PRISONER EXPRESS

Whether you are currently employed as a prison guard, considering such employment, or just interested in general, there are many aspects of prison that can be revealed from my position as a prisoner.

Your first though is sure to be, "Why should I listen to a prisoner?" If you have been through the current training program for guards at Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ), or most other such programs, you were taught that you can't trust or listen to us, and may have been told that all prisoners are scum. It is in the best interest of all to dissolve that mental stigma as soon as possible. We are just like you, no better and no worse, in most cases the difference is so slight as to be negligible; we got caught, you didn't.

This is easily verified. Talk to your fellow guards. We are even from the same social strata. Go to a guards party and drugs are likely party favor. We may have had the same dope connection, one of us might have been your dope connection, or you could have been ours. This boils down to our all being humans. We all make bad decisions in our lives and often there is only a bit of bad luck that differentiates between our circumstances. If we had met outside these prison walls we might have been friends, or even lovers. As things stand, if you plan to make a career in corrections, that is no longer possible. Not that we can't be friends. We can and should, where possible, be friendly and kind to each other. It costs us nothing and we all gain by the more positive conditions engendered.

Now that we have established our commonality, as well as how our paths diverged, perhaps you will agree that an old convict could give you a few pointers on being a professional Corrections Officer. Any A--Hole with a GED can be a prison guard. To be deserving of the title, Corrections Officer, takes something special. In the same way being an inmate only requires getting convicted of a felony, even one you are not guilty of. Though convicts are rare as hen's teeth in this "new wave" prison system. Ask one of those old COs, twenty or so years of service, who taught him to do his job. In most cases it was a convict. We're still the best ones for the job; there is just not enough of us to go around now days. Those old timers could tell you how they learned, even what they learned; but, you will never conceive the principle without experiencing honest dialogue with a convict.

Since convicts are a dying breed, though there will always be a few rare individuals, maybe we can use this new format and come full circle to share our little knowledge. If I'm lucky we will help to continue our rare lineage, convict and that most respected member of any prison staff the Convict Officer.

The Rule Book

For over 100 years TDCJ has developed rules to cover every possibility which might occur. Being a reactive form of bureaucracy, most rules came into being because of some event in which there had been no existing rule to guide decision makers. For all this, it is still only a guideline. To enforce it, line by line, page by page, would cause a level of tension that could be dangerous. The powers that be, though they will never admit it, expect officers to use their common sense in the extent they enforce these rules.

Penologist have for years compared prisoners to pressure cookers. A pressure cooker needs to needs a release valve to not become a bomb. In prison this valve can take on many forms. Before blood born diseases, tattooing was one such release. It has always been against the rules, and because it takes large amounts of paraphernalia, prisoners had to resist starting any situation, like riots, that could bring about shake down, in retaliation, looking for contraband. Peer pressure from tattoo artists caused the whole prison to run smoothly. Even with the current endemic of blood born pathogens, tattooing is often ignored to reduce stress. A friend here who did time in the California system told me they only write cases for tattooing if you are not following set guidelines for safety.

Every facet of an officers conduct should reflect this need to allow some internal pressure to escape nonviolently. Pressure is the one thing that an officer should allow to escape. Unfortunately it's not in their job description. It is your choice the level of rule enforcement you apply. Hopefully you will keep this visual image of a pressure cooker in mind as you develop your persona. Whatever you do, be consistent. If you are consistent, even if you choose to be a "robo-cop," your actions won't be as stressful. The more you enforce rules to make a prisoner's time harder, the greater the need for you to enforce the rules that make that time easier. The most hated guards are those who go out of their way to nit pick at prisoners over minor violations while ignoring those rules of conduct that govern their own actions. Why would you care? It's very simple. You are dealing with people who may have nothing to lose. You can't be sure which prisoner has no hope of release, or what personal situation, such as deaths in the family for divorces, may color the decision making process. Fact of the matter is that some prisoners are prone to violence. You shouldn't be scared, if you are you shouldn't be working in corrections. There is a difference between being brave and being stupid. A good rule of thumb is to ask yourself if enforcing a rule is worth dying for. It's rare, yet, it is possible. If any encounter between an officer and a prisoner becomes violent, the officer has failed in his job.

There was a time when, in a conversation, I discussed a "robo-cop" with a real laid back officer I worked with. To my surprise, he told me he had once been a "robo-cop." It was his opinion that when the guard we were talking about had enough experience he would change his ways. Yeah, I wanted to know too. When he lifted his hair there was a mass of scar tissue on his forehead. He went on to explain how he had been hit in the head with a can of mackerel because of his conduct. That's when he decided to change his way of handling his authority. The prison environment is intense and there will always be releases of that tension. The key is to seeing that those releases do not result in violence. If no prisoner is escaping and no one gets hurt you have succeeded in your main objective.

