I have been retired from the Federal Bureau of Prisons for over four years now. Even so, I read an article the other day that inspired today’s post. Over and over it referred to a Correctional Officer as a “guard”. This is dedicated to Correctional Officers worldwide who risk their lives daily in service to the people of their cities, counties, states and/or countries. The general public has no clue what you do on a daily basis. I do. Thanks to all of you who continue the tradition of excellence.
We are Correctional Officers. We are not guards. We don’t guard anyone. We maintain order and discipline and prevent inmate escapes, murders, assaults, fights, and other types of disruptive and potentially dangerous behavior.
On the street we have no real authority unless we’re escorting an inmate somewhere. If we witness a crime in progress, at least in most states, we have the same authority as a private citizen when it comes to intervening. Of course, if we’re in uniform and armed I doubt any problems would arise from it but most likely a good defense attorney would use our limited law enforcement authority to protect his client. As well he should. But because we’re law enforcement officers, most of us would intervene (if it didn’t detract from our responsibility with an inmate) if we witnessed a crime in progress. We are, after all, law enforcement officials, even if some think we’re just “guards”.
Outside the prison fences and walls, and off of the prison property, we do not have the same law enforcement authority as a police officer. However, we have complete law enforcement authority over an inmate we may be escorting, anyone who tries to get between the inmate and us, or anyone who attempts to help the inmate escape. We have the authority to use deadly force to prevent an escape or to prevent the inmate, or someone who might attack the inmate (or us), from causing grievous bodily harm.
Inside the fences and walls we wear many hats. We are the police officers. We patrol our “neighborhood”, monitoring inmate behavior and ensuring (or trying to, anyway) inmates follow the rules, much in the same way a police officer patrols his beat. We intervene, even physically, when it becomes necessary in the performance of our duties. During off hours, that is – when specialty staff are not working – we are the behavioral counselors, the work supervisors, the chaplains and the psychologists. Our top priority is the custody and control of inmates yet we often perform certain duties of other staff in their absence. We talk to inmates about their behavior, instruct them as to what they need to do and take corrective action as necessary. We give them instructions concerning their jobs and supervise them to ensure their duties are properly completed. We sometimes inform them of family emergencies or deaths and help them make phone calls home. Sometimes we even have to sit quietly and let them cry. We listen to their problems when they feel the need to share or ask for help. We intervene when they get depressed and think of suicide and prevent them from actually doing it, as best we can, until the licensed psychologist arrives.
We are not guards. We are Correctional Officers. We are intelligent, educated and well trained. Certainly there are exceptions (as in any other profession) but for the most part we treat inmates in a professional manner and we don’t abuse or mistreat them. The stories you read in the newspaper about inmates being abused are the exceptions, not the rules. This is true even after we get feces or urine thrown on us by an inmate in Special Housing who can’t manage to control his anger and/or hatred, or after an inmate assaults a staff member, one of our own. Our job is to protect the inmates from each other and to protect the inmates from those staff who can’t seem to control their own anger.
Normally, correctional staff in movies and on television are portrayed as ignorant, hateful and often downright evil, preying on the inmates or making illegal deals with them. In all honesty, if TV cameras followed officers around all day and we’re doing our jobs effectively, the show would be rather dull. Certainly there are periods of intense excitement but the daily routine would make for a boring reality show. Effective correctional work keeps it that way.
We protect the public on a daily basis, even if that public never realizes the extent of what we do for them. Next time you see a correctional officer on TV remember that in reality these are the people who keep you and your families safe from convicted criminals. We work with them every day so you don’t have to have them in your neighborhood. And, for the most part, we’re good at it.
We are not guards. We are Correctional Officers.
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