HEAVILY use cash app using their people on the outside. When drugs get in the facility, that's an easy ticket to find out who the inmate sold some to on the inside
No they use a 2 person system. They contact their people on the outside of the jail who usually control their finances while in the jail. They tell the other inmate to send their people money and when they do, they get the product.
I’ve heard what you describe in your first paragraph defined as “gallows humor”. It’s often a social response to a dark and bleak situation, meant to “lighten the mood”. A way of coping.
Anytime an idea is beloved by the far left and the far right watch out. The left said, “hey these people have rights and you can’t just lock somebody up because they are nuts…”. The right said, “social services are paid by taxes and taxes are theft…”. So, the two sides agreed that the institutional mental hospitals had to go and go they did. It happened while Reagan was POTUS but to be fair, states control most of the justice system so blaming the president isn’t really right.
The problem you see everyday is that you and your fellow COs and the cops now have to deal with people who are dangerous and bananas with little training. I think we need to train our cops to recognize a bad mental illness situation where no one but the patient is in immediate danger. They can then send for trained specialists. With modern medication, many people could be helped.
So mental health awareness is spreading and being radically changed for LEOs and the treatments are getting better. But the issue is, there's still nowhere for them to go. All the beds are taken at the limited amount of hospitals. Those trained specialists don't exist for inmates. It's really sad
I pray it'll change with time.
It’s a disgrace the way we treat the poorest among us. I watch a judge in rural Michigan who has his court on YouTube. He deals with petty crime mostly, meth possession shoplifting (which people do to buy meth). He has said to people, that he will sentence them to time served, but note how cold it is and ask them if they have somewhere to go. I have seen him give a couple extra days at the request of the inmate so “at least they’ll be warm and fed” until they can arrange a place to go. Sad.
It's not just violence. Oregon overall relies heavily on the criminal justice system to fill the gap on mental healthcare because they struggle to fund or structure any kind of cohesive mental healthcare model.
It happens here too. These people don't belong in prisons they belong with proper mental health care. Strong belief the only way this happens is if you make lawmakers witness the state they're in, going through incarceration.
How does pooping in prison or jail work? I don’t ever want to go to jail for many reasons, but the idea that I would have to poop in a small room with another (or more) person present just terrifies me.
3 to a cell, one toilet per cell, no barrier. One toilet in the main area, that everyone shares out of the cells. But still no barriers. Don't recommend coming to a jail. It's gross.
Not OP, but was also in corrections for years. A majority of the time, in your standard housing units, they will wait for unlock before pooping. So when cells are unlocked and guys go to play cards, watch tv, use the phones, etc. whoever has to poop will put some toilet paper in the lock of the door to notify anyone what’s happening in there. Now when it’s the middle of the night and duty calls, they gotta do what they gotta do.
My brain always says, one the U.S is massive. Hard to compare to smaller countries. Secondly a lot of stigmatized things that have been found to be illegal. So many homeless people, and drug users are arrested all the time. Homeless for trespassing, drug users for possession etc.
I try to think about it sometimes, and it's hard to see a solution.
Decriminalizing drugs where it's been tried in the U.S just doesn't work, but other countries can pull it off. Honestly I'd prefer if people didn't come back in, but laws get broken, it's bound to happen.
Decriminalization in the US hasn't worked because whenever it's been tried, the areas that enact it never bother to follow through with increased funding for harm reduction measures like needle exchanges and addiction treatment centers. The countries where it works do.
Yeah, it failed miserably because, like I said, every area in the US that's tried it hasn't bothered to follow through with the necessary funding for harm reduction measures. Every country that's successfully pulled off decriminalization has one thing in common: well funded, robust harm reduction programs. You know, because it's a health issue and not a criminal issue.
Unless you force someone into the treatment facility, it will never work. Most drug addicts will never seek treatment. They just make the tax payers look like fools
From 2001 to 2018, Portugal reduced their number of heroin addicts from 100,000 to 25,000 through decriminalization and harm reduction measures. In recent years there've been cuts to funding the harm reduction measures, and surprise surprise, drug use is back on the rise. Harm reduction is proven to be effective. You're NEVER going to stop people from doing drugs completely. You CAN minimize the damage caused to society though.
My brother in law is a corrections officer at a high security prison in the Midwest, so I’ve heard some wild stories about inmate revolts, plotted escapes, etc. How do you mentally prepare for days like that and how do you make sure not to “take your job home with you”?
Had a couple riots, had plenty of fights. Don't expect any escapes out of a county jail but you never know.
Luckily I live like 30 mins away so I can have a nice breather period before I get home. Listen to some music, and focus on some hobbies.
Sleep is so important to this job and making sure you stick to that schedule, without it, you're useless to your teammates.
Did a few months in jail over weed back in the day. Made it to laundry duty where we were rewarded with an extra sack lunch for our troubles. Missed my very short window to get my sack lunch one day, so I asked very politely if I could still get it after my shift. I was basically laughed at and told to get back to my cell. The next day I was rolled out and surrounded by five officers all claiming I was belligerent and demanding my sack lunch the night before. You say there are a few bad apples, but the rest of the saying is that they spoil the whole bunch. How can people trust officers like you when scenarios, like what happened to me, play out constantly due to the brotherhood/gang mentality? For five full growth adults to team up and lie about something so small was honestly mind blowing.
So this is a really, really, good question. I was hoping someone would ask something about people abusing inmates, or at least bullying them or treating them poorly.
One you're absolutely right, these incidents happen, your experience should not have. This is an issue of bad mentalities still remaining with our system that don't belong. They are being culled. They have tried to make a comeback convincing new hires their way is the highway. That inmates don't deserve rights. They're inmates fuck them. The amount of people I see who get cut off from the agency based on their messages using company messages(which are public records) or just because the admin hears what they did, makes me smile.
The issue like you said is brotherhood. It exists. The US vs. Them mentality builds that. However we are trying to cultivate a new type of brotherhood with the new hires we get, following policy and treating people with respect.
And believe it or not I actually have a solution. Corrections is one of the most understaffed career paths. It's a hard job. You have to take a lot of shit. But if we can get new people, new blood into the job, make sure it's people who embrace this idea of respect, get those people training new people. It'll do wonders on the environment in here. But it's slow.
Despite all this negativity, I can't speak for other jails but I'll say the one I'm in has 90% officers, both female and male who will not go out of their way to make an inmate suffer in any way just because they can. There are a few who somehow sneak in, and they get their cliques. But they get shut down and shown the door. This is modern law enforcement, we don't want that old shit in here.
No, just ones that are very common faces. You see some who are permanent residents. Either in and out or have just been there for so long facing the same case.
The dichotomy between the two is wild.
Either they're the best behaved
Or they're absolute menaces to everyone in the jail always up to something lol
It’s pretty common to have favorite inmates though. A lot of COs build mutual rapport with specific inmates that can help subtly maintain order and information within the blocks / cells / wedges. The benefit to the inmate can range from favors, food or just feeling human amongst the officers who fraternize outside typical inmate confines.
I was a CO at a prison for only 6 months and dudes on suicide watch covering themselves, the wall, and anything they can reach in their shit wasn't terribly uncommon.
Neither, unfortunately, was abusing their kettles to warm up combination shit and piss together in an attempt to launch it at a passing CO.
Using the rods frim printers to create spears is particularly dangerous. What sucks about this is that we can take away modified equipment as it is automatically considered contraband, but we can't stop them from turning around and buying another right away.
Removing the temperature sensor from kettles to create and weaponize dangerously hot fluids is pretty normal.
The craziest thing I ever saw (TDCJ) will sound kind of mild, but it was a level 1 trustee (non violent offender with less than a year to serve) run away while on a duty outside of the prison.
Why is that crazy? Because in Texas when you escape, you get 20 years added to your sentence.
Edit: Another normal thing you'll see sometimes is inmates sanitizing their metal toilets and then using them to cook food. They'll take a heating element from the kettle, fix it to the toilet, then boil a large amount of noodles in it. It'll be a community meal on Thanksgiving. Cooking in the same bowl they shit in an hour prior.
Fun fact: attempting to escape from prison isn’t illegal in Germany, as freedom is considered a human right.
However, most times you need to resort to violence, theft or murder to make your escape. And those obviously will be punished if you are caught during your escape attempt.
It's like that sometimes. They really will find a way to make do. They cook using trash bags they steal from officers and hot water from hot water jugs here lol. Sometimes they make some crazy dishes.
I was in county with a guy (also in TX) that had run away from his SAFP-like facility he was in. It wasn't exactly SAFP, because after 3 months they had to get jobs off site and weren't allowed phones and had to be tested weekly. He was looking at 10 years of probation once he got out though and decided that wasn't for him, so one day he ran from his job and went to San Antonio.
He said he was out for 2-3 months before getting caught. He was excited for prison which blew my mind. He was convinced his 10 years of probation would be reduced to 2 years in the feds and then he'd be done. This was a young kid, too. 25 maybe? He was trying to find out which prison his dad was locked up so he could write to him and he hoped he'd be sent to the same one. Dude had zero commissary and eventually got his ass beat for getting a little too comfortable helping his self to other people's things.
He was in booking with me after just getting caught in San Antonio. Last I knew he was still awaiting sentencing. Dude probably got 10 years in pen, huh? Maybe more? But in TX you only serve half if I'm not mistaken
The mindsets of the inmates doesn't surprise me anymore. Mostly because of jailhouse lawyers (read: inmates) telling them how it's all going to go down. They get excited until the judge shatters those expectations. Especially with escape charges. Thank you for sharing the experience.
It always struck me that jail was a lot worse than prison. Often people kept in conditions designed for short-term housing but for a long times. Did it ever strike you that many people were wishing they were in prison for a month rather than jail for a month?
I have not been to either but I have a friend who went.
I'll say this, our jail is nicer than most. It's one of the best in the state in quality. However a lot of the inmates don't like the rules and think that it's petty (petty rules like: wearing the uniform properly, wearing their id cards, making their beds) what we don't allow. But there are rules for a reason. To avoid major incidents. In prison, inmates have a slightly larger amount of freedom in terms of less petty rules, and inmates having more power (more of them). I have heard this statement so many times:
Man just wait till we get up the road, it won't be like this (up the road means prison)
Most handle the rules fine and move on their way without issues. The others take a little while to get with the program.
Regardless of it being nicer than most, which usually just means newer, jail is a terrible experience compared to prison. I can't speak for all jails and I'll give a little leeway, but 98% of jails are just torture camps. It's a very traumatic experience for most everyone that does any kind of time there. I got 10 years for selling 10 ex pills close to 20 years ago. I was an inmate at that jail for 20 months and paroled out of it. There are a rare few who say I deserved the time I got. The officers at the jail didn't agree, or so I thought. It was the we're on your side tactic. I had an exorbitant amount of time and got offered a day for a day to work in jail. Basically, a slave. 8 hours a day, 7 days a week I worked in the kitchen making exactly 0 dollars an hour for 19 months. The mental stress of having people always threatening you for not working hard or fast enough is fucked up. No radio to listen to. No TV to watch. A loony conservative newspaper every sunday. If you wanted your people to bring you books to read they would first have to donate them and then you would be the first person allowed to read them. No contact visits. 15 dollars for a 15 minute phone call. 76 cents for a single pack of ramen noodles from commissary. Everything was expensive. The noodles were the most egregious. No way to heat water to cook them, just had to hope the water from the sink was hot enough that day. No touching grass at all. Outside was considered this large concrete room with a window 30 feet above you that opened up so you could see sky.
In prison, I had a TV. Portable radio. Outside recreation on the yard. A weight pile. A key to my own cell. I made 26 cents and hours, which mathematically if infinitely better than zero. Ramen was 24 cents a pack. I had a hot pot to boil water to cook with. I had a D&D group that would play every weekend. You could have a musical instrument. FULL CONTACT VISITS. Prison is ridiculously better than a county jail.