One example of rule violations, that is harmless, is the use of contraband fishing lines to pass magazines and other goods between cells in administrative segregation (ad-seg). There are guards who chase lines and write trafficking and trading disciplinary reports over their use. This is the main offense committed in ad-seg and it's not that big a deal. Just a bunch of bored prisoners trying to help each other fill the long hours, 23 per day, they spend in a tiny cell alone.

Often the Guards are most intent on enforcing this rule are the most lax at enforcing the rules concerning serving meals. No hair net, or gloves, and trays are not kept at the proper temperature are normal. This can allow food poisoning. They are too busy nit picking on a minor violation to make their required inspection rounds. Since the panic buttons don't work, or are not answered, if a prisoner has a heart attack, becomes suicidal, or has some other emergency that prisoner may die. No one has ever died from a fishing line.

Most of us would rather an officer enforce all the rules, all the time, in a consistent manner, so we can know what to expect. At times rules are so arbitrarily enforced that we have to know who the sergeant and lieutenant are on duty, as well as the guard, to know what the rules are. That could make anyone crazy.

It is your job to enforce the rules, though the best officers are selective about what rules to enforce. Prisoners need outlets to survive prison. Rule breaking relieves stress and all of us break the rules, even officers. One of the best officers I ever knew, who must remain nameless, told me, "If it's a threat to security, then I have to do something about it. But, I'm not here to write petty cases to keep you here longer." Smart man. Drugs and weapons are a threat to all of us and you should be hard on those. On the other hand, gamblers are going to gamble. Why sweat it? As long as it's not getting out of hand let it go. If no one is getting hurt, or likely to, look the other way. When it comes to rules a guard here has 12 hours per day, four days on, and four days off, to catch us. We have 24/7 to find a way to not be caught. If we get busted we have no one to blame except ourselves.

My advice is to find a middle ground on enforcing rules, heave on enforcing those that make a prisoners time easier, and then stick to it.

Some rules are meant to be broken. Would you sit on your toiler with the door open? We cover our view windows for the same reason. Knock and see that the person is ok. Even tell them to take the cover down when they finish. But, don't knock that cover down or beat and bang about it. Why make a prisoner hate you? Would you want to be humiliated while on your toilet? A few minutes of privacy, in a world where privacy is so limited, can go a long way toward building respect and a friendly rapport.

Before you write an offence report for a disciplinary infraction take the time to think what effect it will have. The worst attitude you can have is that, "The prisoner should have thought of the consequences before he broke the rules." A disciplinary will, in most cases, cause that prisoner to spend another couple of years in prison. A little compassion, for some lesser infraction, won't hurt anyone. It won't mean you are weak. It will buy you a lot of respect and when you do write a disciplinary everyone will know the person deserved it. Even your supervisors will take your cases more seriously if you show a modicum of discretion.

Know Your Place

The greatest fault in TDCJ is the blurring of the line between the officers and prisoners. Our interactions need to be limited by our circumstances. Not a thing wrong with sharing a joke and speaking together. A smile and a kind word can be the difference between a hard day and an easy one for both of us. The line is crossed when guards want to wrestle and chest box with prisoners. Horse play can get out of hand, and if it does, when the players are guards and prisoners, the prisoners always loses. Don't play pranks on prisoners. It's not right. The playing field is tilted because a prisoner can get felony assault charges for the same pranks a guard would, at the most, get a misdemeanor charge for. If you never conduct yourself, in your relationships with prisoners, in any way you wouldn't want the warden to witness you won't ever cross the line.

If you work at a prison which houses your opposite gender it is important that you not cross that line. As we are all humans, sexual tensions will arise. It can't be helped; yet, it must always be resisted. If it's meant to be it can wait until the prisoner is released. How can you be an officer if you have a special relationship with one of your charges? Your bias will color your every decision and endanger others who are depending on you.

You should be aware that there is a Federal law against officers having sex with prisoners. Due to the authority of your position there can not be a willing consent. People will be people and the choice is yours. If you get caught don't put all the blame on the prisoner. Women guards have been know to yell rape when caught in consensual relations.

