In order to get a grant or any loans I need to following Q's answered about Corrections, Cop's only Please!

Question

I was told that I need to ask a person in the field that I'm going into these questions... so here is your first round of helping me out. It would also be helpful if you tell me the state in which you work and your name and rank so that when I go to fill out my paper work I can show that I did do the foot work. thanks

1) On a typical day in this position, what would a person do?

2) What personal qualities or abilities are important to being successful in this job?

3) What are the salary ranges for various levels in this field?

4) What are the qualifictions for jobs in this field?

5) Is there a demand for people in this field?

6) How do you see jobs in this field changing in the future?

7) From your perspective, what are the problems you see working in this field?

8) What part of this job do you find most satisfying?

Answer 1

Commonwealth of Virginia, Rank of Sergeant, name withheld at this time.

1) Maintain the safety and security of the inmates, officers, public, and facility. We feed inmates three times a day. We offer inmates various programs in order to better themselves, such as AA, NA, Computer Class, GED, Life w/o a Crutch, Bible Study, etc. These classes are taught by volunteers, but we must get the inmates to and from the classes. We often joke that our jobs are comparable to baby sitting.

2) You must be able to keep a calm demeanor and work on your Interpersonal Communication skills. You have to bounce quickly from being a counselor to being intimidating. Be honest to the inmates. If they can't trust you, they can't work with you.

3) In Virginia, the base starting salary for corrections is now around $25,000. It's not much, but a large number of the larger Correctional Institutions are out in rural areas without a lot of industry or high wage jobs. (IE: In areas with a low cost of living.) However, the benefits (health insurance, life insurance, retirement, etc.) are much better than a comparable job in the private sector. County Jails in more affluent jurisdictions can have a much larger starting pay.

4) A diploma, a driver’s license, and no record of felonies. Very basic. That being stated, I must point out that I have a graduate degree. This field often attracts people that somehow didn't fit in their chosen fields. One of the officers has a degree in geology. A lot of ex-military also work in this field.

5) There is always a demand for people in this field. Unfortunately, the field of corrections is viewed negatively in print and media. Corrections Officers are always portrayed as violent, ignorant Neanderthals. No one grows up wanting a career in corrections. It is hard to hire staff and even harder to retain staff. Corrections in and of itself is a negative environment. The inmates don’t want to be here. Humans are social creatures and when we are surrounded by others in misery, we feel miserable ourselves.

6) The field is changing in two ways. First, in the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s, there were many landmark U.S. Supreme Court Decisions that redefined and improved the treatment of inmates to this day. Every year, there are new standards to meet because of court decisions. On one hand, security is threatened because we may not conduct strip searches of new intakes. (Thus allowing inmates to smuggle in drugs and weapons.) On the other we can now charge inmates for their medical treatments, bill them when they vandalize items, and charge up to $1.00 a day for housing. All monies collected must be spent on the inmates in some way. Thus, now we can afford to fund ALL inmate programs, rather than just picking a few. The second way the field is changing is the philosophy of inmate treatment, officer treatment, and facility design. The transition from a Linear Jail Design to a Direct Supervision Jail Design has changed how jails are run. Previously, the inmates “ran” the jail and officers just kept them inside the walls. Now, officers can manage the inmates using observation and their verbal skills. (I’d tell a story about how I stopped a riot of 40+ inmates just because they respected me, but I don’t have the time or space.)

7) The problems that I see are lack of money and lack of respect. The field of corrections is a big target of politicians. They see that any money spent there is going to the inmates, so they try to cut funding to show that they are tough on criminals. At my agency, we provide the inmates with only the basics and everything else that they get comes from monies earned through the Inmate Fund. (They are not subsisting at bread and water levels, quite the opposite.) We are fortunate in that we have a new facility and that our previous administrator knew how to manage money. If they cut funding, it will come from the officer’s salaries and the security measures, not from the inmates. The lack of respect can be more devastating. Again, humans are social creatures. When moral is low at an agency, you worry more about threats from your fellow officers and begin to identify more closely with the inmates.

8) Sometimes, I wonder why I am still here. I started back in the Clinton years and the job market was hard to break into. I couldn’t seem to get hired on as a police officer and I wanted some extra money to go to Graduate School. The job sucked me in because there was always another adventure around the corner and something else to learn about the law, human nature, or even physics. The job is not straightforward, nothing is what it seems! I’m working with people from diverse backgrounds, and when we are involved in an event I learn so much from their different perceptions. I look at the police offices who bring inmates in and I wonder how they can be so simple minded and naive in their perceptions of the inmates and how they can ignore some of the basic precepts of safety. And then I realize that most of them are young and inexperienced. They may have previous experience in security, or they may have served in Iraq, but they still haven’t learned this job, this world. I’ve realized that we are not like you or yours, and we never will be ever again. We are not better than, or less than, others. We are simply apart. I learn something new every day. I have come to realize that if I ever stop learning, it’s time for me to leave this profession. I would have become a danger to my fellow officers and to myself.

I haven’t had much time to write, or much time to think about this. But I do hope that I have helped you.