Topic: A Broader View / A Troubled Jail, Divided Staff

I too wasn’t able to conceive of a solution to the division among staff, and I’ve been feeling this thing out for a year now. I very much hope though that in the end it doesn’t take the sacrifice of an officer’s life, or the sacrifice of an officer’s well-being through critical injury, before the staff begins to realize they each have common interests, and are all one another’s got behind those walls. As I’ve already tried to explain to a few officers: betrayal, hatred and warring cliques aside, we already are a family – just a very dysfunctional one, but it doesn’t have to be that way. I’ve already gained something of a reputation for being a neutral party and an occasional arbitrator. I’m of the opinion though that leading by example just isn’t sufficient catalyst for the complete overhaul of the staffs tainted personalities and resulting neagtive behavior patterns.

If solidarity isn’t to be found through our mutual struggles, and compassion a word reserved only for those few who care, I worry of what exactly will become of us if this pending riot on everyone’s lips ever comes to fruition. Sun Tzu said “Victorious warriors win first and then go to war.” We are already thoroughly divided, and thus conquered. Nevertheless, I continue to hope there’s another way.

Topic: A Broader View / A Troubled Jail, Divided Staff

I’m an officer at a facility where there is an intense amount of division among staff and deep rooted morale issues, and it’s been this way for a very long time. The situation here is so grave that officers frequently trash-talk one another behind eachothers backs, to fellow officers and to inmates alike. Many officers bare such hostility for one another that they’ll even ignore calls for assistance and speak openly about their unwillingness to aid eachother. They’ll even boldly remark that they’d enjoy seeing the officer or supervisor they dislike injured. Supervisors berate officers in front of inmates, and both supervisors and officers can occasionally be found putting one another at risk through maliciousness and wilful negligence, sometimes resulting in staff assaults. Officers laugh at and mock officers who’re undergoing increased stress through incidents on their posts, and stab one another in the back on the regular. Officers are commonly indifferent toward depressed attitudes of one another, and generally just don’t seem to care about eachother in the slightest.

Here, unity and brotherhood is practically inexistent, as is safety and security. Is there any way to correct this staff’s behavior, inspiring them to convert into a team that respects and cares about one another – a family?