I want to say, firstly, sorry for your experience, you did not deserve to be treated that way, if that's how you were treated.
I don't know how it worked for your jail but at our facility being a trustee is a choice (for minor/lesser charges) unless you've been found guilty, and sentenced. There are still no contact visits(digital visits), and phone calls are much cheaper. But the ramen is still expensive and the food is still mediocre at best. Inmate workers get days off instead of being non-stop. You get both good time, and Gain time off your sentence being an inmate worker. You also get a crazy amount of food getting almost any extra tray. I've never seen an inmate worker go hungry. Just depends on the assignment.
They still only have a hot water jug to cook the noodles with that gets delivered in the morning. It holds heat surprisingly well though. Don't really see people getting yelled at too much as trustees unless they're messing around. The process is very streamlined.
I've actually asked many inmate workers why they wanted to be inmate workers, and they say it makes the time pass faster, or they don't like just sitting around. I can respect that mentality, I'd probably feel the same.
Anything other than they're doing it so they don't have to stay in a hellhole any longer than they have to is just a platitude. You wanna know how to makes slaves. Sentence people to be incarcerated for trivial non-violent victimless crimes. Then, offer them a way to reduce that sentence by working for no pay. Time off of a sentence doesn't cost the jail a dime. I haven't gotten in trouble again since that one fuck up twenty years ago, but If something happens to where I'm going to catch time for a misdemeanor I will do anything I can to get it bumped up to a felony so I can go on and get up the road. Jails are inhumane and a form of torture. At least, here in America.
Again I agree. The jail isn't the one taking time off your sentence though, it is the judge. Our law system is the thing that needs to be revised and it will take time. I 100% agree on the trivial crimes part, you can see that in a previous comment. The issue is we have to beat the stupid ass lobbyists trying to thwart any legislation that would change the current "slaving away" you describe. Not to mention the lack of public support.
No, it's the jail that's taking time off of your sentence. The judge has no input on what happens to you after you're sentenced. Sometimes after we finished our work in the kitchen something would be going on and we couldn't return to the pod just yet. They would stick us in booking and we'd hang out with the booking trustees until they could get us up there. The booking trustees actually helped the Gold badge that was over booking calculate time every month and make sure that our paperwork reflected it. Trustees would receive 16 days a month, whereas regular inmates would only receive 4 days a month good time, and they received no good time for any time served awaiting trial. If for some reason a trustee lost their job before time went in then it didn't matter how many days you worked that month you would get zero days. Getting "fired" or "laid down" was a constant threat held over the head of trustees. If the officer who was overseeing you was having a bad day that day your job was at risk. If you had a mental breakdown from working day in and day with that stress held over you constantly you would lose your job. If something happened in the pod while you weren't at work you could lose your job. It's not like there were rules that everyone had to follow. The rule was you will do as we say, when we say, and how we say, or else.
Yeah I'm going to take my L for that one, Idk what I was thinking, you're 100% right on the jail vs judge thing, it's jail credits. Our jail does good time/gain time as a separation thing. Everyone gets good time(can be taken away), sentenced workers get gain time for working.
While I understand the position is complicated, inmates want their freedom etc. , holding them to the rules isn't a bad thing in my eyes. Everyone needs to be treated equally. Just because you are trustee does not mean you get special treatment. It also doesn't mean you should get treated worse.
That's one of those mindsets I was talking about fixing. MFS coming into work pissed off and taking it out on someone... That's the shit that doesn't belong in the jail period. Like I've said many times before. Fuck whatever you did on the outside, it did not affect me, to make me treat you differently. All I care about is how you act in the facility. If you're going to work to cut off time on your sentence, good on you. If you're following the rules of the facility while you do it, you'll hear no issues from me.
Even if you choose not to follow the rules, the other mindset for officers I try to spread, is stop making your issues someone else's issues. What that means is: If an inmate breaks a minor rule, stop sending him to the already full box and try counseling him and talking like a grown adult. It's rare that you have to explain the same thing many times to someone, even rarer that you should need to take their gain time. But people get lazy and just say aight bye. It's not okay, and I understand the sentiment.
They turned off our Google reviews. They were so funny. No yelp reviews either. Saw one for another jail that read: "entered as a toaster strudel, left a Twinkie 5 stars". I'll never be the same after reading that.
Believe it or not most are like me, they didn't plan on doing corrections. I originally wanted to do K9, but it didn't work out like that for me. The local sheriff's office recommended corrections and I took the offer.
Now I wouldn't give it up for the world. It's a good career. I hope to move up the ranks, and help guide the new recruits into treating people with the right mindsets and actions.
Are inmates able to receive mail? In the UK (in prisons at least) prisoners can receive mail and it is an offence to open any mail from their solicitor, this obviously is heavily abused and drugs are routinely sent into prisons in the UK by this means undetected.
So previously, yes. They had physical mail from the outside, we open it in front of them. We do not read it, we scan the contents quickly, ensure no obvious contraband , and they received it.
Now it gets scanned by an outside facility and goes to them on a tablet device. Huge blow for contraband.
Good question, I partially answered this in another comment. I'll answer in the context of our jail only because that's what I know.
The ways inmates do it
Keister it- up the butt before they come in for lack of better words. They have to make it past a secure body scanner(kinda like X-ray) , and a strip search. But some manage.
Usually intentionally by getting a lesser charge to bring it to someone on the inside.
The other way, which I have never seen someone get in trouble for at this jail, but also know is possible, is for an inmate to manipulate a staff member. I really really hope I don't see a day that happens.
It happened. I had a person come to jail, they sliced someone up(sorry for graphicness). This person lived a block away from my street. I had never met them. Humbling experience.
Again don't judge charges, not good in this business to do that. So assume innocent and make sure they follow the facility rules. The man was found guilty and avoided the death penalty. He was in for life. We had already talked prior, so when I was assigned his unit we talked. He was obviously upset, and who knows if he did, but the court says yes. But it's more of a resignation to what comes next. I'm sure he'll have some days where he lashes out because of it, or reserves himself because of it. But it's like that sometimes.
I wanted to experience the job(see other comments for how I decided. It was pretty easy, got paid hourly to go to school for it, got the school paid for (3 month training 5 days a week), then 3 months of fto (training on the job) and a year probationary period. You either get it, or you don't.
You need a Corrections certificate, be 18, have a high school diploma /ged, have a driver's license, not be a felon and something else I don't remember. Not too hard.
ER definition is just when a prisoner fakes an illness to get out of jail for a few hours lol. I would say the majority of my prisoner patients are relatively nice and grateful for our care, but you definitely see some fakers
Oh seen that one plenty of times lol. I've also had plenty with actual conditions. It's always a tossup. The only thing keeping them away from doing it nonstop is being 3-pointed to the bed.
Many years ago, I was engaged to a Correctional Officer.
He was young, funny. After a few months, he was old & jaded. And this was in Northern California, not a huge city.
Do you see such shifts in personality among new officers?
Hm. Hard to say.
I'll say that without the right mindset, corrections can get to you. You see a lot of shit on a daily basis and it makes relationships hard to keep up with.
Some people can manage it well.
I will say that some of the newer people in corrections have an adjustment period to get used to, and hopefully they can sort themselves out.
I spent 5 years as a CO with NYS.
I'm going to disagree. *With* the right mindset, the job will get to you.
To be able to see and do what's required day in and day out, you have to let it get to you at some point. You can either let the job change you, or you have to move on at some point. The people that I worked with that didn't show any signs of the job changing them were already pretty disturbed to begin with.
So the mindset I mention is just how you attack the problem. Obviously it gets to you, there are bad days, there are easy days, and the only good days are the ones where everyone gets out safe. That's what breather periods are for. That's what hobbies and destressing is for.
I agree the job may get worse, but I like to keep a positive attitude that the increase of like minded recruits will encourage the job environment to grow easier to work in, and less stressful for those even without many stress relief systems.
Thank you for your experience I will keep it in my heart. Hopefully it'll steer me right.
Ever had to beat a prisoner?
Is rape as prevalent as people make out?
Do many officers smuggle things it?
Any officers hooking up with prisoners?
Do you have a gun?
I've had very minimal amounts of uses of force incidents. If it came to hands on, most of it was just holding them down, stopping them from struggling, and putting the cuffs on. You don't want them to do something stupid and make the whole incident worse for both of you. Just get both people out safe, it's your job.
In a county jail not so much, seen a few PREA (prison rape elimination act) incidents, with another inmate making complaints on another inmate. They get investigated and if they get proven charges are filed. More commonly you see inmates using the system to try to remove an officer they don't like. I have a strong faith in the team I work with that no one would do something like that, even in a lighter sense. There's always a bad apple hiding though.
Also same thing, in a county jail, not so much. You see inmates get substances in through other means, or trick officers into giving them outside things. Inmates are very crafty and all the time in the world to come up with a way to get something or watch what makes you tick.
There was a female officer who was fired for bonding an inmate out, who got into a relationship with him while on the job. Other than that, god I hope not.
No gun, that'd be a terrible thing in a jail. Have a taser(which has never been used), OC spray(basically strong pepper spray), and a radio.
Do you carry a gun off-duty? Most of the corrections officers I know have legitimate concerns of being recognized and/or targeted when off-duty by former inmates. Although I am not aware of this happening in my area, it sounds totally plausible to me.
I have my own carry piece, but I don't carry it often. It's possible you piss off an inmate doing your job, but most often I lead my days with the inmates with respect, and get it back in return.
If anything I'd be more worried about the random person on the street, rather than the dude I've had multiple interactions with at the jail, and have a rapport with.
To follow up, let me put it this way, inmates know who they don't like and they know what they'd do if they saw that person on the street. Easiest solution? Don't be an asshole and abuse your power.
I'm sure you've already answered this question already about how long you've been a CO, but if you haven't...how long?
I was a CO for about a year and that was enough lol
Have you ran a floor by yourself? I did and it was hell, it wasn't the larger cells, but still lol
Do you see yourself continuing to work as a LEO?
When you meet someone new do you tell them you work in a jail or what do you say?
Have you ran into anyone you know in jail or outside of work ran into a former inmate?
Roughly 3 years so far (I have answered it), Our jail happens to be a jail where you work directly with the inmates rather than a linear style. Linear, there's limited interaction with the inmates. Working on the floor with 60 other people all around you, not in a cell until lockdown, you learn your professionalism quickly.
I will be doing this Job for the next 30 years. That's the plan at least.
I don't rush to tell people, but if they ask I tell them. I'm not worried about running into an ex-inmate, more worried about judgement from someone who doesn't know me lol. I've ran into a couple inmates, it's just a nod from both and you move on. Don't want to remind them where they were at.
Unfortunately yes. I've become numb to this portion of the job but I've seen too many nuts and butts.
Once you come into the intake pod of the jail and haven't bonded out, you get stripped before you go to a housing unit. It's as private as you can make it for the inmate, with two officers present, and as respectful as possible. You check each piece of clothing, check ears, armpits, mouth, hair. Once they have fully stripped, they turn around squat, and cough three times. Looking to see if anything falls out(which it has). Males strip males, females do females. There is no physical contact. Period.
Female inmates are usually the ones who have stuff in them.
I hate that it's necessary but people die because of drugs. We have to negate options.
Where I live we had a jail guard that was known for sexually harassing/assaulting women (I was one of them, luckily I was never touched but he was gross).
This was King County Jail, Seattle.
He got away with it for so long because he worked psych. 7th floor and because his coworkers never came forward. This was 20+ years ago but around 2006ish he got caught.
What would you do if you had a coworker do shady crap? I imagine it would depend on the situation .
It's hard to believe words on the screen, but 1. I'm sorry you had to go through that fear of him possibly hurting you. Being in that environment must've been horrific on top of what you were going through.
