PRISONER EXPRESS

As I write this I recognize the guards in their uniforms have authority over the inmates. In time we learn which are good and which are bad and which are what they are, indifferent, who just do their job. In prison it's a here today gone tomorrow, for inmates as it is for guards.

You want positive? There's not much of that because in the end it's us against them and them over us. As with any profession, it starts with the administration. What can a good guard do when his or her supervisor is corrupted and the authority that supervisors possess is too much to face up to? The good guard is caught between his priorities, family, bills, bills, and more bills and pressure from his supervisor. You can see it in their faces when they are forced to "mess over" an inmate. Wouldn't you know he or she is doing their job? Wouldn't you?

There is a training course a guard takes, but all of that takes a back seat once you become an assigned guard. Their co-workers' attitudes rub off, and that's how a shift takes it course. It's hard to say, "quit being a human doing and be a human being," when your job is to look out for your own.

There's an award for "Correctional Officer of the Year." Don't be fooled, because a guard no matter his or her rank will do what they have to do to maintain order when your first option is," It's us against them. In layman's words, their cause is not lost. A good guard learns bad habits. Like if you change his mood, he won't feed you, wont let you shower, he'll throw your mail away. But, basically he won't unless provoked. What good is that?

The question should be not what makes a good corrections officer, but what type of administration creates an officer/guard that will do his job duties indifferently. As a good guard once told me, "The only difference between us is not our uniforms, but that you got caught." Also, as a bad guard always stresses, "nobody loves you in this world. You are trash, you are gone like Michael Jackson's nose."

A man or woman wakes up to come to work to secure the safety of all inmates. They have everything and nothing on their mind. But most important, what will be demanded of them on their shift? As memories flood them back to their "on the job training" learning period they probably didn't realize how they would become altered--some institutionalized--most just wanting to fit in but in any case, altered. All correction officers hang their hearts outside the door before entering their work place. Wouldn't you? If you're livelihood depended on it? Wouldn't you know, you're looking out for your own?