PRISONER EXPRESS

For the most part, guards are drawn from the same social strata as prisoners. This makes fairness all the more important. Guards who bring their racial prejudices or gang affiliations to work with them are unable to enforce rules fairly. Showing preferential regard for or discrimination against any group causes extreme stress in the prison environment. Racial prejudices, whether shown in preferential or discriminatory conduct enhance the racial tensions that incite racial violence.

It takes intelligence to balance security considerations with the need for prisoners to relieve stress. Too strict an enforcement mentality closes all the pressure relief valves, turning prison from the simple pressure cooker it has always been, to the ticking time bomb we all fear most.

Penologists have for years compared prisons to pressure cookers. A pressure cooker needs a release valve or it will become a bomb. In prison, this valve can take many forms. Before blood-borne diseases, tattooing was one such release. It has always been against the rules, but because it takes large amounts of paraphernalia, prisoners had to resist starting any situation, like riots, that could bring about retaliatory shakedowns looking for contraband. Peer pressure from the tattoo artists caused the whole prison to run smoothly. Every facet of an officer's conduct should reflect this need to allow some internal pressure to escape non-violently. Pressure is the one thing that an officer should allow to escape.

There are guards we call "robo cops." It is a perfect term for them. It is like they are programmed by the rule book and incapable of discerning the necessity to look the other way at times rather than trying to enforce all the rules, no matter what the consequences. When the blowup comes, they have no notion of what caused it. The idea that it could have been avoided by allowing prisoners to think they are getting away with gambling or another minor violation never crosses their minds. It's the little things that make life bearable in prison. If no one is getting hurt, escaping or likely to, it's best to wink and let it go. Prison is a balance between anarchy and the abyss.

Rules fall in two basic groups. Group one is the rules concerning officer conduct, which make a prisoner's time safer. Food handling rules are a good example. Due to hygienic concerns, hairnets and gloves are to be worn when serving trays. The food cart is to be plugged in and the temperature maintained at 145 degrees F. If these rules are not followed it can and has caused food poisoning. Guards are also responsible for delivering mail. If they don't follow the rules concerning mail, mail can be given to the wrong person. Would you want a letter from your sister mistakenly handed to a rapist?

The second group is rules, which address prisoner conduct. Some of them are important to prison security and we all do better time if they are enforced. Weapons, drugs and alcohol are some items that endanger the security of all of us. Life in prison is safer without them and I'm glad to see officers limiting access to them. One of the best officers I have ever known told me "If it is a threat to security, then I have to do something about it, but I am not here to write petty cases to keep you here longer." Smart man. Drugs and weapons are a threat to us all and an officer should be hard on those. On the other hand, gamblers are going to gamble. Why sweat it?

In my current housing area, high security segregation, we spend 23 hours or more hours per day in our cells alone. It is against the rules for us to possess home made string. It is even more against the rules for us to use this to pass books and magazines between cells. The rules also don't allow officers to pass these for us, but any officer who thinks, realizes that passing them won't hurt anyone. It actually helps prisoners stay sane in a world gone mad.

Most important of all is consistency. Whatever levels of enforcement a guard chooses, prisoners are better served by it being consistent. It is stressful enough without having to guess what a guard will do. By selecting a persona and sticking to it, a guard can drastically reduce stress levels. No matter how hard an officer is it's better than dealing with mood swings. When personal situations intrude on guard's conduct it taints every action. It's not easy to leave personal problems where they belong, outside the gate, but there can be no consistency when a guard can't forget a fight with a loved one. It is all too easy to take out your troubles on prisoners when you are a guard.

Prisoners can't be friends with guards. We can, and should be friendly to each other. Sooner or later our situations always catch up with us if we step across the line between friendly and friendship. That may be the hardest part of working in a prison or living in one. There are good people on both sides of that line.

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. There came a day when we had talked out our common interest in hunting and fishing and were sitting in the sun surrounded by a companionable silence. A helicopter-sized mosquito landed 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 the officer opened his eyes to give me a questioning stare. Not a word did we speak. I reached over and picked up the huge mosquito by one wing and held it up for his observation. He nodded and went back to cat napping. With most officers, that would have been a major situation; he violated the rules by not reporting it as incidental contact, but that officer simply took it in stride.

In my years doing time, a few really fine officers have come to my notice. Another one I'd like to describe is a sergeant I've known from his first day on the job training. That was 1995 and the last time I spoke with him was July 2002, he had not changed a bit in all that time. Even the sergeant's stripes didn't change him. That in itself was unusual.

As a black officer, doing his job in a professional manner, he caught it on all sides. McConnell only had a handful of black officers and the Hispanic and white guards were not always kind to them. Black prisoners were his worst enemy. They had to come to expect preferential treatment from black staff and could easily intimidate staff of other races. He refused to accept that status quo. He wasn't a man to be intimidated by anyone. To him, all were equal. Equality meant equal responsibility and he accepted nothing less.

Treating all fairly wasn't normal on that unit. But to expect "normal" from this man would be to expect the sun to set in the east. It took time for him to earn the respect he deserved. He wouldn't have had it any other way. The simple reason it came was that no one could deny he was fair to all. Even if a prisoner were wrong, he would give him a chance to tell his side. Being wrong didn't make you all wrong. He wanted to get to the root of the problem and was willing to correct the guards he supervised if they were at fault. His career is the epitome of professional conduct. His motto should have been, "If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem." He was always willing to be the solution. A good, honorable man, deserving more respect that he has gotten. It is sad that the qualities that create good, consistent corrections officers are often the cause of there leaving prison service. The frustration of fellow staff being hostile to them for being too soft on prisoners when their actions are the only ethical option, drives them out. Most of all, the prisoners seldom show them the appreciation they deserve, not realizing their value, until they are gone and the status quo rules.