As long as we are separated by this invisible line we can not be friends. That may be the hardest part of working in a prison, or living in one. There are good people on both sides. Many officers, over the years, have proven worthy of respect. Most of these are by the book, in a restrained way. We know the situation and limit our relationship to represent it. In this way we came to trust in each other and treat each other humanely. That lets us all do better time. Isn't that the best way to do time? Only once has that line grown so indistinct that I forgot it existed. In my days working as a hall porter I spent too much time around a very good officer. He was assigned to work at the turn out often and became my regular boss. I enjoyed his company, and believed he came to enjoy mine. There was no movement during count and I would volunteer to stay, letting the other porters go home, and spend it talking to Officer Olson. There came a day when we had talked out our common interest, hunting and fishing, and were sitting in the sun surrounded by a companionable silence. A large, helicopter size, mosquito landing on his protruding gut. It was the pure reflex of being with a friend. My hand slapped down without hesitation, the mosquito died from the concussion, and Mr. Olson opened his eyes to give me a questioning stare. Not a word did we speak. I reached over and picked up this huge mosquito by one wing and held it for his observation. He nodded and went back to cat napping. With most that would have been a major situation, he violated the rules by not reporting it as incidental contact, Big O took it all in stride. My last memory of him was the day he had to lock me up, a lieutenant's order due to my having a mouse under one eye. He had tried to get my cell changed himself and was blocked by vindictive supervisors who were retaliating for my refusal to snitch about another problem. The whole time we walked to pack my stuff and over to lock up he was apologizing. We both felt awful that the reality of prison had come between us. It was no one's fault. He was doing his job, and I was doing my time. It just happened.

Punishment

Often guards are under a misconception. They feel it is in their job description to punish prisoners for the crimes they committed. Nothing could be farther from the truth. No matter the conditions of our incarceration, whether good or bad, it is the length of time spent separated from family, friends, life, and freedom which is our punishment. Judges and juries decide how long that is to be after knowing with full circumstances, to add to it any way is sadistic. Keep in mind, that for many of us, this is permanent. You work in our home. Compare your actions to a police officers coming to your house with a search warrant. He may be within the legal authority of his office even if he over steps the bounds of propriety. How would you wish to be treated? Treat us in the same way you would hope to be treated in our shoes.

Often it's a matter of attitude that makes all the difference. If your demeanor is professional, you manner respectful, none of us will be offended by your performing your duties. If you gloat over the authority you possess, no matter how justified your actions, we will hate you. Never take the animosity of people with nothing to lose lightly. If you forget the serious nature of your job it could cost us both more than we wish to pay.

Searches & Shake Down

In the search of our homes treat our possessions with care and respect. They are personal, never for your enjoyment. It will be tempting to look at pictures and read letters. Keep your curiosity in check by remembering its effect on cats. Before you make an offensive comment think about the situation. Don't use the wrong terminology for a young ladies pictures. It may be a daughter; not a girlfriend. These personal photos were not shared with you out of friendship. You are invading personal space and the less said the better. It could be a young man's mother. Some of the pictures you handle are irreplaceable. Treat them as such.

Reading mail is another major violation of professional conduct. It may be a cherished letter from a dead friend or relative. It may be a Dear John / Jane letter from a lover who has not forgotten us and move on with their life; yet, is not forgotten. You walk upon hallowed ground. These tattered mementos of those we have lost are more dear than you could ever imagine. Those water stains may well be tears that no one saw fall.

There are those that keep huge amounts of junk. Think of why a person would carry that worthless pile from lonely cell to lonely cell. They have nothing else and that pile is precious because it hides the destitute nature of their existence. A little compassion will get a long way and be well spent.

As you go through the accumulated detritus of our lives try to leave some order behind. It's not too much to ask that papers are left in separate piles, more or less where they were found. Never use your authority to search as a tool of retaliation. Too many times my papers, legal and personal, have been poured in a pile and tossed like a salad. These actions will plant the seeds of hostility. Through you may escape that harvest there will come a day when that field must be reaped. It is in the best interest of all that we plant only those seeds we wish to harvest.

Treat electronic devices with care. If you break it, admit it. Some of us struggle for years to gather these items and can not replace them at will. Our economy is depressed in prison. For us one dollar is the equal of ten of yours. We have no access to TDCJ to earn money. This leaves of dependant on the largess of family and friends, expect for those rare prisoners with personal wealth.

Books are another treasure we are allowed to keep. My personal library is large than most and dear to me. Reference books allow me to research questions that arise and novels are tickets to other places and times, even other worlds, where I can be free of prison for awhile. Study can fill idle hours in a positive manner. If I am busy with my studies I won't be bothering the staff. We some time think of guards as glorified baby sitters: if they are then books are excellent pacifiers.