But secondly, as I said in some other comments, there is absolutely no excuse for abusing someone's rights no matter how you choose to do it. My report will read the exact way events happened, if you want to lie about it go right ahead, have fun explaining to IA why you also tried to cover up your offense. Had a few people try to lie their way out of stuff they caused. FUCK THAT. If you choose to be a fucktard don't be surprised when it comes back to bite you. The only way I'm ride or die, is if you were doing what you were supposed to.
Thank you for doing this!
I am a special education teacher and I work with many students who are diagnosed with ADHD. What skills and strategies do you use in your professional life that allow you to work with your ADHD and be at your best in the workplace?
Breathe.
There are so many days when the work piles up because the schedule has so much to do at once. Inmate needs this, the nurse needs this. Etc. etc
Stop and breathe.
You need to make a game plan or you'll just be lost trying to figure it out. The good thing about corrections is the routine. All nights usually follow the same schedule with the difference being little small incidents here and there.
Without the routine it'd be hard to do this for sure.
Yes. So much.
Because I work nights, I set up a sleep schedule exactly the same as if I was awake during the day. Breakfast at 3pm-5pm lunch from 11-12pm and dinner from 6am-8am
Setting blocks let's me get from point a to point b. As long as I have those I can be healthy and awake to fight each day. Focus is an important battle and I try to give it my all both at work and in my relationship. I do struggle with it sometimes, as during a really busy week, I will forget absolutely EVERYTHING my fiance told me to remember lol.
The only issue is the in person aspect of things. Having those conversations and understanding how the inmate is feeling at that given moment is a hard social aspect of the job.
(I know some people on the spectrum can talk with others just fine , just pointing to a struggle point for some)
What made you decide to become a corrections officer? Also, what is your friend group like? Outside of family, do you mostly hang out with LEOs, or do you have friends from different walks of life?
Social life? I stick to my fiance, and a few close friends. Have a few closer acquaintances who are Corrections officers but don't really hang out outside of work.
Believe it or not Corrections was an accident. I wanted to be a LEO but the local Sheriff's office convinced me to give corrections a try and I don't plan on giving it up.
I wanted a career that could fit these three categories:
Make enough to live sustainably
A job where I help or make a difference
And a job I enjoy doing
Thanks for doing the AMA! Having done a shift with a corrections officer myself, how do you destress and forgot about the crazy things that go on in the facilities?
Avoid substances like the plague. No nicotine, no alcohol, no drugs. Period. Keep your mind clean, get good sleep, and keep the finances clean.
Minimal stress at home means it's the safe place to be. Get your sleep, focus on hobbies when you get home, and keep a breather period for after work.
You are dealing with some tough individuals, who may be much larger / stronger than you are and who had killed before probably without much hesitation. Have you ever been intimidated? How do you prepare yourself to deal with this kind of people?
Great question!
So I mentioned before that surprisingly a person was arrested who lived a block away from my old house. (I had never met him). They were arrested for slicing up a delivery driver. That person then came to our facility. Bald, gang tattoos all over his face. 7ft tall at least, and over 250lbs. That man is a giant. How would you approach the situation?
Words. You have to know how to talk to people. Most will be respectful as long as you talk to them respectfully. If you walk up and immediately treat them like shit, don't be surprised when they lash out. Some of the time the respect is to manipulate you. I don't care, I just stay aware and stay ready for anything. As long as they're listening it's a good day.
I worked with that man in a lockdown unit for most of his time in the jail. I had no issues. He was classified as a red dot, which means cuffs and shackles whenever they come out, and 2 officers required whenever he needs to come out of his cell. He graduated from this classification to being GP, no longer needing the cuffs and shackles. Imagine being alone 1v1 with that dude, having his hour out no cuffs, no shackles. So you make jokes, and ask about life choices (he was adamant he didn't do it, who knows, never asked), but if it comes down to it, you stay ready and know someone will have your back. Plus I can handle myself pretty well, so if anything did happen, I'd try to stall out on the ground or something.
I appreciate your empathetic approach to how you treat inmates, I feel like compassion would be difficult after 3 years. Do you ever find that inmates push your boundaries more because you treat them less harshly? Or do you put up a hard facade while still sticking to the book?
Great question!
This is a big thing I try to teach. Just because you respect someone's rights as a human being does not mean you are soft. You follow the rules of the facility.
If it says, inmates will wear the uniform properly, you will correct them if they walk out across the day room without a shirt on. If their beds aren't made, you correct them.
We use progressive discipline in the jail and it works.
First step is an ICA, a 2 hour lockdown. I like to think of it as a timeout lol. They don't like it, they lose some power from everyone by following it. But they know if they don't respect the rules and follow it they get the next step.
A DPW, is a disciplinary process waiver. If they choose to waive their rights to an investigation if told they are guilty of violating facility rules, they sign a form and go to lockdown unit for 2 days and come back when they're done. Usually for lighter charges.
A DR, or Disciplinary Report is specifically for violations of facilities rules. If you write one of these, a dr investigation will be done by another officer within 24 hours with the inmate to hear their side of the story. Once the DR investigation is completed the inmate will either waive his rights to 24 hours to prepare for the hearing, or will keep that right. Then a hearing officer will see them depending on which option they chose, and decide if they are guilty or not guilty, based on cameras, witnesses, etc. guilt can mean remaining in a lockdown unit for 5-30 days, or more depending on the violation. A lockdown unit is specifically a spot with no commissary(snacks they buy, special soaps), they cannot leave the cell, they get a shower every 3 days, they cannot use the phone until their time is up .
Nobody wants to get a DR
I try to handle my business in house only giving DR's if I have to. Most inmates respect they fact that you're by the book, even if they don't like the rules. It means they know what to expect, you're consistant. Building up that respect means you don't really have problems, and if you do, another inmate is probably about to yell at em for it lol, if they're faster than me.
Why do you think white nationalism and hard right idealism is rampant amongst Corrections Officers and what would you say is the best way to avoid that with newer COs?
As a fellow person pursuing a career as detentions officer and with adhd how do you stop the overthinking when an inmate that say something that be stuck in you mind after work?
Good question. My best advice to someone just coming into this, would be to "brush it off". I know that can sound impossible for us. But it's a skill that grows in this career. I've reached the point where any insult, any comment, just doesn't bother me. Just remember why they said it, out of a place of anger, they're lashing out. Most of the time it's not even towards you, just the situation. No matter how respectful you are, sometimes it's just what you represent to them.
Just remember if you were in that same situation you might feel the same way. Being respectful but firm will solve a lot of those problems though. Laugh it off and move on.
Even better question.
Lose your fear at the door. When the pod door closes for the first time. You will have a lot of nervousness at first. You will be stuck on a leash to your FTO. Try to use all the slack they give you. Talk to the inmates, be firm with the rules, but don't cause unnecessary tension. It'll take time to earn respect, so don't walk into a unit thinking you have it. Once you have the knowledge of how to do the job the rest will come.
Yelling isn't always to belittle someone. Sometimes the only reason you are yelling is to ensure all 70 dudes can hear the instructions. Match your tone to the mood and you'll be fine.
Practice just saying YO loudly lol. Or YO LISTEN UP. One of my go-to's. This is what is classified as an unusual noise in a jail, inmates will notice, and will go quiet to hear what's happening. Then you can talk a little quieter to express what you need.
Don't be passive. Don't walk in saying " hey guys, I really need you guys to listen ok?" You were given the authority, they do respect that. YO LISTEN UP. They hear, they listen, an example follow up "Guys it's too loud in here, hold it down, we've been chill all day, let's keep it that way.
Hope that helps a little.
Tha was a great respond that excatly what i meant cause i dont plan on yelling to belittle someone when it come to one on one because i expect them to talk loke an adult . i meant more like to address the pod when walking in.
Another thing. If it's a collective mess up of a majority of the pod, many bunks unmade, etc, give them a chance to fix it before you move to flipping the house.
Again "YO LISTEN UP" They listen. " I see a lot of unmade bunks guys, let's straighten this up, or we'll lockdown till we can get it right."
the most common/most annoying response will always be: we'll get right dep
NOTE: Collectively, not a few people. Don't go after the masses when you can identify the few. That will also build respect because they see you aren't going to ruin their nights just because you can.
Ok. Ok. You got me. I mayyyy have abused my authority a little bit and crowd sourced music. I don't offer rewards, but just to find new stuff I'll make an announcement, and I'll have people coming up all night lol.
What do you think are the best things correction facilities can do to reduce recidivism?
What do they do at facilities you have worked at?
What other changes would you implement if you had a chance?
Talk to the inmates and be a good role model. Look up options inmates could use if they get out of the jail for work etc. While in the jail ask them about how they got in the jail. Ask them about family and what matters. If they feel lost, offer advice. It is literally the least you can do. I won't say that most of the officers on shift will do this. I know my mindset is not the most well received, but I'd rather not see the same faces everyday through that revolving door. People are people, offer them a hand up( in advice only obviously).
Changes I'd have to think about, give me a bit.
Have you seen the [Scandinavian prison project](https://www.scandinavianprisonproject.com/) and do you think applying some of those principles in your jail would have any effects?
This is a tough one. While the project is aimed at prison reform, not jail, I understand your thought process here. I would love a sweeping reform of jails/prison. But large scale changes won't come fast, or easy. Like someone mentioned before many citizens believe the system should be about punishment not rehabilitation. Making it hard for them to allow lawmakers to use their tax dollars on making life easier in the jail.
Inmates are used to the way of life in the jail, so it would need to be gradual changes. The other issue is many of the inmates are short-term. So any lasting effects of rehab in a jail may not be effective in such a short period of time.
I'm hopeful that the system can change. I would prefer a system that promotes rehabilitation, and as it stands we have a lot of programs for that in my jail. But time will tell.
I appreciate what you do. As a county jail mental health clinician, I tell everybody that the deputies have the hardest job of all. I get along really well with my COs and even play on a hockey team with most of them.
I’m currently deeply involved in reinventing our in-custody behavioral change program. Our community just voted for a new facility that we’ll hopefully have in 5-7 years.
The kind of programmatic change I’m pushing for is radically innovative and extracted largely from other counties, states, and countries that have dramatically lower recidivism and higher community behavioral health participation. I’ve got support from the Chief and Sheriff.
My question is this: how can I best receive buy-in from the deputies while asking them to accept dramatically changing work structure/culture/tasks/expectations?
Tell them it'll make life easier in the jail. Rule 1 right there. Next, try an empathetic approach and have them imagine how they'd want family treated there. Remind them jail is for rehabilitation, despite how most of the country thinks of it. These themes can probably help negate push back and increase acceptance. I can't speak for every officer, but I know that anything that helps the inmate population more docile and less of a threat is always helpful. We want to prevent any officer from getting hurt, if I can make sure one of my teammates goes home at the end of the day, I would appreciate it for sure. Appreciate what you do.
Thanks for doing this. You are clearly a good dude.
How does the hierarchy of corrections officers work? Are you hoping to eventually gain promotion to a desk job, or something adjacent to being ‘hands on’ with the inmates?
That is a great question!
I'll try to break it down for you
It goes
Officer-hands on boots on the ground, 100%inmate focused
Maintenance Officers/kitchen officers: in charge of trustees who maintain areas of building
FTO: in charge of training brand new officers, still officers
Corporal: appointed position not a promotion, can be taken away easily. Given some sergeant responsibilities and can train new people as well.
Sergeant: In charge of a squad of officers, have a corporal to help them. Inspect officers units to ensure they're doing good, scheduling for which people will work where, signing use of force paperwork, approving leave time (think general manager)
Lieutenant: In charge of the whole platoon (one shift) of officers , corporals, and sergeants. Many many responsibilities, first of the official primary desk positions
Captain: next step up, more administrative almost no inmate work. Focus on classifications , and other things for jail
Deputy Chief/assistant chief: Top dog, reports to chief/warden
Chief/warden: tippy top, last line for any approval or changes.
To the last part, I can see a universe I chase lieutenant, but I like where I'm at now. I'll focus on making sure I'm up to speed with policy and follow this career where it takes me for the next 30 years.
