Prison Problems!

Tonight will more than likely be rant night. You have been warned. It might be pms or the crazies, but it's going to be a straightforward post. First off, I'm still trying to stay away from the more political aspects that are occurring but I can't hold back my thoughts on what happened in Delaware. Because I have a job in a corrections (yes, even a juvenile one) type environment any time I here about a jail or prison official being injured or killed, it strikes a little close to home. Yesterday, there was a large scale riot and hostage situation in a Delaware prison. I don't live or work in that area so I won't pretend to know whether the riot was "justified" or not; personally, there is no justification about it to me. Instead I would rather focus on the corrections side of law enforcement and some reasons that may or may not add to issues within the corrections field.


1. Qualifications: Most people don't know what qualifies a person to work in a prison. In Arizona, you must a) be over 21 years of age (in some states such as New Mexico, it's 18), b) have a high school diploma or GED, and c) pass a background check. There are some physical requirements but they aren't really difficult. Really, this is it. Oh and the pay is pretty crappy around $13.00 an hour, especially since this is a metropolitan area and the cost of living is high. Plus, you get mandatory over-time occasionally! Who wouldn't want that?!


So to work in an incredibly dangerous environment where people may actually try to kill you, you don't need any more special skills? I realize that at 19 I was in a war zone but shit at least I had a gun and the option to use it if necessary! Most CO's have to worry about getting in trouble for excessive force if they even slip up in the heat of the moment. There are inmates with higher educational degrees than the CO's! And who has time to do school with the mandatory OT?! Not that "higher education" is necessarily always good; some of the dumbest, most dangerous people I have ever worked with had college level educations. Having that kid that just finished school and this is their first real job as the person that is watching your back is a terrifying feeling!


2. People want more prisons, stricter laws, immediate justice! That sounds beautiful, but where do you want the prisons? Not near cities, or towns, and heaven forbid, near housing areas! Who pays for these new prisons? Nobody wants their taxes raised to buy the land, build, and employ people. So where should they go, Mars?


Ah, more strict laws, a personal favorite of mine! I do love the idea of law and justice being strict and swift, yet I am also aware that prisons are overcrowded, terrifyingly so. What do we do about over-crowding? Don't jump right to building more prisons, I believe we covered that; so what to do? Have you seen what happens when prisons overflow? The violence that occurs between inmates, CO's, and the rapid escalation of force because of overwhelming numbers? I have, and it's ugly. Yes, justice should be swift and strict but not overly cruel.


3. I find that people are largely split about prisons and inmates. About half don't want to even think about inmates; out of sight, out of mind. But they really aren't, more than 70% of prison inmates will one day be out on the street. So while they are in prison, isn't it our responsibility as a community to ensure that a) they are getting rehabilitated, and b) getting some type of training for when they are released? We cannot turn a blind eye to ineffective prison systems and then blame the inmates for not being rehabilitated!


The other side of people are all about getting inmates rehabilitated, treated, and trained; sometimes to the point of forgetting that these people did commit crimes. They should not be treated with kid gloves and people should never forget that some of them can and will be violent again. What is needed is for inmates to be penalized for committing a crime while being offered options of things they can do to ensure they don't need to commit the crime again. In short, penalize but also teach.


I realize I am not a subject matter expert, I work juvenile corrections, they aren't adults but the beginnings for both are eerily the same, underfunded and overlooked. People don't want to know the problems that exist in corrections because then they would be responsible for finding a way to fix it. Many people love to scream and protest about injustices in corrections but they don't want to work in the system and bring about change. And most of those that do work in it, will retire, jaded and angry; if they don't quit first.