PRISONER EXPRESS

Now ask any group of inmates locked up in your local prisons just what exactly makes a good corrections officer. Many of us would like to presume that the answers we'd receive are quite comparable. In so doing, we have already disregarded a very crucial point. Simply, put, you cannot compare inmates to canines and most importantly, you cannot treat human beings like animals.

"A good correctional officer will know this," says Officer Obinuwa, a thirty two year old immigrant from South Africa who has now been employed by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, four out of the five years he's lived in the United States. "In fact, a good correctional officer will never stray from professionalism, leadership, or effective communication when dealing with another human being no matter what the situation you are faced with." When asked about his feelings towards the recent Iraqi Prison abuse scandal, officer Obinuwa drops his head and shakes it solemnly. "Tragic," he offers and adds, "I'm disappointed and shamed that it happened there's no doubt, but I still have confidence in our president's administration that they will better train our men and women in the service and apply that training in a professional manner."

Officer Obinuwa also acknowledges that he's noticing the repercussions take effect here closer to home and even within the industry he works for. "A lot of people are taking a step back and looking real hard at themselves," he says and looking real hard art ourselves seems to be the key more so now than ever before in our nation's prison system since close contact with all types of inmates certainly isn't rare and now with the increasing overcrowding factor wedged in a steady decreasing budget crunch, more correctional officers are being assigned to duty posts that requires them to provide security at a staggering 75:1 ratio.

Last month, the National Bureau of Prisons predicted the inmate population will swarm well into a dense two million man and woman figure nation wide by the end of the year. To help put that sum in perspective, that's more inmates than the entire population of Houston Texas, which is the fourth largest city in the country, and that figure is also double the amount of the entire state of Hawaii.

"The significance of professionalism, leadership, and effective communication skills couldn't be more imperative than it is right now," says officer Obinuwa as he demonstrated a diminutive scenario:

While making his rounds, an officer is conducting a security check and as he passes a cell, he realizes two inmates are engaged in a heated dispute over some trivial matter. In this case, inmate A is upset at inmate B because his radio is too loud and he can't get to sleep. Obviously, there are a number of variables in play and at that exact moment, this officer must decide if he should intervene or simply keep on walking. If he intervenes, he knows there are also a large variety of tactics he can put forth in order to settle the matter; some the inmates may agree with-some they won't. But the main thing this officer must remember is security.

"On one hand, a good correctional officer will remember that if he chooses to ignore the problem, these two inmates could easily channel this anger into violence in one form or another and allow it to flow out into the inmate population where not only the other inmates are at risk of injury, but the other officers as well. At the same time, confiscating the radio or sanctioning them with disciplinary actions isn't going to make the problem go away either." Officer Obinuwa lets the scenario hang in the air then smiles, "Now what are your going to do," he asks then immediately begins to answer his own question.

"Using the skills I've already explained, (professionalism, leadership, effective communication) you could very easily help these two inmates reach a rational compromise they could both live with and you would never even have to dehumanize them in the process. By doing this, you will have not only represented yourself in a responsible positive manner, but the entire system as well." Officer Obinuwa never reveals what the "compromise" was when I brought this to his attention. He smiles again. "I'd rather leave you to fill in the blanks so that you yourself can see how you would've handled the same situation."

Throughout the nation's prison system, it's fair to say that there are many good correctional officers like Mr. Obinuwa who still regard even the worst of all inmates as human beings, and he's long ago acknowledged to himself that nobody is perfect and the roles could have just as easily been reversed at a second's notice. Of course as everyone employed in the correctional industry can attest, scenarios such as the one Mr. Obinuwa faces range from the most basic to the horrifyingly difficult and are unfortunately never ending. Everyday, it's something new but one thing is certain; all problems are manageable when you approach them with professionalism, leadership and not just "communication" but EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION as Mr. Obinuwa so vigorously emphasized during our interview. "And of course, he adds, " A good correctional officer will do this."