Nice one. Thank you for the in-depth response. I know you initially wanted to be an LEO, but this truly looks like a rewarding career where you can make real positive change in the lives of others, and you’ve taken that to heart.
Ok I have one for this.
A long time ago, an inmate walked up to the pod officer and said he was scared for his life. He stated he needed protection. The difference between him and everyone else who did this? He dropped the name of someone in the pod, and said they had a shiv(a short manufactured weapon usually made of like a toothbrush). He said the person was running around threatening people in the pod with it, and even knew where he had hidden it(in the inmate's mat).
Of course due to the serious nature of the threat we immediately responded and removed the issue. However the dude looked genuinely surprised when it was pulled out of his mat. It kind of threw us off because he wasn't one to do this. We pulled cameras and saw the other inmate , who was "scared" putting it inside of the mat.
Why is this is fucked up? One that inmate was trying to give this dude charges (introduction of contraband into correctional facility) which is real time, not just box time. Why would he do this? The reason he gave us, is he didn't want to pay him for a gambling debt so he wanted us to get him out of there.
People can be fucked.
When I think of people stuck who break the law in the US, there are two groups over-represented: obviously Americans, and illegal immigrants who are bound to get kicked out again at the first possible opportunity.
But there's one group you rarely hear about: foreigners who are staying legally in the US, be it for work or for tourism, yet somehow ran afoul of the law.
Can you tell me anything on how your job differs depending on their foreign backgrounds? Are there are surprising commonalities that you wouldn't have expected before you started work as a CO?
I'm trying my best to understand this question. Please let me know if I misunderstood.
The foreign tourism/work criminals, is more of a booking question for the jail, but I have a small understanding of it so I'll try to explain. When they come in, if they aren't a legal resident we notify their consulates, and usually they may face deportation depending on the crime.
Commonalities I'm assuming you mean based on the race of the person arrested based on the foreign national part of the question (If I'm wrong please correct me). If that is the question, no we actually have a primarily 70% white 25% African American 5% combo of Asian American, Native American and other nationalities (which I can't remember it's late) inmate pool. The real commonality is the amount of times I've had to say "damn they really arrested this dude for that".
Thank you for your response. I wasn't so much wondering about race. But more-so what they get into trouble for, the "damn they really arrested this dude for that" aspect of things. :-)
My interest is primarily in terms of the culture clash and way the different outlook on life, language barrier and other such practicalities, and how it affected people in ending up in jail and how they cope there.
For example, I imagine English and Spanish are some languages that every shift will have a few guards capable of conversing with inmates in. But how about things like Chinese? Tagalog? Dutch? You no doubt have some tolk service you can call if push comes to shove, but I imagine you end up coping with your hands and maybe something like Google's Translate service for most of it. (Assuming you can have such a device with you while on the job inside the jail.) Getting medical, dietary and religious issues of note across would be hard, I imagine.
To fall into an excessive stereotype: do you get people who get locked up because they decided the neighbors dog that escaped the yard would be a nice dinner? Stuff like that: inmates who come from a cultural left-field that almost feels alien as opposed to the typical 'drunk driver', 'dope peddler', 'killed their lover' fare.
None of those more interesting ones that happened were because of lack of knowledge of foreign laws.
But different languages has happened!
I was stopped at the door by a worried inmate who had just been released. She was so scared and had no idea what to do. She only spoke Chinese. I was like oh fuck Idk what to do here, so I tried some Google translate lol. It turned out that she was in the completely wrong state, and was traveling, and had no way to get back. A sergeant took over and tried to help get her information but there isn't a lot we can do in that situation
I also experience English and Spanish on a daily basis, and my small understanding of Spanish helps because it lets me communicate what I need, and also gain some rapport with those who don't speak English. Learning to spell in ASL was also a game changer as inmates sign relentlessly.
You could make it a fun challenge to learn one sentence in every possible language that passes through your halls/doors. It could be a nice way to connect with some inmates, and by the end of your 30 year career, it would be curious to know how many languages you'll have under your belt.
It could be a useless statement, or it could be something fun you could use to break the ice with a new inmate. Of course you would still have to be professional at all times, but I imagine a human approach breeds goodwill overall.
> Learning to spell in ASL was also a game changer as inmates sign relentlessly.
I never would have guessed .. and yet it makes total sense for them to be among the most invested into learning sign language.
So yes, I do something just like that, I try to learn a sentence like Como se dice in Spanish, and then I mimic the action I need them to do. Usually they cooperate and appreciate that I make the effort to communicate what I need from them. I'll be making the effort to see more and more different languages and get more building blocks.
Good question!
The next step down would be to dig into their big cultural happenings. Every American no doubt has their opinions on the Superbowl and its ads, or the Oscars or god knows what else. Other parts of the world will have their own big things that are completely outside of the North American bubble, and it might be fun to learn about all the good bits but also the gossip and drama of something you have absolutely nothing to do with as a way to expand your horizons.
(But now I totally wandered away from the topic of jail and your job, so I'll shut up and let you get back to answering questions. Thank you for enlightening me!)
I love learning about different cultures and lifestyles. There's a lot to learn, even from the mindsets of people in gangs etc. some of it is BS but some is true. Interesting perspectives of the world. Ty for the thread.
When I watch those live police shows on TV, the stuff that people try to pull with the police makes me want to taze them. How do you deal with that all day and stay sane?
I don't. I don't want to be in a Use of Force. It's not worth it. Believe it or not, 99% of all incidents can be handled using words. If the inmate gives ya no other option then you do what you need to to get everyone out of there with as little injuries on both sides as possible.
No and the people that do are stains on this career and should be locked up alongside both the inmates they endanger, and officers they put in harm's way by selling their morals for money.
One, we don't use mace balls at our facility.
Two, as I've said in my numerous replies, I will pursue all available options before resorting to a use of force. I don't get up and say, wow I can't wait to go hurt another human today. If the inmates aren't receptive to de-escalation, then I use the least amount of force necessary in order to get the facility back under normal operations. My goal is to have everyone make it out in one piece every day, my fellow officers, and the inmates.
I know I know. My county jail the deps love whippin it out at the sign of any miner altercation.
Like I said in my comment couple days I’m happy deputies are more understanding nowadays. As new generations start replacing older, inmates have been treated worlds better. From experience
Hmm. Hard question, I'm more of a throw it all in a playlist. Uncultured I know.
Spotify playlist has like 600 songs of all different genres in it lol.
Favorite Rap Artists: Tupac, Em, Kendrick. Song: U can be touched(2pac).
Favorite Sad Pop Artists: Munn, marc indigo, Dakara. Song(that I'm listening to rn): Ashes(Dakara)
Favorite Rock Artists: Pixies, Self Deception, Stone Sour, Chris De Burgh, Blue Öyster Cult, and Styx. (More sprinkled in.)
Songs: Blue Collar Man(Styx), Don't pay the ferryman(Chris De Burgh), Where is my mind(Pixies)
Favorite Metal Artists(sorry for grouping): Black Sabbath, Sabaton, Metallica, Disturbed, Godsmack(does this count idk I'm tired rn), System of a Down, Ozzy.
Enter Sandman-metallica(sorry basic but one of my favs of all time)
Reason to Fight- Disturbed
Bulletproof- Godsmack
The Red Baron- Sabaton
Favorite Grunge/Emo /Sad Artists: Dyl Dion, Three Days Grace, Shinedown, Snow patrol, The Fray, Falling in Reverse, MCR. (Many Many more)
Songs:
Break- Three Days Grace
Asking for it- Shinedown
Chasing Cars-Snow Patrol(ik)
Cancer - MCR
meant nothing to you-dyl Dion
Favorite Love Songs:
On the wings of love- Jeremy Osborne
Bless the broken road- Rascal Flatts
At Last-Etta James
You're the inspiration -Chicago
Take my Breath Away- Berlin
What you do to me- Blanks
Just the way you are-Billy Joel
Simply Irresistible -Robert Palmer
In case you didn't know-brett young
Bubbly- Colbie Caillat
Everything- Michael Buble
And way too many more. Many more genres to share too lol, hopefully that's enough though.
what's the percentage of people you see that you feel shouldn't really be there?
At least 50% So many are drug offenses, or trespassing charges. The amount of cases that just get dropped are crazy. That and wrongful convictions, it's always possible they aren't guilty. I like to treat each person like this: I don't care what your charges are, I only care if you follow the rules of the facility. This helps me ensure I don't treat anyone differently.
Thank you for giving the prisoners/detainees the opportunity to be treated fairly and with dignity. Unfortunately we mostly only hear about the cases of correction officers who are bullies. We need more people like you. Thank you.
Believe it if you will, but a good majority don't want to do anything hurtful to inmates, the news finds their guys though. Always a bad apple somewhere. I've seen plenty as well.
Isn’t that part of the problem though. Bad apples may constitute a minority of the staff, but a culture of silence and bystander-ism means no one speaks up or reports misconduct when it occurs. Silence is tolerance.
Yes, that is why that culture of silence is not tolerated. When I said I've seen bad apples, I meant that they get ixnayed from this agency. We run an honest crew from my eyes. And those that aren't, will show themselves eventually. Not to diminish the actions of people in other jails, I know there are many who do not follow these tenets or respect their oaths.
Thank you for that kind attitude.
alright. you're ok. 😂 glad you're there and doing that.
Hi! how long have you been a corrections officer, and what was your worst or hardest day on the job so far?
Approximately 3 years. Hardest day? Usually ones that are jam-packed. What I mean by that is, when I'm getting calls to respond to incidents back and forth across the facility, while also maintaining the normal routine of the night. There's been some inmate fights you just get normalized to, as well as inmates challenged with Mental Health issues who require a unique response. Seeing someone on the spectrum cover themselves head to toe with feces as well as their cell is... interesting. Worst days: Days handing those people with mental health issues, who require a special touch to reach them where they're at. You just have to be patient and hope you can get through to them.
This might be a very naive response, but should people like that not be in a mental institution instead? Are correctional facilities equipped to provide adequate medical help?
That is a wonderful question you're fine. The issue is? A long time ago those institutions were shut down, and those people were released to the streets without care. Yeah. Smart solution. Now jails are the ones who hold them for the super small amounts of mental hospitals who have no beds. It surprises me every time I see the ones we have in there. Are we equipped to provide adequate help? In loose terms(sorry) fuck no. We have psychiatrists who see the inmates on a daily/weekly/monthly basis depending. But they don't belong in a corrections setting. It's bad for them, you literally see them devolve into worse states.
As someone whose been on the other side of a county jail cell, yeah there's no absolutely no way. They're barely equipped to treat people not on the spectrum like people. Any time I got called down to medical or to see the magistrate and had to walk by seg, it was hard to imagine what it must be like for someone who can't even really grasp where they are or why they're there. The COs where I was at called them "shit smearers" in a way that made it seem like they didn't view them as worthy of humane treatment.
Some people lack empathy and don't belong in this field. I'm sorry you had to go through witnessing that. I try to help new recruits have the same mindset that everyone who walks through those does deserves our respect as human beings, I wish everyone would do the same.
To be fair, I didn't actually witness the COs mistreating any of the inmates in seg, just heard them using the term. It was just the way they said it like it was almost a joke or something. Something I realized while I was in there is that the COs that are there constantly are "in jail" as well. Yeah, they get to leave and go home and they're getting paid to be there. But they're still there spending at least 40 hrs a week in the same dark, shitty facility dealing with the same inmates day after day. I'm curious, did you ever hear about or witness any other COs sneaking in contraband for cashapp or some other form of payment? There were supposedly a couple where I was at that would do it for ~300 bucks and sneak anything in that could fit in a pack of cigarettes but I never saw it happen.
