Correctional Officers Deserve Better Equipment for
Safety
Every day correctional officers risk their lives walking the
narrow grey corridors to and from their assigned posts having nothing but a
radio to communicate with as their life line to safety and help. Every day,
they walk among the prison population and handle whatever comes their way in a
manner prescribed by law and training.
Today, it has been reported that one out of three assaults that take place inside a prison is against an officer or prison employee. An unarmed officer who walks among these convicted felons of crimes that makes you have nightmares and sweat in your sleep if you were to be among these violent killers and predators. Staff ratios vary from one to fifty to one to five hundred. It depends where you work and what the activity is at the time. Either way, it’s a dangerous situation to be put in without some sort of safety net.
As former and current correctional officers, we understand
that prisons are potentially hazardous, dangerous and unpredictable. We knew
that when we took the job. What we didn’t know was how the administration would
turn a blind eye to our needs for safety equipment that works, that is
practical and that is available.
Reading Bob Ortega’s four day piece on Arizona prisons, it
is clear that prisons are deadly. We understand that better since Mr. Ortega
took the time to research the conditions inside our prisons with such attention
to detail. He didn’t write about the officer’s plight as they are just as
important as the prisoner’s dilemma of being safe. In fact, as a former
correctional officer, I would say keeping officers safe should be the second priority
as public safety ranks number one.
Hostilities and violence go together. Unpredictable, it is
important for officers to have the right staffing patterns, the right safety
equipment and the right tools to work with. Everyday, we hear staff complain
about not having adequate equipment that includes face shields, gloves, stab
vests and stab vest inserts. This list even includes obsolete or non-working
hand held scanners that can detect metal objects such as prison knives before
they are used in the assault planned.
They drive vehicles that are dangerously close to being
red-lined and without air conditioning in the Arizona heat. They have transport
vehicles without radios or poor maintenance conditions (e.g. bad brakes,
overheating, cracked windshields, broken lights, faulty electrical systems and
weak batteries) leaving them stranded on
the side of the road exposing both the public and the officer to the risk of
danger by those they are transporting to and from hospitals, court hearings and
other prison facilities.
It has been pointed out by Mr. Ortega the prevalent use of
drugs, the availability of prison made weapons and self made hooch (home-made
brew) or alcohol that adds to the environment’s hostilities and unpredictability.
Inmates demonstrate violent behavior even if they don’t act out testing the
systems in place for an opportunity to retaliate and strike back at the system
that put them there.
A correctional officer is at the mercy of the offender’s
anger and is often the target for intentional or misdirected harsh and
unreasonable anger or mistreatment that includes violent behaviors with sharp
instruments, blunt trauma to the head and various methods of kicking and
punching those caught off guard or walking into a pre—set trap.
It is an interesting fact that a police officer, assigned to
patrol duty on the community streets and deal with criminals for only a few
minutes or perhaps all the way up to booking them are equipped with multiple
pieces of safety equipment that allows them to remain safe to a certain degree.
Their tool boxes are full of equipment much needed and available instantly.
On the other hand, a correctional officer, assigned to
supervise this same individual picked up off the street has to deal or manage
with their behaviors with nothing but words and a radio for help. They do not even
wear protective clothing or stab vests unless assigned to a max custody
facility or a detention unit.
With today’s design and manufacturing capabilities to
provide correctional staff with protective gear including lightweight trauma
stab vests or ballistic vests, you would think there would be plenty on hand
when the officers need them and at the same time, if they need to perform an
emergency transport in the middle of the night, you would think they had a
vehicle that was in proper working condition to take that officer and his
prisoner safely to their destination.
At least I would hope so but that is not the case in many
prison settings throughout the state! Today the corrections unions remain quiet
and ask for nothing that makes prison work safe. Ultimately they have the voice to say or
demand what is needed yet they remain quiet not using the freedoms they are
entitled to in order to protect others they represent.
Today, the voices of sanity as well as insanity remain quiet
until a catastrophe occurs and then the finger pointing and blaming language
will engulf the media with both sides accusing the other of negligence.
Perhaps a pro-active step is needed to avoid this catastrophe that can cost us human lives and tragedies as it has already been established the value of life inside prisons has been marginalized by society and cultural indifferences.
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