How can police officers/ people who work in prison handle it?

Question

My entire life I have wanted a job regarding criminal law. I've always thought I could handle it, I'm graduating in three years and I'm so sure that's what I want to do. Just five minutes ago I was looking at random sites on the internet and I found these two...
http://www.thememoryhole.org/deaths/texas-final-meals.htm
http://www.deadmaneating.com/dmearch.html
...the first really facinated me, and the second just made me sick. I mean these people...they're normal. Sure they've done horrible things and diserve to be punished, but they're PEOPLE. I mean...this is a list of what they last wanted to EAT. And...when I read this it scared me so much. Now I'm thing Criminal Law isn't for me...how the you people handle this? Am I just weak or does everyone feel like this after they read something/ see something like that??

Answer 1

It's called gallows humor. Most of the officers I work with who are succesful have really good senses of humor. Some people see it as being insensitive, others call it a defense mechanism. But we find humor in things that most people would cringe from. You have to be able to laugh to blow off the steam. It's not just the horrible things you see or deal with (my job keeps me in constant contact with Child Predators) there are the normal stresses of the job. Such as people telling you their tax dollars pay your salary, or the person who cursed you out with every name in the book and threatened to "get you" after your shift then writes a complaint about how "rude" you were to them, etc...

You learn to deal with it by laughing and just really not caring. I have enough friends, I don't care if the person who posted a "question" about how much he hates cops likes me. I don't care if people understand my job. I really don't, and that is part of the secret. There have been times when I have wanted to quit, the main thing that brings me back is all of the friends I have at work, and how much fun we have together.

Don't worry about the awful things people do, concentrate on how you do your part to stop them. Three years ago we caught a child predator. He had a book written by a psychologist about the mind of a predator. He had all of these hand written notes in the margins disagreeing with the points in the book. Then at the end he had a three page handwritten "confession" of a predator. All of these years later I can still remember the sweat on my forehead, the hairs on the back of my neck and the immense anger I felt reading it while this guy stood three feet from me. All these years later I can still quote that "confession" verbatim, but I will never tell anyone outside of law enforcement what it said. Instead I focus on the immense fealing of satisfaction I felt when we slapped the cuffs on him and I knew he was going away for a LONG time. That is what you focus on.

Answer 2

I see some pretty poor answers here. Some have no clue.

Anyway, in these type of professions, many deal with the difficult things they see and experience through humor. Its clear that over time one has to deal with these situations or the stresses will burn you out. Typical of police, corrections, EMS, search and rescue, and military.

Another symptom of corrections or law enforcment employment is... cynisism. You loose trust in others. After a time, dealing with the repeated lies from suspects/inmates, and poor decision making of the same individuals, you tend to keep your back to the wall. In a restauraunt, you will sit where you can see the entire room. Its not a bad thing. Its just a way of adapting to the particular lifestyle in law enforcement.

But, if you are within a good department, or corrections institution, training is everything. There is a lot out there to help officers realize difficulties and how best to deal with them. After a typical day at work, operating ones mind senses and communication ability at 95% tends to wear on anyone. The person gets home and shuts down. Does'nt want to talk, smile, play with the kids, or much of anything accept veg in front of the tv. Its no wonder so many officers families end up in divorce. The stress of the job does long term damage. But, again, the training makes the difference. Knowing about the problem, makes it easier to fix.

Don't let the stories get you down. The job really isn't that bad. Why else do so many do it ? Anyway, any job requires some attitude adjustment in some way. Its is a position that demands truthfulness, character, integrity, leadership, and self sacrifice. It is a honorable position. Those here who say otherwise, (who sound like past inmates) have no clue just what it takes.

"I mean these people...they're normal. Sure they've done horrible things and diserve to be punished, but they're PEOPLE." - Yes, they are people. But they don't look at things the same as you or I. Many, if not all, are NOT normal. Some grew up in homes the likes of witch we dare not imagine. You should see one I'm dealing with now. Can't even dare to explain, nor would I try. But, I take great comfort in what I have at home, and will not take it for granted.

As for the web pages... Strange that this takes up space on the internet. Can't see why anyone would care, but thats just me.

Good luck :)

Answer 3

I couldn't watch someone die like that. Is there anyway that you can volunteer or job shadow at a prison? Maybe if you were in that environment, that would help you to see if it's something you could do. I've always wanted to be a mortician and my dad keeps telling me that I don't know if I'd like it....being around dead people. So, it's kind of the same situation I guess. You never really know with any career if you'll like it or not until you get into it. I'm fascinated with the medical field and I love watching hospital shows on TV and I actually volunteer in a hospital right now, but I know that I would not like working in the medical field. I don't really like to touch people and I don't have that personality that good medical personel need to have. So, even though I'm interested in it, I know it's not for me.

Answer 4

I find it does not bother me much at all, but I also worked in surgery for 6 years and have had people I have talked to just hours before die on the operating room table. The thing is, is it is usually hard at first but one develops ways to deal with the stress and hardships of the job. These people that were executed did deserve to be taken out of society. They had committed horrible crimes against another person. These criminals had killed someone else’s father, brother, sister, mother. They needed to be executed for what they did. While you can feel for them you should always remember that it was due to the fact that they willingly killed another person, and usually in a far more violent and evil way than they were killed. I mean look at poor Jessica Lunsford’s killer John Chuey. He kidnapped, raped, and then buried that poor little 3rd grade girl in a grave tied up in two plastic garbage bags with her stuffed animal, where she suffocated to death. He was sentenced to death today. I will feel no remorse for him when he is executed. I feel more for Jessica's poor parents and her grandparents who lost there little girl to a pedophile, drug addict that killed her. While you may feel some sympathy for the ones who are put to death, you must always remember that they took an innocent life and destroyed many other lives in the process.

Answer 5

If you're going to feel sorry for heinous CRIMINALS before you even get there ....... you don't belong there. These "people" have committed crimes against others and they AREN'T normal.
As far as handling it .... it's a job, and I do my best to leave it there when I go home. Yes, I've seen actual horror stories that the average person wouldn't believe if I told them. All the more reason to leave it there.

Answer 6

working in a prison isn't like in the movies. you dont' go around beating people up and calling people names, that's a way to get yourself killed. you give respect and demand respect. the inmates know and understand the rules, you just enforce them. you get called names and all of that, but you write them up and they get sanctions. and it really doesn't get to you, because no matter what they do or say, you get to go home after 8 hours and they are there for many many years.

Answer 7

I'm not entirely sure what exactly you are afraid of from that last website. I mean, it's just stating what those people last ate. What's so scary about that? I'm sorry if I'm being insensitive, but I failed to find anything really upsetting or scary from that last website...

Answer 8

Police Officers do not work in Prisons, Prison Guards work in Prisons.

Answer 9

cops don't work in prisons. prison gaurds are low lifes that would be BEHIND bars if they weren't lucky enough to find a place to vent their hostilities. i'm glad the gaurds are in prison most of the day.