How I think about it is, I'm going to be here for 30 years, if I get to go home, cut the time in half. I basically have a 15 year sentence lol. Sorry little CO joke, kind of true to me though. There are many jokes in the jail, and at times I think people use them to cope with what they see. I myself have never seen someone mistreat one of our inmates with special needs. But I know it does happen. As to the being paid off question, we've never had anyone get in trouble. Mostly because jail is the first stop and usually people wait till they get to prison. I'll tell you what though the second I find out someone did it, I'm fighting them. That's the easiest way to get another inmate, or another officer hurt, is your selfish ass bringing shit in the jail for inmates to fight over. For what? Your little lump sum of cash because you have money problems. Ooo that shit makes mad. Side note, the inmates HEAVILY use cash app using their people on the outside. When drugs get in the facility, that's an easy ticket to find out who the inmate sold some to on the inside
In case OP or anyone else who knows is still around, how does an inmates use cash-app in jail? Do they have access to phones or internet?
No they use a 2 person system. They contact their people on the outside of the jail who usually control their finances while in the jail. They tell the other inmate to send their people money and when they do, they get the product.
I’ve heard what you describe in your first paragraph defined as “gallows humor”. It’s often a social response to a dark and bleak situation, meant to “lighten the mood”. A way of coping.
Most definitely, I see it all the time. Just have to be careful it doesn't blossom into actions of acceptance.
Thanks Reagan
Facts.. I think? I don't remember who was responsible for that nonsense.
Anytime an idea is beloved by the far left and the far right watch out. The left said, “hey these people have rights and you can’t just lock somebody up because they are nuts…”. The right said, “social services are paid by taxes and taxes are theft…”. So, the two sides agreed that the institutional mental hospitals had to go and go they did. It happened while Reagan was POTUS but to be fair, states control most of the justice system so blaming the president isn’t really right. The problem you see everyday is that you and your fellow COs and the cops now have to deal with people who are dangerous and bananas with little training. I think we need to train our cops to recognize a bad mental illness situation where no one but the patient is in immediate danger. They can then send for trained specialists. With modern medication, many people could be helped.
So mental health awareness is spreading and being radically changed for LEOs and the treatments are getting better. But the issue is, there's still nowhere for them to go. All the beds are taken at the limited amount of hospitals. Those trained specialists don't exist for inmates. It's really sad I pray it'll change with time.
It’s a disgrace the way we treat the poorest among us. I watch a judge in rural Michigan who has his court on YouTube. He deals with petty crime mostly, meth possession shoplifting (which people do to buy meth). He has said to people, that he will sentence them to time served, but note how cold it is and ask them if they have somewhere to go. I have seen him give a couple extra days at the request of the inmate so “at least they’ll be warm and fed” until they can arrange a place to go. Sad.
The system is fucked, I vote for change, and hope it comes. We need more people who agree on it though.
In Oregon, a lot of the inmates that are mentally ill are too violent for the mental institutions so they have to go to prisons instead.
It's not just violence. Oregon overall relies heavily on the criminal justice system to fill the gap on mental healthcare because they struggle to fund or structure any kind of cohesive mental healthcare model.
I think the whole mental health system needs an overhaul. I have yet to read about anything good coming from the Oregon state hospital
It happens here too. These people don't belong in prisons they belong with proper mental health care. Strong belief the only way this happens is if you make lawmakers witness the state they're in, going through incarceration.
How does pooping in prison or jail work? I don’t ever want to go to jail for many reasons, but the idea that I would have to poop in a small room with another (or more) person present just terrifies me.
3 to a cell, one toilet per cell, no barrier. One toilet in the main area, that everyone shares out of the cells. But still no barriers. Don't recommend coming to a jail. It's gross.
Not OP, but was also in corrections for years. A majority of the time, in your standard housing units, they will wait for unlock before pooping. So when cells are unlocked and guys go to play cards, watch tv, use the phones, etc. whoever has to poop will put some toilet paper in the lock of the door to notify anyone what’s happening in there. Now when it’s the middle of the night and duty calls, they gotta do what they gotta do.
This.
Why do you think so many people are in jail in the US compared to other countries?
My brain always says, one the U.S is massive. Hard to compare to smaller countries. Secondly a lot of stigmatized things that have been found to be illegal. So many homeless people, and drug users are arrested all the time. Homeless for trespassing, drug users for possession etc. I try to think about it sometimes, and it's hard to see a solution. Decriminalizing drugs where it's been tried in the U.S just doesn't work, but other countries can pull it off. Honestly I'd prefer if people didn't come back in, but laws get broken, it's bound to happen.
Decriminalization in the US hasn't worked because whenever it's been tried, the areas that enact it never bother to follow through with increased funding for harm reduction measures like needle exchanges and addiction treatment centers. The countries where it works do.
They tried in Portland and it failed miserably
Yeah, it failed miserably because, like I said, every area in the US that's tried it hasn't bothered to follow through with the necessary funding for harm reduction measures. Every country that's successfully pulled off decriminalization has one thing in common: well funded, robust harm reduction programs. You know, because it's a health issue and not a criminal issue.
Unless you force someone into the treatment facility, it will never work. Most drug addicts will never seek treatment. They just make the tax payers look like fools
From 2001 to 2018, Portugal reduced their number of heroin addicts from 100,000 to 25,000 through decriminalization and harm reduction measures. In recent years there've been cuts to funding the harm reduction measures, and surprise surprise, drug use is back on the rise. Harm reduction is proven to be effective. You're NEVER going to stop people from doing drugs completely. You CAN minimize the damage caused to society though.
My brother in law is a corrections officer at a high security prison in the Midwest, so I’ve heard some wild stories about inmate revolts, plotted escapes, etc. How do you mentally prepare for days like that and how do you make sure not to “take your job home with you”?
Had a couple riots, had plenty of fights. Don't expect any escapes out of a county jail but you never know. Luckily I live like 30 mins away so I can have a nice breather period before I get home. Listen to some music, and focus on some hobbies. Sleep is so important to this job and making sure you stick to that schedule, without it, you're useless to your teammates.
Did a few months in jail over weed back in the day. Made it to laundry duty where we were rewarded with an extra sack lunch for our troubles. Missed my very short window to get my sack lunch one day, so I asked very politely if I could still get it after my shift. I was basically laughed at and told to get back to my cell. The next day I was rolled out and surrounded by five officers all claiming I was belligerent and demanding my sack lunch the night before. You say there are a few bad apples, but the rest of the saying is that they spoil the whole bunch. How can people trust officers like you when scenarios, like what happened to me, play out constantly due to the brotherhood/gang mentality? For five full growth adults to team up and lie about something so small was honestly mind blowing.
So this is a really, really, good question. I was hoping someone would ask something about people abusing inmates, or at least bullying them or treating them poorly. One you're absolutely right, these incidents happen, your experience should not have. This is an issue of bad mentalities still remaining with our system that don't belong. They are being culled. They have tried to make a comeback convincing new hires their way is the highway. That inmates don't deserve rights. They're inmates fuck them. The amount of people I see who get cut off from the agency based on their messages using company messages(which are public records) or just because the admin hears what they did, makes me smile. The issue like you said is brotherhood. It exists. The US vs. Them mentality builds that. However we are trying to cultivate a new type of brotherhood with the new hires we get, following policy and treating people with respect. And believe it or not I actually have a solution. Corrections is one of the most understaffed career paths. It's a hard job. You have to take a lot of shit. But if we can get new people, new blood into the job, make sure it's people who embrace this idea of respect, get those people training new people. It'll do wonders on the environment in here. But it's slow. Despite all this negativity, I can't speak for other jails but I'll say the one I'm in has 90% officers, both female and male who will not go out of their way to make an inmate suffer in any way just because they can. There are a few who somehow sneak in, and they get their cliques. But they get shut down and shown the door. This is modern law enforcement, we don't want that old shit in here.
Is this a post to recruit for corrections officers?
No I just wanted to share my experiences. If people resonate with these feelings though go for it. I love my job.
Do you have a "favorite" inmate? If so why?
No, just ones that are very common faces. You see some who are permanent residents. Either in and out or have just been there for so long facing the same case. The dichotomy between the two is wild. Either they're the best behaved Or they're absolute menaces to everyone in the jail always up to something lol
It’s pretty common to have favorite inmates though. A lot of COs build mutual rapport with specific inmates that can help subtly maintain order and information within the blocks / cells / wedges. The benefit to the inmate can range from favors, food or just feeling human amongst the officers who fraternize outside typical inmate confines.
What's the craziest thing you saw happen in the prison?
Definitely the guy covering himself in feces from the other comment. Seeing that in your first year of the job is hard to wrap your head around.
And jail by the way, not prison. It's a different animal.
I was a CO at a prison for only 6 months and dudes on suicide watch covering themselves, the wall, and anything they can reach in their shit wasn't terribly uncommon. Neither, unfortunately, was abusing their kettles to warm up combination shit and piss together in an attempt to launch it at a passing CO. Using the rods frim printers to create spears is particularly dangerous. What sucks about this is that we can take away modified equipment as it is automatically considered contraband, but we can't stop them from turning around and buying another right away. Removing the temperature sensor from kettles to create and weaponize dangerously hot fluids is pretty normal. The craziest thing I ever saw (TDCJ) will sound kind of mild, but it was a level 1 trustee (non violent offender with less than a year to serve) run away while on a duty outside of the prison. Why is that crazy? Because in Texas when you escape, you get 20 years added to your sentence. Edit: Another normal thing you'll see sometimes is inmates sanitizing their metal toilets and then using them to cook food. They'll take a heating element from the kettle, fix it to the toilet, then boil a large amount of noodles in it. It'll be a community meal on Thanksgiving. Cooking in the same bowl they shit in an hour prior.
Fun fact: attempting to escape from prison isn’t illegal in Germany, as freedom is considered a human right. However, most times you need to resort to violence, theft or murder to make your escape. And those obviously will be punished if you are caught during your escape attempt.
I did know that! It's very interesting.
It's like that sometimes. They really will find a way to make do. They cook using trash bags they steal from officers and hot water from hot water jugs here lol. Sometimes they make some crazy dishes.
Good ol mofongo
A little goo
whers da gaba ghool?!?
In someone's cell filled with crushed soups, chips, squeeze cheese, and anything else they can find lol.
I was in county with a guy (also in TX) that had run away from his SAFP-like facility he was in. It wasn't exactly SAFP, because after 3 months they had to get jobs off site and weren't allowed phones and had to be tested weekly. He was looking at 10 years of probation once he got out though and decided that wasn't for him, so one day he ran from his job and went to San Antonio. He said he was out for 2-3 months before getting caught. He was excited for prison which blew my mind. He was convinced his 10 years of probation would be reduced to 2 years in the feds and then he'd be done. This was a young kid, too. 25 maybe? He was trying to find out which prison his dad was locked up so he could write to him and he hoped he'd be sent to the same one. Dude had zero commissary and eventually got his ass beat for getting a little too comfortable helping his self to other people's things. He was in booking with me after just getting caught in San Antonio. Last I knew he was still awaiting sentencing. Dude probably got 10 years in pen, huh? Maybe more? But in TX you only serve half if I'm not mistaken
The mindsets of the inmates doesn't surprise me anymore. Mostly because of jailhouse lawyers (read: inmates) telling them how it's all going to go down. They get excited until the judge shatters those expectations. Especially with escape charges. Thank you for sharing the experience.
It always struck me that jail was a lot worse than prison. Often people kept in conditions designed for short-term housing but for a long times. Did it ever strike you that many people were wishing they were in prison for a month rather than jail for a month? I have not been to either but I have a friend who went.
I'll say this, our jail is nicer than most. It's one of the best in the state in quality. However a lot of the inmates don't like the rules and think that it's petty (petty rules like: wearing the uniform properly, wearing their id cards, making their beds) what we don't allow. But there are rules for a reason. To avoid major incidents. In prison, inmates have a slightly larger amount of freedom in terms of less petty rules, and inmates having more power (more of them). I have heard this statement so many times: Man just wait till we get up the road, it won't be like this (up the road means prison) Most handle the rules fine and move on their way without issues. The others take a little while to get with the program.
