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| No this is not a joke! I have been Inside the Fence, reporting on the crazy behavior of Inmates and Officers alike for about 20 months now. As a Correctional Officer, they teach you some stuff, make you do some physical tests like running and sit-ups and they send you off with a Badge and tell you that you are a "Supervisor" now. (You are supposed to be supervising Inmates). The bad part is, most of these Officers walking into units have NO idea what being a supervisor is, or how to be effective with people. Half of them are under 25, and this is the first REAL job they ever had that does not involve french fries or a cash register. Now they have a Badge and a Big Head and an attitude with just enough authority to get themselves or someone else injured.
As for me, and some of my older colleagues, we know better! They tell you all that stuff to make you WANT to do the job. A Correctional Officer is pretty thankless! There are more than just inmates in the Prison without AC in the summer, and Heat in the winter. Not just inmates live with roaches, spiders and mice. Inmates do not just injure and kill other inmates. Officers are exposed to many diseases and sicknesses, we work in the 120 degree heat, lugging trays and property up endless flights of stairs, sweating profusely. In the winter we see our breath in the pods and huddle in the offices when we can to warm up and thaw out after a freezing run through the houses. We cringe from the roach nests and jump when the mice race across the halls. We watch for Black Widows, Brown Recluse and scorpions (recall my bathroom incident?) The public does not like to fund Prisons because "Inmates get what they deserve". BUT, Officers suffer when we do not get funding, our salaries freeze when the budget does. We go without protective gloves, trashbags and other sanitation needs in the unit because funds run out near the end of the fiscal year! In addition, most (70%) of the staff at the complexes commute at least 1 hour to work every day, 5 days a week. It can be exhausting work, and frankly, disheartening!
My light has appeared in full glory! Sometimes, I could just KISS my BA Diploma! Thanks to that and a little previous experience, I have landed a real Supervisor's position in the Parole Division. I have been effectively PROMOTED! This is great for me, but perhaps bad for you, my readers. By my exiting the Prison Unit, I will no longer be "Inside the Fence".
So, to my loyal readers . . . thank you for your following. I may start a new blog, or change the name of this one and the format to fit the new environment. I do not know. So check back with me after Christmas. Or, do a subscribe to this one so you will know if I post something.
TA TA for now, remember, CO's work the toughest beat in the land, without a gun on the hip!
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| I can not stress enough how much like day care prison is . . . They have to be fed, showered, sent to recreation and monitored all the time so they do not harm themselves or others. There are rules to follow and when they break the rules they lose privileges - like no TV or no Phone usage, or no treats from the store. We monitor who visits them, to make sure the visitors are not criminals (we do not want them associating with bad influences). Also, when it is finally time for them to leave the "nest" we check out the place they will live and what activities they will be involved in and who the neighbors will be.
Who needs children when you work in a prison???!!?? I have almost 800 of them right now and the only difference is, I leave after 8 hours and get a break form them. They whine and cry and beg, they pester you for stuff, they complain about the food, they ALWAYS want something. My favorite word? NO! I have gotten VERY good at that word, NO! Wait, let me think . . . NO!
Oh, can I get that for you??? NO!
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| It seems so many things have been going on and nothing at all. Most of the issues recently have been staff! the Department is shifting and the administration is changing and the Warden was fired! I could not tell you if the reasons for his dismissal are real or imaginary or just exaggerated. I heard it was due to a few things added together. First, the Warden lost his keys for the 7th time and did not tell anyone until 3 days later. They had to re-key the main offices. Secondly, and inmate was murdered after he was reclassified to a lower custody from our complex to another complex. There was a hit on the inmate and the enemies made good on the hit. he was stabbed like 13 times. The trick to this is any reclass has to be signed off and approved by the . . . Warden! Thirdly, the Warden was "in" with the Union or pro-union. Our complex has had a number of issues with the union reeling the head of the monster and fighting for what is right. The higher-ups see the Union as a hindrance to getting the goals met and making numbers look good. (By the way, I am NOT in the Union, however I believe everyone has the right to be in it if they choose to be.)
We lost a Captain - and not the one we wanted to lose! The sargeants have been shuffled around, we have 2 new ones on our shift alone. The continued shake-up is unnearving and frustrating. In an environment that can and has been dangerous, if you are frustrated by other issues it can take away your edge and your focus. That is when the inmates can get an Officer. Injuries, assaults, and accidents happen!
Lastly - working 5 day-8 hour shifts and traveling more than an hour both ways is eating at me. I spend almost 3 hours a day in transit. I am tired and 2 days off is not enough to recover. I wish we had the 12 hour shifts back.
Well, not all days are fun and games and not all stories are hillarity to be told. Grin and bear it, hopefully things will settle quickly.
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| In the pods there are 14 stairs. These stairs are metal, and grated for grip on the boots, kind of waffled but wavy with small teeth. We run up and down these things at LEAST once per hour every hour in all six pods - that's a lot of stair climbing. It is vital that your balance, speed and step are all in sync because if not you will trip over the step or your own feet and a tumble you will go. This goes for inmates too, because they are handcuffed in the back and might be wearing leg irons too. Your skin scraping down the stairs ends up looking like someone raked a cheese grater over it - bloody, jagged, and painful!
With that said - inmate Fat Bastard lives upstairs.  This inmate was 641 pounds when he entered prison. He is down to a svelte 250 pounds but about 100 pounds of him is flabby, sagging, man-boobs and skin.  So one Officer removed the inmate from the cell, cuffed and escorting him down the stairs. Fat Bastard decided to fall out and took the Officer with him down the stairs and the Cheese Grater claimed another victim! The officer hurt his hand, but did not get scraped up, he rode the Fat Bastard Sled down the stairs.  I can only imagine the scene LOL! Anyway, Fat Bastard was scraped and gouged pretty good - and off to suicide watch he went!
Next time you use the stairs - imagine they look line your Grater, then cringe with the thought of your knees and elbows rubbing down them - makes me shutter thinking about it!!! 
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| So this may be disturbing - in a way it is funny in a morbid sense, but shows the . . . well here is the story as it was told to me:
Over the weekend the Inmate was seen for shortness of breath and chest pain. Sent back to his cell. On Monday the Inmate was laying down and was seen to be breathing and it was stated that he was eating but was not really moving. Heath unit says if he is breathing and eating then he is fine. Tuesday, an Officer says to a supervisor, that the Inmate has not moved, the lunch sacks are laying around him. Is he breathing? Yes, is the answer. Then he is fine! Wednesday, issue addressed again, not moving. By Thursday, the same officer notices the same Inmate and says that the Inmate has not moved from the spot or position since the day before. Finally they go in on the Inmate. He is barely breathing, has not eaten in 4 days, and his oxygen level is down to 2% !!!!???!!! OMG!
So now the Inmate is at the Hospital, on life support and the family is deciding whether to pull the plug on the sap!
Someone will pay for that one - with their job and the State will probably pay tooooooo........
So what is worse? The Criminals in the Prison or the Staff not really paying attention? I mean I am not a Care Bear or Thug Hugger, BUT we are supposed to provide basic care as part of the custodial responsibility. Some days I wonder . . . Oh, for the record - this incident happened at a different unit from mine - I am not involved in any way, nor do I know any Officers, Supervisors or Heath Professionals responsible. (Disclaimer)
Well, I will be on Vacation (I am on Furlough LOL) for like 16 days so I will not be blogging.
Oh, and See the Doctor!!!
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