Topic: Everything Education / Can i get into corrections??

Basically study policy and procedures. Most id common sense security.

Topic: Security Central / 8 pointed star

Depending on the shape I would say that that could be from a group called the 5 presenters. If there is also a block letter “7” near it and a crescent moon near a star. These are all identifiers of this group. In my institution they align themselves with the bloods.

Topic: Security Central / STG

At my institution we have a very large uptick in recruitment and it seems collaborations like the heartless felons are working with other gangs and because of this the ABs are working with the LKs. I am wondering if these issues are in other institutions and states and any tactics to deal with/identify would be helpful.

Topic: Security Central / Low Radiation Body Scanner

Lately I have seen many local jails getting these. They seem quite effective. I have read that one county jail has found multiple smugglers by using this device. I also like the concept of not having to strip as much or any more. If anyone has any experience with these devices or even better yet any ideas for funding the purchase or grants that can be tapped into for such a device I would love to hear about it. One module I forget the kind (my bad) can be used 400 times before you receive the same dose of radiation as a x-ray at your local hospital. I think this would be great in visiting room and even staff searches. So please share any thoughts or feelings.

Topic: Health & Wellness / How to get rid of anxiety and fear?

Well religion opens up another can of worms. Which one of the many mainstream religions that claim they are the only true one is right. Then don’t get me started on the corrupt men that do ungodly acts hiding in holy figure garbs. So lets roll over on medications. The fact that many medications cause so many more side effects then cure the condition. Modern medication is about curing symptoms not the underlying cause. I honestly have had enough run-ins with quacks that I doubt short of broken bones or life threatening illness I will simply self treat. It is amazing what good rest, exercise, and a healthy diet can do for you. Really exercise can actually regulate your hormones and have just as positive of an effect as some medications. You know without the suicidal thoughts and over active bladder.

Topic: Health & Wellness / How to get rid of anxiety and fear?

Well I am sorry you feel that way but fear is fear. There is no advice other then facing it that I can give. I do not have say any irrational fears like clowns or a tiny spider dose not make me flee a room and set it ablaze. I have a rational fear of heights. I face my fear every time I have to work on my roof or when a task needs taken care of. Do I go out of my way to say ride a roller coaster. No the answer is only if my daughter wants to ride one and it scares her. I simply suck it up and fight through it. I show my daughter that fear is okay to have but letting it effect your life to the point you can not function is not okay. Also taking medications to deal with not being comfortable with a situation when the meds can cause or make depression worse or one of the many 2 pages of tiny print that accompany them is not acceptable. So yes please go get told that its okay to be a weak individual who can not man or woman up. This is why the current generation is full of weaklings who can not face life and need therapist and medication to handle simple things like daily issues. There are serious mental issues out there like altered reality or even a inability to function due to lack of ability. These are rare. Everyone has some issue that makes them not “normal” all this means is they have to function or learn differently. This dose not give them a free pass to not function or deal with it. As young Huey from the Boondocks (great comedy) said. " The truth hurts. The world is a cold hard place and nobody gets anything for free. And you know what else? One day. You and everybody you know is gonna die."

Topic: A Broader View / Bail bond experience

Well sadly I have not but I find the whole bonding kind of ridicules. You either want the person out on the streets or not. If you have any feelings that they will run no amount of money will hold someone who truly wants to run.

Topic: The Club House / Want to live/work in USA

America is well. There are parts that do have violence and drug issues but for the most part you can live in relative peace so long as you are not breaking laws.

Topic: Health & Wellness / How to get rid of anxiety and fear?

Fear I do not have any answer for it other then to man or woman up. As for the stress I suggest some sort of physical exercise (yoga, running, weight lift, ect.) Also make sure to make you time if you have a hobby or something you really enjoy find people who enjoy the same thing and have fun.

Topic: The Club House / backround check?

I don’t know how they do it now. When I went through They did my testing run, lift, English, good sense, and once I passed they fingerprinted and interviewed me. after this it took 3 months for them to call me for a position close to a 2 hour drive away. I made sure declining this wouldn’t remove me from the lists and declined. about a month and a half later they called me for a prison only half an hour drive away which I accepted. Then I was given a start date and report time.

Topic: Health & Wellness / Washing your hands

Well the staff at our facility have a 6 inch rule. if food falls within 6 inches of the floor it is lost. I know I wash my desk and keys/equipment regularly. I also wash hands before and after the rest room and before eating. I know the population here has a high hepatitis concentration though we rarely have MRSA or other outbreaks and handle them quickly when we do.

Topic: Health & Wellness / Benefits of Yoga

I don’t do yoga but physical activity in corrections is a must. Not only dose it help with the getting stiff from waiting for something to happen I find that my emotional state is much better when I am in shape and physically fit.

