Correctional Officers’ Experiences We want to thank the Criminal Justice for inviting us to your class.
We have prepared answers to the questions your professor submitted to us that as students you want answered. We believe you will find our answers interesting and helpful in understanding the operation of our maximum security prison. The impact on prison security is influenced by its environment. Our prison uses the unit management concept with additional contingencies easily incorporated in cases when the environment changes.We have several policies and procedures in place to enhance inmate management and security. Unit management allows us to organize the prison into smaller components, decentralizing some of the authority to manage the inmate population, thus making staff more accessible to the inmate population.
A benefit to this type of structure is it provides staff the ability to monitor inmate activities. This aids with inmate rehabilitation by observing how each inmate behaves daily. Our staff includes us correctional officers, social workers, correctional counselors, educational, and mental health advisors.This helps us to ensure our security and measures by allowing us to observe potential issues prior to them becoming situations. In my short time here as a correctional officer, this type of management has prevented illegal activities, such as gambling, and physical assaults. This system combined with inmate classifications help to ensure security and custody.
It is effective, but because our inmate population continues to grow, we are not able to prevent every mishap from occurring and lock-downs are necessary.We have locked down our facility to keep inmates safe when we receive intelligence of a possible strike or uprising. Maximum-security inmates occupy one and two person cells. Custody level is designed and constructed on the inmate’s classification, which reflects the maximum external and internal control that needs to be provided, and the use of high security perimeters for use of supervision of inmates and use of checkpoints and internal physical barriers.
Maximum security inmates present serious threats to the orderly running of the institution, staff, to themselves, to other inmates, and escape risks.Secure custody methods we have put into place are for the safeties of those involved in the prison are not put in jeopardy. Our facility has locks cells and backup locks throughout the facility to limit access to other parts of the institution. In addition, a double gate at the prison entrance to reduce the likelihood of escapees. Other secure custody methods in our facility include counting heads to know inmate’s whereabouts, control of contraband, and searches of the inmate’s clothes to full body cavity searches, shakedowns of inmate’s area and inmate’s on lockdown.The prison environment affects secure custody in many ways.
Supervision of inmates is direct and constant. The prison staff has maximum control of movement. Inmate’s movements often involve restraints and correctional officer escorts. We believe this is the best way to contain the custody of these inmates within our prison system.
The prison staff has maximum control of movement. To ensure professionalism among the corrections staff is very easy because we are a tight knit group. However, if one officer tells an inmate to do something we will support the decision they made.The biggest thing is that we always have each other’s back when it is needed. We make sure that each one of us follows policy and procedures of the institution.
This job is unlike any other job one can do in society. Working as a correctional officer we deal with people society does not want to. We have to be professional at all times because it helps keep that inmate and officer relationship boundary. a CO wear many hats in the institution, we have to be counselors, mentors, officers, and many other things that can help keep the inmates in a calm and orderly behavior.A correctional officer must be in control of his or her emotions at all times to maintain a professional demeanor, even when assaulted, getting bodily fluid thrown on you, and getting verbally abused by hostile inmates on a daily basis. It is never personal it is just part of the job.
If a correctional officer loses professionalism the inmates will not respect that officer and will be a constant target for other inmate’s verbal abuse. This is why professionalism is important and to we have it we back each other up.Our prison is a nonprofit prison, which means that we are funded by the government, and we are accountable for any wrong behavior, mistreatment of inmates, contraband entering the prison, and any type of errors that may or does at times happen within the prison. Because we are government funded, we have to be fully trained law enforcement officers to work here. Our work consists of the responsibilities of maintaining proper order, contractor security, patrol duties, searching procedures including security systems, carrying out security checks, account of prisoners, and prisoner supervision.In addition, advising and counseling prisoners, escorting prisoners, employing authorized physical control, restraint procedures, if needed prisoners have access to professional help, providing prisoner information, and supervising visits.
We take proper care of assessing and advising prisoners, promoting anti-bullying and suicide prevention policies, writing reports on prisoners, taking account of their rights and dignity. In addition, their personal responsibility, prisoner’s rehabilitation programmers, prisoner’s property, and prisoners at risk of self harm providing appropriate care and support.A private system of a prison is not government funded it is funded by a private company, so therefore they do not have to follow the same rules that we do. The work experience for a private prison is much different from ours because the private sector prison officers have lack of experience and sufficient training compared by the Prison Service employed officers.
Ensuring the safety of prisoners and security of institutions are concerns within the private prison system. There are reports of bullying in private prisons, which this is not tolerated for us.Another suggestion of private prisons is racism, which is not tolerated for us. Private prison employees are not held accountable for his or her actions as we are. We hope that we have answered your questions with answers that have helped you to understand the daily life of an officer within the prison system. That you understand what is required, and accepted behavior of an officer working in a government funded prison, and the requirement of those working in the private prison system.
Once again thank you for inviting us to your class.