Professional Conduct

If you are choosing this as a career you probably want to be a professional Corrections Officer. It takes more effort, if you do, to avoid being a glorified security guard. The rewards that that effort are worth it. COs are in positions of responsibility. It is unfortunate they are not trained to appreciate it, using it to enhance the rehabilative value of incarceration, to the advantage of society. The criteria set by Department's of Correction are low to assure a willing supply of warm bodies to fill the openings they create by operating a system where high turnover employees is endemic. It is cheaper to semi-train "new boots" than to pay the requisite wages and benefits to hold on to experienced, qualified officers. With minimal training anyone can become a prison guard. It takes a special individual to be a Corrections Office.

For those of you wishing to be professionals it will be important that you are willing to accept responsibility for the safety of your charges. That seems to go against the training given by DOCs. For a moment think on why the training dwells on "esprit de corps" more than teaching ethical conduct concerning the protection of prisoners legal, constitutional rights. This is the first brick in the gray wall of silence. Those rights can only be violated by members of the staff. Don't fall for the administration's line about protecting each other from the common enemy, prisoners. Though we are on different sides of that imaginary line, we are not enemies. That is the sort of antagonistic relationship, engendered for self-serving reasons, that we need to rectify. It is very rare that an ethical officer has need of protection from prisoners. That they might deny that assistance, or be slow to provide it, to fellow officers who refuse to cover up others wrong doing is abhorrent: yet, it does happen. That is another way they attempt to force all officers to be bricks in that silent gray wall. Now, for another hard truth. If you are depending on them to save you, you are in the wrong career. At their fastest, the response is too slow. You are better served by being known as an officer that doesn't allow the prisoners to be mistreated in anyway.

Most violence is fomented by unethical actions, usually in total violation of the rules. The gang mentality is strong in prison and prisoners are inclined to perceive all officers as members of the same gang. If they can't get the one who messed them over they'll get the one they can. Nothing protects an office from this like a reputation for protecting prisoners from those who misuse their authority to retaliate against or punish prisoners. It is a Corrective Officer's job to protect prisoners, even from vindictive officers.

A good friend of mine, Gentry, pointed out an officer to me. He was letting me know that he deserved respect. The story he told was too rare. This officer had knelt, cradling Gentry's head between his legs, and used his body as a shield, while a group of officers were trying to stomp his brains out on the floor. As yourself what would happen if that officer was ever in danger and any of us who knew the story were near. He wouldn't have to wait for help. It is the convicts way to spread such tales that our friends are known.

Don't let peer pressure force you to accept an abusive status quo. If enough officers made it known they were willing to testify against those who violate prisoner's rights the abuse would stop. They attempt to draw "new boots" into the program as soon as possible. "New boots" are indoctrinated by having them file false reports to cover small transgressions. Once inured to rule breaking they are easily controlled. The smallest violation can cost a "new boot" his job. By the time a "new boot" is off probation he has been molded into the guard these individuals can be proud to work with. Even if that guard is personally fair in his actions, he will turn a blind eye to unethical conduct rather than be labeled a snitch by his colleagues. There are few guards not guilty by omission, if not commission.

The administration is well aware of this situation and do nothing to stop it. Most ranking supervisors were guards at one time. High officials have a self-serving interest in seeing this form of, unauthorized, training continued. It protects them from responsibility, in the case of lawsuits, or criminal investigations, where they might be held accountable. If necessary they will use the prior false reports to impeach a witness. You don't get rank in TDCJ unless you know where the bodies are buried. Today that is not as literal as it once was. Where once prisoners were killed and buried in the unmarked grave, today we are assaulted more covertly. Often this knowledge of a ranking officials involvement in unethical conduct, or its cover up, gives guards an inside track to gaining rank for themselves. The system rewards those willing to hold their tongues and lie if need be. If not they would train officers to not violate rules, or laws, which protect a prisoner's rights. Supervisors would reward those who informed them of violations and misconduct. Helping to enforce the rules and laws that would make us all safer. Instead, due to the inherent guilt of all who are in positions of power in most prisons, fear of their past being revealed if a proper investigation was initiated causes them to subtly punish those with ethics and morals, enforcing the self-perpetuating status quo.

Our only hope for change is to educate officers entering the system before they are hopelessly bound to the corrupt. In this way we may break the cycle and create a healthy environment for officers to work, as well as, for prisoners to live in.