Topic: Tech Talk / Cell Phone Detection

I have raised this issue on these forums before and have gotten some helpful tips and tricks but I am yet again here asking for help. At my current facility we have gotten both a large and hand held non-porous metal detector (This is a detector that picks up metals that a non conventional detector lets through like gold, silver, aluminum and other metals usually used in batteries and electronic devices). The results have been sketchy. We have yet to find one with the detector itself though it has caused a few to be tossed and found while herding the population by/through them. We have acquired a hand held phone detection device that picks up on outgoing signals. This has helped to a degree and has lead us to a couple phones. This device is useless unless the phone is in use. I have good old fashion rabbit hunted and shook my way down to a couple as well. The sad truth though is the number of phones making it into the facility is steadily growing faster than we can find them and it is going to become a huger issue. I need a system that can monitor use and pinpoint time, deration, and location of a designated area (the facility and grounds) then store this information and show up on a sky view map. I also need the ability to exclude known phones that belong to the facility such as the upper managements phones that are brought into the facility. What I mean is they will show up on some readout but when looking at the monitoring system they will not show on the over view of the facility. Then if this system detects our radios be able to have them excluded by call numbers. Also any other tips and trick would be appreciated. I would love to be guided to a system like this or guided to someone who would love to build one.

Topic: The Club House / Want to live/work in USA

The economy is getting better and work if you are willing to do a good job is out there. California is very expensive to live in compared to other places in the US. I live in Ohio and do well in this line of work. The major perk to corrections is there is never a shortage of overtime. If you are willing to work the pay is there. I know in my part of the country we have an opioid epidemic junkies, junkies everywhere.

Topic: Security Central / Use of restraint chairs Juvenile facility

Well restrains period are governed by policy in my state. The shift supervisor or MH staff are the only ones who can order them and only if certain requirements are met. Then we can only leave them down for 2 hours unless ordered by MH supervisor extends it and on top of that medical has to check them every 2 hours and they get range of movement. Then we have to follow a planned use of force policy to put them down. So more often then not unless they are seriously a danger to themselves or others we don’t even humor the idea. We currently have beds a chair that could be moved would make things easier for medical checks though but as little as we use them I don’t see them spending the money here.

Topic: The Club House / Women working in Corrections

Sadly management has the right to manage or mismanage so long as you are compensated by the agreed upon terms. This means as long as you are paid your hourly wage and any over time they can use you as needed to run the institution. Now there may be some bargaining unit agreements or local/state laws that can change this. You could if you have a contractual agreement from your bargaining unit over seniority and if you do in fact have enough females to cover the required posts the most senior should be able to pick in general roster by your time. I would need to know the state you work in and be able to look at your contract if you have a bargaining unit agreement with your employer to give you a definite yes or no though.

Topic: The Club House / Women working in Corrections

Sadly management has the right to manage or mismanage so long as you are compensated by the agreed upon terms. This means as long as you are paid your hourly wage and any over time they can use you as needed to run the institution. Now there may be some bargaining unit agreements or local/state laws that can change this. You could if you have a contractual agreement from your bargaining unit over seniority and if you do in fact have enough females to cover the required posts the most senior should be able to pick in general roster by your time. I would need to know the state you work in and be able to look at your contract if you have a bargaining unit agreement with your employer to give you a definite yes or no though.

Topic: A Broader View / A Correctional Sense of Humor

I have noticed over the years that fond ability to see through people trying to pull the wool over my eyes. Sadly most people really have no idea what it is we do on a daily basis and still try to lie or deceive us. I always test people inmates, staff, friends, and even family with simple truth tests from time to time just to see the outcome. You would not believe the amount of lies people tell. The thing that strikes me the most is how often people just tell you what they think you want to hear. My daughter hates it for sure.

Topic: A Broader View / Perception of Correctional staff

No I don’t but I do think your view is very bias. You see if I were to apply your stereotypical thinking towards correctional officers to that of the inmate population I would have to view you by every fault I have seen over my carrier in every inmate. I would rather hope you are part of the percentage that dose get their lives together after they do their time.

Now you summed it up quite nicely there is a very low standard for getting hired in as a correctional officer. They have in fact in the last few years lowered the requirements for new recruits. There have been many new recruits who have been let go simply for down right stupidity. This is because the state is having a hard time finding people willing to do this job. Simply put this generation of Americans tend to be lazy, feel entitled, and lack good work ethic.