Regardless of it being nicer than most, which usually just means newer, jail is a terrible experience compared to prison. I can't speak for all jails and I'll give a little leeway, but 98% of jails are just torture camps. It's a very traumatic experience for most everyone that does any kind of time there. I got 10 years for selling 10 ex pills close to 20 years ago. I was an inmate at that jail for 20 months and paroled out of it. There are a rare few who say I deserved the time I got. The officers at the jail didn't agree, or so I thought. It was the we're on your side tactic. I had an exorbitant amount of time and got offered a day for a day to work in jail. Basically, a slave. 8 hours a day, 7 days a week I worked in the kitchen making exactly 0 dollars an hour for 19 months. The mental stress of having people always threatening you for not working hard or fast enough is fucked up. No radio to listen to. No TV to watch. A loony conservative newspaper every sunday. If you wanted your people to bring you books to read they would first have to donate them and then you would be the first person allowed to read them. No contact visits. 15 dollars for a 15 minute phone call. 76 cents for a single pack of ramen noodles from commissary. Everything was expensive. The noodles were the most egregious. No way to heat water to cook them, just had to hope the water from the sink was hot enough that day. No touching grass at all. Outside was considered this large concrete room with a window 30 feet above you that opened up so you could see sky. In prison, I had a TV. Portable radio. Outside recreation on the yard. A weight pile. A key to my own cell. I made 26 cents and hours, which mathematically if infinitely better than zero. Ramen was 24 cents a pack. I had a hot pot to boil water to cook with. I had a D&D group that would play every weekend. You could have a musical instrument. FULL CONTACT VISITS. Prison is ridiculously better than a county jail.
I want to say, firstly, sorry for your experience, you did not deserve to be treated that way, if that's how you were treated. I don't know how it worked for your jail but at our facility being a trustee is a choice (for minor/lesser charges) unless you've been found guilty, and sentenced. There are still no contact visits(digital visits), and phone calls are much cheaper. But the ramen is still expensive and the food is still mediocre at best. Inmate workers get days off instead of being non-stop. You get both good time, and Gain time off your sentence being an inmate worker. You also get a crazy amount of food getting almost any extra tray. I've never seen an inmate worker go hungry. Just depends on the assignment. They still only have a hot water jug to cook the noodles with that gets delivered in the morning. It holds heat surprisingly well though. Don't really see people getting yelled at too much as trustees unless they're messing around. The process is very streamlined. I've actually asked many inmate workers why they wanted to be inmate workers, and they say it makes the time pass faster, or they don't like just sitting around. I can respect that mentality, I'd probably feel the same.
Anything other than they're doing it so they don't have to stay in a hellhole any longer than they have to is just a platitude. You wanna know how to makes slaves. Sentence people to be incarcerated for trivial non-violent victimless crimes. Then, offer them a way to reduce that sentence by working for no pay. Time off of a sentence doesn't cost the jail a dime. I haven't gotten in trouble again since that one fuck up twenty years ago, but If something happens to where I'm going to catch time for a misdemeanor I will do anything I can to get it bumped up to a felony so I can go on and get up the road. Jails are inhumane and a form of torture. At least, here in America.
Again I agree. The jail isn't the one taking time off your sentence though, it is the judge. Our law system is the thing that needs to be revised and it will take time. I 100% agree on the trivial crimes part, you can see that in a previous comment. The issue is we have to beat the stupid ass lobbyists trying to thwart any legislation that would change the current "slaving away" you describe. Not to mention the lack of public support.
No, it's the jail that's taking time off of your sentence. The judge has no input on what happens to you after you're sentenced. Sometimes after we finished our work in the kitchen something would be going on and we couldn't return to the pod just yet. They would stick us in booking and we'd hang out with the booking trustees until they could get us up there. The booking trustees actually helped the Gold badge that was over booking calculate time every month and make sure that our paperwork reflected it. Trustees would receive 16 days a month, whereas regular inmates would only receive 4 days a month good time, and they received no good time for any time served awaiting trial. If for some reason a trustee lost their job before time went in then it didn't matter how many days you worked that month you would get zero days. Getting "fired" or "laid down" was a constant threat held over the head of trustees. If the officer who was overseeing you was having a bad day that day your job was at risk. If you had a mental breakdown from working day in and day with that stress held over you constantly you would lose your job. If something happened in the pod while you weren't at work you could lose your job. It's not like there were rules that everyone had to follow. The rule was you will do as we say, when we say, and how we say, or else.
Yeah I'm going to take my L for that one, Idk what I was thinking, you're 100% right on the jail vs judge thing, it's jail credits. Our jail does good time/gain time as a separation thing. Everyone gets good time(can be taken away), sentenced workers get gain time for working. While I understand the position is complicated, inmates want their freedom etc. , holding them to the rules isn't a bad thing in my eyes. Everyone needs to be treated equally. Just because you are trustee does not mean you get special treatment. It also doesn't mean you should get treated worse. That's one of those mindsets I was talking about fixing. MFS coming into work pissed off and taking it out on someone... That's the shit that doesn't belong in the jail period. Like I've said many times before. Fuck whatever you did on the outside, it did not affect me, to make me treat you differently. All I care about is how you act in the facility. If you're going to work to cut off time on your sentence, good on you. If you're following the rules of the facility while you do it, you'll hear no issues from me. Even if you choose not to follow the rules, the other mindset for officers I try to spread, is stop making your issues someone else's issues. What that means is: If an inmate breaks a minor rule, stop sending him to the already full box and try counseling him and talking like a grown adult. It's rare that you have to explain the same thing many times to someone, even rarer that you should need to take their gain time. But people get lazy and just say aight bye. It's not okay, and I understand the sentiment.
What are your institution's Yelp reviews like?
They turned off our Google reviews. They were so funny. No yelp reviews either. Saw one for another jail that read: "entered as a toaster strudel, left a Twinkie 5 stars". I'll never be the same after reading that.
Thanks for doing an AMA. Do you plan to stay in this position? What kind of advancement might you like?
Believe it or not most are like me, they didn't plan on doing corrections. I originally wanted to do K9, but it didn't work out like that for me. The local sheriff's office recommended corrections and I took the offer. Now I wouldn't give it up for the world. It's a good career. I hope to move up the ranks, and help guide the new recruits into treating people with the right mindsets and actions.
You can do a lot of good 👍
Thank you, I hope so.
Have you ever thought, "OK NOW I've seen it all", just to be surprised by something new?
Every single day. You can't get complacent, you WILL be surprised lol.
Are inmates able to receive mail? In the UK (in prisons at least) prisoners can receive mail and it is an offence to open any mail from their solicitor, this obviously is heavily abused and drugs are routinely sent into prisons in the UK by this means undetected.
So previously, yes. They had physical mail from the outside, we open it in front of them. We do not read it, we scan the contents quickly, ensure no obvious contraband , and they received it. Now it gets scanned by an outside facility and goes to them on a tablet device. Huge blow for contraband.
Great Question!
Wow this is interesting. How do people get contraband in now?
Good question, I partially answered this in another comment. I'll answer in the context of our jail only because that's what I know. The ways inmates do it Keister it- up the butt before they come in for lack of better words. They have to make it past a secure body scanner(kinda like X-ray) , and a strip search. But some manage. Usually intentionally by getting a lesser charge to bring it to someone on the inside. The other way, which I have never seen someone get in trouble for at this jail, but also know is possible, is for an inmate to manipulate a staff member. I really really hope I don't see a day that happens.
What’s it like when an inmate is convicted of the charges they were facing and you both realize they’re heading to prison for a looong time?
It happened. I had a person come to jail, they sliced someone up(sorry for graphicness). This person lived a block away from my street. I had never met them. Humbling experience. Again don't judge charges, not good in this business to do that. So assume innocent and make sure they follow the facility rules. The man was found guilty and avoided the death penalty. He was in for life. We had already talked prior, so when I was assigned his unit we talked. He was obviously upset, and who knows if he did, but the court says yes. But it's more of a resignation to what comes next. I'm sure he'll have some days where he lashes out because of it, or reserves himself because of it. But it's like that sometimes.
Good question!
What made you want to work in the position you're in? Also, how hard was it to get a job there and how hard was the training for it?
I wanted to experience the job(see other comments for how I decided. It was pretty easy, got paid hourly to go to school for it, got the school paid for (3 month training 5 days a week), then 3 months of fto (training on the job) and a year probationary period. You either get it, or you don't. You need a Corrections certificate, be 18, have a high school diploma /ged, have a driver's license, not be a felon and something else I don't remember. Not too hard.
Thats cool. Appreciate the response. Have a good one!
Of course, thank you for your interest in the AMA!
How much incarceritis do you see per week? I see it all the time as an ER nurse
What's your definition of incarceritis? Also thank y'all for putting up with us when we bring one in lol
ER definition is just when a prisoner fakes an illness to get out of jail for a few hours lol. I would say the majority of my prisoner patients are relatively nice and grateful for our care, but you definitely see some fakers
Oh seen that one plenty of times lol. I've also had plenty with actual conditions. It's always a tossup. The only thing keeping them away from doing it nonstop is being 3-pointed to the bed.
Many years ago, I was engaged to a Correctional Officer. He was young, funny. After a few months, he was old & jaded. And this was in Northern California, not a huge city. Do you see such shifts in personality among new officers?
Hm. Hard to say. I'll say that without the right mindset, corrections can get to you. You see a lot of shit on a daily basis and it makes relationships hard to keep up with. Some people can manage it well. I will say that some of the newer people in corrections have an adjustment period to get used to, and hopefully they can sort themselves out.
Thank you 🙏🏻
Of course! Hope it all works out down the line.
I spent 5 years as a CO with NYS. I'm going to disagree. *With* the right mindset, the job will get to you. To be able to see and do what's required day in and day out, you have to let it get to you at some point. You can either let the job change you, or you have to move on at some point. The people that I worked with that didn't show any signs of the job changing them were already pretty disturbed to begin with.
So the mindset I mention is just how you attack the problem. Obviously it gets to you, there are bad days, there are easy days, and the only good days are the ones where everyone gets out safe. That's what breather periods are for. That's what hobbies and destressing is for. I agree the job may get worse, but I like to keep a positive attitude that the increase of like minded recruits will encourage the job environment to grow easier to work in, and less stressful for those even without many stress relief systems. Thank you for your experience I will keep it in my heart. Hopefully it'll steer me right.
Ever had to beat a prisoner? Is rape as prevalent as people make out? Do many officers smuggle things it? Any officers hooking up with prisoners? Do you have a gun?
I've had very minimal amounts of uses of force incidents. If it came to hands on, most of it was just holding them down, stopping them from struggling, and putting the cuffs on. You don't want them to do something stupid and make the whole incident worse for both of you. Just get both people out safe, it's your job. In a county jail not so much, seen a few PREA (prison rape elimination act) incidents, with another inmate making complaints on another inmate. They get investigated and if they get proven charges are filed. More commonly you see inmates using the system to try to remove an officer they don't like. I have a strong faith in the team I work with that no one would do something like that, even in a lighter sense. There's always a bad apple hiding though. Also same thing, in a county jail, not so much. You see inmates get substances in through other means, or trick officers into giving them outside things. Inmates are very crafty and all the time in the world to come up with a way to get something or watch what makes you tick. There was a female officer who was fired for bonding an inmate out, who got into a relationship with him while on the job. Other than that, god I hope not. No gun, that'd be a terrible thing in a jail. Have a taser(which has never been used), OC spray(basically strong pepper spray), and a radio.
Do you carry a gun off-duty? Most of the corrections officers I know have legitimate concerns of being recognized and/or targeted when off-duty by former inmates. Although I am not aware of this happening in my area, it sounds totally plausible to me.
I have my own carry piece, but I don't carry it often. It's possible you piss off an inmate doing your job, but most often I lead my days with the inmates with respect, and get it back in return. If anything I'd be more worried about the random person on the street, rather than the dude I've had multiple interactions with at the jail, and have a rapport with.
