Bob Walsh
Stockton, CA
Male, 60
I worked for the California state system, starting as a Correctional Officer and retiring as a Lieutenant in 2005. I now write for the PacoVilla blog which is concerned with what could broadly be called The Correctional System.
General speaking (IMHO) people gravitate to this line of work because they are process oriented, the structure appeals to them. Once in a while you get to do something that is THE RIGHT THING just because it is the right thing. During the time I ran the reception center I had three new arrivals tell me "This is a screw-up. I shouldn't be here." All of them were telling the truth. It would have gotten taken care of eventually but I got to fix it promptly because of the position I was in and because I choose to believe them at that point in the process. It wasn't all rainbows and sunshine, but it was nice.
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Pretty much all kinds. They need money to pay protection is a good one, or to buy "necessities" from the canteen. It is often just a generalized guilt trip. Sounds to me like maybe your mother needs a conservator.
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Your chance of dying on the job from those causes is very, very small statistically. You are much more likely to be seriously injured or catch some nasty disease. Best advice there is to keep your situational awareness dialed up and don't do anything really stupid. First year on the job is a learning curve. Ask questions, keep your eyes and ears open. You will find out quickly which staff are truly interesting in training and developing newbies and which are not. Learn from the good ones. Avoid or ignore the jerks as much as possible.
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I am only strongly familiar with the CA system. In California the spouse of a convict can be hired as a correctional officer. In other states, or in county jurisdictions, the civil service rules may be different. That being said, generally speaking employers can not discriminate against the families of convicted felons without a very good reason for doing so.
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I depends a whole lot on circumstances. If the inmate is in his cell and the tier officer is not doing anything else he can notify the inmate very quickly. Then the inmate just has to get dressed, get out and go. If the inmate is on the yard or at a work assignment it can take a LOT longer. Sometimes they can not get off of work assignments to visit. Sometimes they don't answer pages off of the yard or they take their time about it. They may have to return to their cell from the yard or work to clean up and get properly dressed. That takes yet more time. Obviously the time lag varies tremendously.
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Not specifically, no. However most peace officer employers also have a qualification something like "must have a satisfactory record of a law-abiding citizen." If it is relatively old and relatively minor and not repeated, you are PROBABLY ok. If it is relatively recent or more than one it is likely going to be an issue.
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I ended up in the middle of a couple of full-blown riots that were pretty scary and could have gotten nasty. Such things are generally not focused on staff but that doesn't mean that staff can't get badly hurt in them.
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