Now that aside correctional officers have a long laundry list of policies we must memorize and enforce. We are responsible for the areas we watch and the actions of not only ourselves but also the inmates we are assigned to supervise. This also covers how we react to any events that happen in our assigned areas. To step into a prison you take on a lot of legal liability. This doesn’t cover the physical dangers either. You also sign up for stress at levels that can induce panic attacks at times. This is a unique job and there are days I look at it and think damn today was easy and think I made good money doing very little. Then the next day might be one of those days where I rethink my occupation and question if I want to stay for the penitence the state pays. Sadly this job changes every day its not like one where you sit on a line and put bolt B-2 in hole B-2 in between breaks. There are days I do not get to eat my lunch. There are days I do not get to sit. There are days where I can get by with doing the bare minimum. But to sit back and state that every C.O. is worthless and a waste of tax dollars is just as far off base as saying that they should earn a six figure salary. The reality is its a rough job that must be done and they have to pay better then stocking shelves at a store or flipping burgers if you want to get people worth a crap. If you hire worthless staff in this job you cant keep enough people to even run an institution.

Topic: A Broader View / A Correctional Sense of Humor

Well anyone who has been in corrections for any period of time has noticed that the people in this environment have a warped sense of humor. I was talking with some fellow officers about some recent events and the humor in them. Like there was an event where a younger inmate was pressing an older inmate in the chow hall. The younger inmate decided for what ever reason to put his finger in the older ones food. This caused the older inmate to raise out of his seat punching the younger one all the way up. The younger inmate was probably struck 5 or 6 times before eating a hard hook. This knocked the young guy out. The older inmate then pushed the other inmate under a close by table with his feet and sat down eating his meal. Now talking about this incident made every face burst out in a smile or chuckles. This is some of the light hearted humor there is more dark humor but I digress. Now talking to a non correctional person about this very event didn’t bring about the intended response. Instead I got a almost appalled look and a line of questions like was the young guy okay. Then the typical why didn’t you stop it. This got me thinking why do correctional staff find this sort of thing humorous. Don’t get me wrong we have concern for the inmate who was knocked out he got medically checked and conduct reports written and discipline dealt out. Yet even when I sit back typing out this thread I smile reminiscing. The environment we work in plays a great deal into this. Is it the lack of exposure that non-correctional people get in the world lead to the difference between our humors or is it truly something deeper?

Topic: Security Central / Inmates and disposable razors

They have Magic Shave and use it but I don’t see them getting rid of razors. If that’s the case we will never have an inmate use any tool for any job at any time. We issue them large metal locker boxes to store their property in. Seen that used as a weapon. They are sold locks to secure their property. Seen that used as a weapon. We give them plastic sporks to eat with. Seen that used as a weapon. We give them pencils and pens to write and do school work. Seen those used as weapons. Within reason anything is a weapon. We issue them items that they need to preform duties and take care of themselves. There will always be people who will use anything regardless of the consequences as long as it serves their needs. So a small razor is no different then any other item. If someone wants to do bad they will with what ever they have.

Topic: The Club House / Look, up in the sky, it's a bird, no, its a plane, no, its a drone!!

Well considering that radio shack has a very inexpensive model it wont be long. We spotted one not too long ago at night. We need to set up jammers for the cell phones and now these. We might not be able to stop them but at least make it so once they send one over our institutions they lose all signal and it crashes.

Topic: The Club House / Dissertation Research

Well I don’t know. I have been at this for a while. I came in I was hazed/harassed by not only the inmate but also the staff and supervisors. Now after being here 11 years I know why. They are trying to pick off the weaker people before they get themselves or others hurt. The staff at my institution are like family. We fight, bicker, call each other names, and even throw toothpaste at each other. Kinda sounds like children at play. I know the guy who just smeared toothpaste on the receiver of my phone and called me to scream " Gotcha!" . He will be the guy laughing his ass off with me later when I super spice his hot wings that day. This will be the same guy who when we lose an officer to an accident will give $50 to the fund we all start and will be there for that officers family and kids long after he passed. This guy will be the same one who stands back to back with you while there is a 40 man fight and all you have is a can of O.C. and a radio calling for help. We are a screwed up family but that’s the thing we are FAMILY.

Topic: Security Central / Juggalos and Juggalettes

Yes they do . We have a spin off that use the Hatchet Man symbol as their gang sign. Not to say all music done by ICP or those falling under their label are bad just that some people take stuff and misinterpret or bend it to their means. I can think of religions going through this issue. Though I think songs about blood, guts, fingers, and toes are much too easily warped. Heck any gang can fly under any flag. We have some called the AK-47 Boyz. Now do I think every person who owns one of these finely crafted German weapons is a member? Most likely not.

Topic: Letter of The Law / Drug Testing Employees

The numbers are random. It seems like they pick and choose who they test for a period of time they tested me over and over again. I guess I was on their radar. Either way I got paid to sit around eat lunch and sip on large sodas while watching mid day tv until I was ready to go. Yes there is an active policy and even one for discipline for failure.