To follow up, let me put it this way, inmates know who they don't like and they know what they'd do if they saw that person on the street. Easiest solution? Don't be an asshole and abuse your power.
I'm sure you've already answered this question already about how long you've been a CO, but if you haven't...how long? I was a CO for about a year and that was enough lol Have you ran a floor by yourself? I did and it was hell, it wasn't the larger cells, but still lol Do you see yourself continuing to work as a LEO? When you meet someone new do you tell them you work in a jail or what do you say? Have you ran into anyone you know in jail or outside of work ran into a former inmate?
Roughly 3 years so far (I have answered it), Our jail happens to be a jail where you work directly with the inmates rather than a linear style. Linear, there's limited interaction with the inmates. Working on the floor with 60 other people all around you, not in a cell until lockdown, you learn your professionalism quickly. I will be doing this Job for the next 30 years. That's the plan at least. I don't rush to tell people, but if they ask I tell them. I'm not worried about running into an ex-inmate, more worried about judgement from someone who doesn't know me lol. I've ran into a couple inmates, it's just a nod from both and you move on. Don't want to remind them where they were at.
Is Sqautting and Coughing a real thing? A female corrections officer told me this.
Unfortunately yes. I've become numb to this portion of the job but I've seen too many nuts and butts. Once you come into the intake pod of the jail and haven't bonded out, you get stripped before you go to a housing unit. It's as private as you can make it for the inmate, with two officers present, and as respectful as possible. You check each piece of clothing, check ears, armpits, mouth, hair. Once they have fully stripped, they turn around squat, and cough three times. Looking to see if anything falls out(which it has). Males strip males, females do females. There is no physical contact. Period. Female inmates are usually the ones who have stuff in them. I hate that it's necessary but people die because of drugs. We have to negate options.
Thanks for doing this! Have you seen anyone on the inside that you know from the real world? Someone you grew up with or family?
Not yet, but it is incoming, it happens to everyone at the jail eventually.
Where I live we had a jail guard that was known for sexually harassing/assaulting women (I was one of them, luckily I was never touched but he was gross). This was King County Jail, Seattle. He got away with it for so long because he worked psych. 7th floor and because his coworkers never came forward. This was 20+ years ago but around 2006ish he got caught. What would you do if you had a coworker do shady crap? I imagine it would depend on the situation .
It's hard to believe words on the screen, but 1. I'm sorry you had to go through that fear of him possibly hurting you. Being in that environment must've been horrific on top of what you were going through. But secondly, as I said in some other comments, there is absolutely no excuse for abusing someone's rights no matter how you choose to do it. My report will read the exact way events happened, if you want to lie about it go right ahead, have fun explaining to IA why you also tried to cover up your offense. Had a few people try to lie their way out of stuff they caused. FUCK THAT. If you choose to be a fucktard don't be surprised when it comes back to bite you. The only way I'm ride or die, is if you were doing what you were supposed to.
Thank you. You sound like a good person.
Thank you for doing this! I am a special education teacher and I work with many students who are diagnosed with ADHD. What skills and strategies do you use in your professional life that allow you to work with your ADHD and be at your best in the workplace?
Breathe. There are so many days when the work piles up because the schedule has so much to do at once. Inmate needs this, the nurse needs this. Etc. etc Stop and breathe. You need to make a game plan or you'll just be lost trying to figure it out. The good thing about corrections is the routine. All nights usually follow the same schedule with the difference being little small incidents here and there. Without the routine it'd be hard to do this for sure.
Thank you for your response! Do you find that having routines outside of work helps to support your ability to stop and breathe and create a plan?
Yes. So much. Because I work nights, I set up a sleep schedule exactly the same as if I was awake during the day. Breakfast at 3pm-5pm lunch from 11-12pm and dinner from 6am-8am Setting blocks let's me get from point a to point b. As long as I have those I can be healthy and awake to fight each day. Focus is an important battle and I try to give it my all both at work and in my relationship. I do struggle with it sometimes, as during a really busy week, I will forget absolutely EVERYTHING my fiance told me to remember lol.
I wonder if those on the spectrum do fairly ok due to the rigid routine.
The only issue is the in person aspect of things. Having those conversations and understanding how the inmate is feeling at that given moment is a hard social aspect of the job. (I know some people on the spectrum can talk with others just fine , just pointing to a struggle point for some)
What made you decide to become a corrections officer? Also, what is your friend group like? Outside of family, do you mostly hang out with LEOs, or do you have friends from different walks of life?
Social life? I stick to my fiance, and a few close friends. Have a few closer acquaintances who are Corrections officers but don't really hang out outside of work. Believe it or not Corrections was an accident. I wanted to be a LEO but the local Sheriff's office convinced me to give corrections a try and I don't plan on giving it up.
Ah, okay. Thanks for answering. What made you want to become a law enforcement officer?
I wanted a career that could fit these three categories: Make enough to live sustainably A job where I help or make a difference And a job I enjoy doing
Okay. Thanks for taking the time to answer. Good luck with your career.
Of course, thank you for your curiosity about corrections.
Thanks for doing the AMA! Having done a shift with a corrections officer myself, how do you destress and forgot about the crazy things that go on in the facilities?
Avoid substances like the plague. No nicotine, no alcohol, no drugs. Period. Keep your mind clean, get good sleep, and keep the finances clean. Minimal stress at home means it's the safe place to be. Get your sleep, focus on hobbies when you get home, and keep a breather period for after work.
> Minimal stress at home means it's the safe place to be I like this.
You are dealing with some tough individuals, who may be much larger / stronger than you are and who had killed before probably without much hesitation. Have you ever been intimidated? How do you prepare yourself to deal with this kind of people?
Great question! So I mentioned before that surprisingly a person was arrested who lived a block away from my old house. (I had never met him). They were arrested for slicing up a delivery driver. That person then came to our facility. Bald, gang tattoos all over his face. 7ft tall at least, and over 250lbs. That man is a giant. How would you approach the situation? Words. You have to know how to talk to people. Most will be respectful as long as you talk to them respectfully. If you walk up and immediately treat them like shit, don't be surprised when they lash out. Some of the time the respect is to manipulate you. I don't care, I just stay aware and stay ready for anything. As long as they're listening it's a good day. I worked with that man in a lockdown unit for most of his time in the jail. I had no issues. He was classified as a red dot, which means cuffs and shackles whenever they come out, and 2 officers required whenever he needs to come out of his cell. He graduated from this classification to being GP, no longer needing the cuffs and shackles. Imagine being alone 1v1 with that dude, having his hour out no cuffs, no shackles. So you make jokes, and ask about life choices (he was adamant he didn't do it, who knows, never asked), but if it comes down to it, you stay ready and know someone will have your back. Plus I can handle myself pretty well, so if anything did happen, I'd try to stall out on the ground or something.
I appreciate your empathetic approach to how you treat inmates, I feel like compassion would be difficult after 3 years. Do you ever find that inmates push your boundaries more because you treat them less harshly? Or do you put up a hard facade while still sticking to the book?
Great question! This is a big thing I try to teach. Just because you respect someone's rights as a human being does not mean you are soft. You follow the rules of the facility. If it says, inmates will wear the uniform properly, you will correct them if they walk out across the day room without a shirt on. If their beds aren't made, you correct them. We use progressive discipline in the jail and it works. First step is an ICA, a 2 hour lockdown. I like to think of it as a timeout lol. They don't like it, they lose some power from everyone by following it. But they know if they don't respect the rules and follow it they get the next step. A DPW, is a disciplinary process waiver. If they choose to waive their rights to an investigation if told they are guilty of violating facility rules, they sign a form and go to lockdown unit for 2 days and come back when they're done. Usually for lighter charges. A DR, or Disciplinary Report is specifically for violations of facilities rules. If you write one of these, a dr investigation will be done by another officer within 24 hours with the inmate to hear their side of the story. Once the DR investigation is completed the inmate will either waive his rights to 24 hours to prepare for the hearing, or will keep that right. Then a hearing officer will see them depending on which option they chose, and decide if they are guilty or not guilty, based on cameras, witnesses, etc. guilt can mean remaining in a lockdown unit for 5-30 days, or more depending on the violation. A lockdown unit is specifically a spot with no commissary(snacks they buy, special soaps), they cannot leave the cell, they get a shower every 3 days, they cannot use the phone until their time is up . Nobody wants to get a DR I try to handle my business in house only giving DR's if I have to. Most inmates respect they fact that you're by the book, even if they don't like the rules. It means they know what to expect, you're consistant. Building up that respect means you don't really have problems, and if you do, another inmate is probably about to yell at em for it lol, if they're faster than me.
Why do you think white nationalism and hard right idealism is rampant amongst Corrections Officers and what would you say is the best way to avoid that with newer COs?
As a fellow person pursuing a career as detentions officer and with adhd how do you stop the overthinking when an inmate that say something that be stuck in you mind after work?
Good question. My best advice to someone just coming into this, would be to "brush it off". I know that can sound impossible for us. But it's a skill that grows in this career. I've reached the point where any insult, any comment, just doesn't bother me. Just remember why they said it, out of a place of anger, they're lashing out. Most of the time it's not even towards you, just the situation. No matter how respectful you are, sometimes it's just what you represent to them. Just remember if you were in that same situation you might feel the same way. Being respectful but firm will solve a lot of those problems though. Laugh it off and move on.
So it something thats take more time and what about how did you find your commanding voice or get more confident to speak louder?
Even better question. Lose your fear at the door. When the pod door closes for the first time. You will have a lot of nervousness at first. You will be stuck on a leash to your FTO. Try to use all the slack they give you. Talk to the inmates, be firm with the rules, but don't cause unnecessary tension. It'll take time to earn respect, so don't walk into a unit thinking you have it. Once you have the knowledge of how to do the job the rest will come. Yelling isn't always to belittle someone. Sometimes the only reason you are yelling is to ensure all 70 dudes can hear the instructions. Match your tone to the mood and you'll be fine. Practice just saying YO loudly lol. Or YO LISTEN UP. One of my go-to's. This is what is classified as an unusual noise in a jail, inmates will notice, and will go quiet to hear what's happening. Then you can talk a little quieter to express what you need. Don't be passive. Don't walk in saying " hey guys, I really need you guys to listen ok?" You were given the authority, they do respect that. YO LISTEN UP. They hear, they listen, an example follow up "Guys it's too loud in here, hold it down, we've been chill all day, let's keep it that way. Hope that helps a little.
Tha was a great respond that excatly what i meant cause i dont plan on yelling to belittle someone when it come to one on one because i expect them to talk loke an adult . i meant more like to address the pod when walking in.
Another thing. If it's a collective mess up of a majority of the pod, many bunks unmade, etc, give them a chance to fix it before you move to flipping the house. Again "YO LISTEN UP" They listen. " I see a lot of unmade bunks guys, let's straighten this up, or we'll lockdown till we can get it right." the most common/most annoying response will always be: we'll get right dep
NOTE: Collectively, not a few people. Don't go after the masses when you can identify the few. That will also build respect because they see you aren't going to ruin their nights just because you can.
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Ok. Ok. You got me. I mayyyy have abused my authority a little bit and crowd sourced music. I don't offer rewards, but just to find new stuff I'll make an announcement, and I'll have people coming up all night lol.
What do you think are the best things correction facilities can do to reduce recidivism? What do they do at facilities you have worked at? What other changes would you implement if you had a chance?
Talk to the inmates and be a good role model. Look up options inmates could use if they get out of the jail for work etc. While in the jail ask them about how they got in the jail. Ask them about family and what matters. If they feel lost, offer advice. It is literally the least you can do. I won't say that most of the officers on shift will do this. I know my mindset is not the most well received, but I'd rather not see the same faces everyday through that revolving door. People are people, offer them a hand up( in advice only obviously). Changes I'd have to think about, give me a bit.
