Corrections 

Inside The Walls - Corrections, Prisons, and Correctional Officers 

Corrections - Law enforcement behind the walls.

As someone who has spent 50 plus years in law enforcement, and someone who has worked, inside and outside of the prison walls, I can appreciate the job that is done by the the men and women in all levels of the corrections profession.   I began my career inside the walls in 1956 with the State of Maryland Department of Corrections.  The prison in which I worked was called Patuxent Institution and housed mostly dangerous inmates who met the criteria for a special law that could be compared to a "three strikes" law. 

At that time there was no training academy; not even a one hour orientation class. Training,  such as it was, was usually "on the job training" with a senior officer for several days and then you were assigned to a post.  During my tenure  I was involved in hundreds of fights, was injured in a riot and served as a lieutenant for three years. After eight years, I left the department as a lieutenant  and for the next twenty-two years worked as a Special Agent  for three federal law enforcement agencies, retiring in 1986 as the Agent in Charge of an office of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Several years after my retirement from DEA, I was offered a position with the South Carolina Department of Corrections where I developed and  directed  all aspects of the newly created Security Threat Group (STG) Unit. I held this position until 1998 when I again retired and began consulting in gang identification.

I offer this bit of background information because of the changes that I have seen in corrections  over the past fifty years.

In those early years, officers had no means of protecting themselves.  There was no mace or other personal chemical agents (tear gas was available for major disturbances or individual cells); no tasers; no beeper alarms,  no stab proof vests and officers did not carry handcuffs or batons.  If they got into trouble, they had to rely on their wits and ability to survive until help arrived.

It is amazing how so many officers in this profession are so willing to run towards trouble......not away from it.  As mentioned above, in 1961, I and four fellow officer were in a riot involving 125 inmates in the recreation yard.  We were all injured and we were all hospitalized - one officer was shanked, one was hit in the head with a softball bat (he never fully recovered from the injury), and the rest of us were beaten, kicked, and stomped.  It was a sight for sore eyes to realize that the cavalry had arrived and was taking control.  How do you spell relief? H-E-L-P H-A-S  A-R-R-I-V-E-D.

Inmate cell extractions were no piece of cake.  There was no riot gear, no helmets, or no shields.  We used improvised shields by using canvas pads which served as a mattress in seclusion.  The take down was  not exactly textbook as it is today.  We formed behind the officer holding the mattress and rushed into the cell, shoving the inmate down and smothering him.  As dangerous as the job was in those early years, most of the inmates had some degree of respect for the officers as well as many of the other inmates.  I believe this respect was created by the older inmates, "the old cons," who kept the younger inmates in line for the most part.  The older cons usually had a reputation of sorts and the younger inmates quickly learned to respect that.  There were no gangs in the system at that time.

Through the years, the profession has been slow to gain the respect that it deserves from our law abiding society.  Correctional officers, or detention officers have been called everything imaginable; frequently through ignorance but mostly through disrespect. CO's have been known as "hacks," "screws", "bulls." "yard dogs," "turnkeys," "guards,"  and many more names that can't be mentioned here.  In today's world of prisons and jails and well as on the streets, there is no respect for authority.  Inmates as well as street criminals have absolutely no regard for human life.  Much of this has been brought about by the street and prison gangs, who, in their attempts to earn a reputation, will assault or kill for absolutely no reason.

This page is dedicated to the men and women in the profession of corrections who put their life on the line day after day and to their fallen comrades who have made the ultimate sacrifice. On this page you will  find articles relating to the corrections profession as well as information that hopefully will assist you in your daily duties on the job.

Good  luck and above all stay safe................

Correction Officers Memorial Wall

The corrections profession is becoming more demanding

If you would like to work in the corrections field, begin by earning an

Online Corrections Degree.

Corrections Associations

• California Correctional Peace Officers Association
• Correctional Peace Officers (CPO) Foundation
• American Correctional Association
• Southern States Correctional Association
• American Jail Association
• Correctional Association of Massachusetts
• Middle Atlantic States Correctional Association
• National Organization of Hispanics in Criminal Justice
• US Correctional Tactical Officers Association

Employment and Wages

• Washington State begging for corrections workers
• Maryland Lowering the Bar for Prison Guards
• Jail officers must abide by work rules
• Orange County (FL) corrections officers allege racial bias, unfair pay