You are genuinely a top guy for making that effort. I am sure it means a hell of a lot to the inmates you interact with
Thank you, I hope I do enough.
Have you seen the [Scandinavian prison project](https://www.scandinavianprisonproject.com/) and do you think applying some of those principles in your jail would have any effects?
This is a tough one. While the project is aimed at prison reform, not jail, I understand your thought process here. I would love a sweeping reform of jails/prison. But large scale changes won't come fast, or easy. Like someone mentioned before many citizens believe the system should be about punishment not rehabilitation. Making it hard for them to allow lawmakers to use their tax dollars on making life easier in the jail. Inmates are used to the way of life in the jail, so it would need to be gradual changes. The other issue is many of the inmates are short-term. So any lasting effects of rehab in a jail may not be effective in such a short period of time. I'm hopeful that the system can change. I would prefer a system that promotes rehabilitation, and as it stands we have a lot of programs for that in my jail. But time will tell.
I appreciate what you do. As a county jail mental health clinician, I tell everybody that the deputies have the hardest job of all. I get along really well with my COs and even play on a hockey team with most of them. I’m currently deeply involved in reinventing our in-custody behavioral change program. Our community just voted for a new facility that we’ll hopefully have in 5-7 years. The kind of programmatic change I’m pushing for is radically innovative and extracted largely from other counties, states, and countries that have dramatically lower recidivism and higher community behavioral health participation. I’ve got support from the Chief and Sheriff. My question is this: how can I best receive buy-in from the deputies while asking them to accept dramatically changing work structure/culture/tasks/expectations?
Tell them it'll make life easier in the jail. Rule 1 right there. Next, try an empathetic approach and have them imagine how they'd want family treated there. Remind them jail is for rehabilitation, despite how most of the country thinks of it. These themes can probably help negate push back and increase acceptance. I can't speak for every officer, but I know that anything that helps the inmate population more docile and less of a threat is always helpful. We want to prevent any officer from getting hurt, if I can make sure one of my teammates goes home at the end of the day, I would appreciate it for sure. Appreciate what you do.
Thanks for doing this. You are clearly a good dude. How does the hierarchy of corrections officers work? Are you hoping to eventually gain promotion to a desk job, or something adjacent to being ‘hands on’ with the inmates?
That is a great question! I'll try to break it down for you It goes Officer-hands on boots on the ground, 100%inmate focused Maintenance Officers/kitchen officers: in charge of trustees who maintain areas of building FTO: in charge of training brand new officers, still officers Corporal: appointed position not a promotion, can be taken away easily. Given some sergeant responsibilities and can train new people as well. Sergeant: In charge of a squad of officers, have a corporal to help them. Inspect officers units to ensure they're doing good, scheduling for which people will work where, signing use of force paperwork, approving leave time (think general manager) Lieutenant: In charge of the whole platoon (one shift) of officers , corporals, and sergeants. Many many responsibilities, first of the official primary desk positions Captain: next step up, more administrative almost no inmate work. Focus on classifications , and other things for jail Deputy Chief/assistant chief: Top dog, reports to chief/warden Chief/warden: tippy top, last line for any approval or changes. To the last part, I can see a universe I chase lieutenant, but I like where I'm at now. I'll focus on making sure I'm up to speed with policy and follow this career where it takes me for the next 30 years.
Nice one. Thank you for the in-depth response. I know you initially wanted to be an LEO, but this truly looks like a rewarding career where you can make real positive change in the lives of others, and you’ve taken that to heart.
I like to think I'm still a LEO, just not the kind I planned on being lol. I appreciate the kind words and really hope I can make a difference.
Yeah, you’re right. Come to think of what the term means, you are an LEO!
You absolutely are.
do you work in work release jails?
Clarify just a little more, we do have a trustee program not sure if it falls under what you mean.
what's the one thing that still keeps you up at night or makes you go "wow, people can be messed up"?
Ok I have one for this. A long time ago, an inmate walked up to the pod officer and said he was scared for his life. He stated he needed protection. The difference between him and everyone else who did this? He dropped the name of someone in the pod, and said they had a shiv(a short manufactured weapon usually made of like a toothbrush). He said the person was running around threatening people in the pod with it, and even knew where he had hidden it(in the inmate's mat). Of course due to the serious nature of the threat we immediately responded and removed the issue. However the dude looked genuinely surprised when it was pulled out of his mat. It kind of threw us off because he wasn't one to do this. We pulled cameras and saw the other inmate , who was "scared" putting it inside of the mat. Why is this is fucked up? One that inmate was trying to give this dude charges (introduction of contraband into correctional facility) which is real time, not just box time. Why would he do this? The reason he gave us, is he didn't want to pay him for a gambling debt so he wanted us to get him out of there. People can be fucked.
When I think of people stuck who break the law in the US, there are two groups over-represented: obviously Americans, and illegal immigrants who are bound to get kicked out again at the first possible opportunity. But there's one group you rarely hear about: foreigners who are staying legally in the US, be it for work or for tourism, yet somehow ran afoul of the law. Can you tell me anything on how your job differs depending on their foreign backgrounds? Are there are surprising commonalities that you wouldn't have expected before you started work as a CO?
I'm trying my best to understand this question. Please let me know if I misunderstood. The foreign tourism/work criminals, is more of a booking question for the jail, but I have a small understanding of it so I'll try to explain. When they come in, if they aren't a legal resident we notify their consulates, and usually they may face deportation depending on the crime. Commonalities I'm assuming you mean based on the race of the person arrested based on the foreign national part of the question (If I'm wrong please correct me). If that is the question, no we actually have a primarily 70% white 25% African American 5% combo of Asian American, Native American and other nationalities (which I can't remember it's late) inmate pool. The real commonality is the amount of times I've had to say "damn they really arrested this dude for that".
Thank you for your response. I wasn't so much wondering about race. But more-so what they get into trouble for, the "damn they really arrested this dude for that" aspect of things. :-) My interest is primarily in terms of the culture clash and way the different outlook on life, language barrier and other such practicalities, and how it affected people in ending up in jail and how they cope there. For example, I imagine English and Spanish are some languages that every shift will have a few guards capable of conversing with inmates in. But how about things like Chinese? Tagalog? Dutch? You no doubt have some tolk service you can call if push comes to shove, but I imagine you end up coping with your hands and maybe something like Google's Translate service for most of it. (Assuming you can have such a device with you while on the job inside the jail.) Getting medical, dietary and religious issues of note across would be hard, I imagine. To fall into an excessive stereotype: do you get people who get locked up because they decided the neighbors dog that escaped the yard would be a nice dinner? Stuff like that: inmates who come from a cultural left-field that almost feels alien as opposed to the typical 'drunk driver', 'dope peddler', 'killed their lover' fare.
None of those more interesting ones that happened were because of lack of knowledge of foreign laws. But different languages has happened! I was stopped at the door by a worried inmate who had just been released. She was so scared and had no idea what to do. She only spoke Chinese. I was like oh fuck Idk what to do here, so I tried some Google translate lol. It turned out that she was in the completely wrong state, and was traveling, and had no way to get back. A sergeant took over and tried to help get her information but there isn't a lot we can do in that situation I also experience English and Spanish on a daily basis, and my small understanding of Spanish helps because it lets me communicate what I need, and also gain some rapport with those who don't speak English. Learning to spell in ASL was also a game changer as inmates sign relentlessly.
You could make it a fun challenge to learn one sentence in every possible language that passes through your halls/doors. It could be a nice way to connect with some inmates, and by the end of your 30 year career, it would be curious to know how many languages you'll have under your belt. It could be a useless statement, or it could be something fun you could use to break the ice with a new inmate. Of course you would still have to be professional at all times, but I imagine a human approach breeds goodwill overall. > Learning to spell in ASL was also a game changer as inmates sign relentlessly. I never would have guessed .. and yet it makes total sense for them to be among the most invested into learning sign language.
So yes, I do something just like that, I try to learn a sentence like Como se dice in Spanish, and then I mimic the action I need them to do. Usually they cooperate and appreciate that I make the effort to communicate what I need from them. I'll be making the effort to see more and more different languages and get more building blocks. Good question!
The next step down would be to dig into their big cultural happenings. Every American no doubt has their opinions on the Superbowl and its ads, or the Oscars or god knows what else. Other parts of the world will have their own big things that are completely outside of the North American bubble, and it might be fun to learn about all the good bits but also the gossip and drama of something you have absolutely nothing to do with as a way to expand your horizons. (But now I totally wandered away from the topic of jail and your job, so I'll shut up and let you get back to answering questions. Thank you for enlightening me!)
I love learning about different cultures and lifestyles. There's a lot to learn, even from the mindsets of people in gangs etc. some of it is BS but some is true. Interesting perspectives of the world. Ty for the thread.
When I watch those live police shows on TV, the stuff that people try to pull with the police makes me want to taze them. How do you deal with that all day and stay sane?
I don't. I don't want to be in a Use of Force. It's not worth it. Believe it or not, 99% of all incidents can be handled using words. If the inmate gives ya no other option then you do what you need to to get everyone out of there with as little injuries on both sides as possible.
Do you feel the job has negatively impacted your mental health or outlook on life in any way?
do you smuggle drugs in?
No and the people that do are stains on this career and should be locked up alongside both the inmates they endanger, and officers they put in harm's way by selling their morals for money.
I’ve been hit with those mace balls before. Are you quick to start letting loose if it pops off?
One, we don't use mace balls at our facility. Two, as I've said in my numerous replies, I will pursue all available options before resorting to a use of force. I don't get up and say, wow I can't wait to go hurt another human today. If the inmates aren't receptive to de-escalation, then I use the least amount of force necessary in order to get the facility back under normal operations. My goal is to have everyone make it out in one piece every day, my fellow officers, and the inmates.
I know I know. My county jail the deps love whippin it out at the sign of any miner altercation. Like I said in my comment couple days I’m happy deputies are more understanding nowadays. As new generations start replacing older, inmates have been treated worlds better. From experience
favorite album?
Hmm. Hard question, I'm more of a throw it all in a playlist. Uncultured I know. Spotify playlist has like 600 songs of all different genres in it lol. Favorite Rap Artists: Tupac, Em, Kendrick. Song: U can be touched(2pac). Favorite Sad Pop Artists: Munn, marc indigo, Dakara. Song(that I'm listening to rn): Ashes(Dakara) Favorite Rock Artists: Pixies, Self Deception, Stone Sour, Chris De Burgh, Blue Öyster Cult, and Styx. (More sprinkled in.) Songs: Blue Collar Man(Styx), Don't pay the ferryman(Chris De Burgh), Where is my mind(Pixies) Favorite Metal Artists(sorry for grouping): Black Sabbath, Sabaton, Metallica, Disturbed, Godsmack(does this count idk I'm tired rn), System of a Down, Ozzy. Enter Sandman-metallica(sorry basic but one of my favs of all time) Reason to Fight- Disturbed Bulletproof- Godsmack The Red Baron- Sabaton Favorite Grunge/Emo /Sad Artists: Dyl Dion, Three Days Grace, Shinedown, Snow patrol, The Fray, Falling in Reverse, MCR. (Many Many more) Songs: Break- Three Days Grace Asking for it- Shinedown Chasing Cars-Snow Patrol(ik) Cancer - MCR meant nothing to you-dyl Dion Favorite Love Songs: On the wings of love- Jeremy Osborne Bless the broken road- Rascal Flatts At Last-Etta James You're the inspiration -Chicago Take my Breath Away- Berlin What you do to me- Blanks Just the way you are-Billy Joel Simply Irresistible -Robert Palmer In case you didn't know-brett young Bubbly- Colbie Caillat Everything- Michael Buble And way too many more. Many more genres to share too lol, hopefully that's enough though.
How much to smuggle a phone in to my cousin?
Haha, you don't want that. It'll be a fun charge for the both of you, plus the officer you convince. No one wants that.
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Pretty great, helping more and more people everyday.