Wasted Honor -- - Say What you Need To Say......: Correctional Officers

Wasted Honor -

Carl R. ToersBijns is the author of the Wasted Honor Trilogy [Wasted Honor I,II and Gorilla Justice] and his newest book From the Womb to the Tomb, the Tony Lester Story, which is a reflection of his life and his experiences as a correctional officer and a correctional administrator retiring with the rank of deputy warden in the New Mexico and Arizona correctional systems.

Carl also wrote a book on his combat experience in the Kindle book titled - Combat Medic - Men with destiny - A red cross of Valor -

Carl is considered by many a rogue expert in the field of prison security systems since leaving the profession. Carl has been involved in the design of many pilot programs related to mental health treatment, security threat groups, suicide prevention, and maximum custody operational plans including double bunking max inmates and enhancing security for staff. He invites you to read his books so you can understand and grasp the cultural and political implications and influences of these prisons. He deals with the emotions, the stress and anxiety as well as the realities faced working inside a prison. He deals with the occupational risks while elaborating on the psychological impact of both prison worker and prisoner.

His most recent book, Gorilla Justice, is an un-edited raw fictional version of realistic prison experiences and events through the eyes of an anecdotal translation of the inmate’s plight and suffering while enduring the harsh and toxic prison environment including solitary confinement.

Carl has been interviewed by numerous news stations and newspapers in Phoenix regarding the escape from the Kingman prison and other high profile media cases related to wrongful deaths and suicides inside prisons. His insights have been solicited by the ACLU, Amnesty International, and various other legal firms representing solitary confinement cases in California and Arizona. He is currently working on the STG Step Down program at Pelican Bay and has offered his own experience insights with the Center of Constitutional Rights lawyers and interns to establish a core program at the SHU units. He has personally corresponded and written with SHU prisoners to assess the living conditions and how it impacts their long term placement inside these type of units that are similar to those in Arizona Florence Eyman special management unit where Carl was a unit deputy warden for almost two years before his promotion to Deputy Warden of Operations in Safford and Eyman.

He is a strong advocate for the mentally ill and is a board member of David's Hope Inc. a non-profit advocacy group in Phoenix and also serves as a senior advisor for Law Enforcement Officers Advocates Council in Chino, California As a subject matter expert and corrections consultant, Carl has provided interviews and spoken on national and international radio talk shows e.g. BBC CBC Lou Show & TV shows as well as the Associated Press.

I use sarcasm, satire, parodies and other means to make you think!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Friday, October 25, 2013

Correctional Officers - the Dance

Working in corrections is much like a dance – once established as an officer you learn how to move rhythmically to the music prescribed by different mission statements, policies and procedures as well as various state and federal statutes that dictate the steps, the gestures and the moves. It is a condition with a set of rules that may vary from location to countries but regardless an act or a series of motions to perform by.

Everyone that has chosen to work inside a jail or prison with a badge has danced at one time or another and there is no secret that the music can be a slow waltz or a rapid tango. It can be standing far apart or up close and personal. Depending on the conditions within we are tuned to adjust and handle just about anything that can happen inside the penitentiaries or jails.

Today there are thousands of brothers and sisters standing the walls and high fences, staffing state owned and federal prisons as well as an ever increasing county jails. One transition varies from another but when it is all said and done, the dance is ever present and how you move or take your steps depends on the music being performed or played.

As a retiree I will never hear the clank of those large brass Folger Adams keys again. However, that doesn’t mean I don’t wake up with the sound in my head. Not a day goes by with me saying a prayer for safety of those that have chosen this honorable occupation. I have danced my last dance but there are many more out there that still hear the sounds of electronic motors opening and closing heavy steel grills and doors and staff always on the ready to conduct an emergency count because of something noticed out of the ordinary.

This article focuses on those real warriors still inside and the correctional wisdom that exists as it is hopefully shared and mentored with rookies coming on board. They are deserving of the best training in a most predacious environment. Once they get used to the overall sounds of the joint, they will settle in and do a professional job as they were hired and selected to perform. Historically, prison populations have risen and dipped as years go by. The pattern or rhythm is dictated by agency administrators, politicians and lawmakers.

As correctional officers adjust to these dynamics they are tested every day of their careers and adapt to the rules of engagement that basically divides an “Us/Them” attitude and a fine line of demeanor that defines them to be quite distinguished in their performance. While on the job one must not view the prison population as the enemy except in cases where conduct and safety issues dictate otherwise. Hence we focus on being Firm, Fair and Consistent at all times. Even still, use of force issues are not personalized and are considered an element of our vocation.

Since I came on board we have grown in cultural diversity and have adapted to accept many different customs and practices that makes the job even more complex and diverse than ever before. In the meantime, more female officers have been hired in the workplace that is volatile and potentially dangerous at any given time. At first hiring female correctional officers was truly a “lightening rod” situation for topic or a lengthy conversation but still, time has proven the practice has proven itself to be a respectable one as it “normalized” over the years.

We are challenged daily with constitutional, PREA and other federal mandates that conducts how we dance or play the music. We are still making great strides towards reversing the trends and behaviors of the past and that are in violations of the code of conduct and other workplace standards but like every other profession we have those incorrigibles that don’t belong here and wear the badge. However, the majority is in concert with the dance.

Some have fallen and danced their last dance but will never be forgotten as we recognize them as heroes and mentors for many. Unfortunately the last dance must also include those dynamic forces which engages or encounters death and dying. The words of the song, the steps and the music all collect those human emotions that surround the groups or individual’s emotional responses as well as the appropriate intellectual facts in various dimensions that brings to them the reality of life.

Thus the dance isn’t just merely to become more efficient and reliable to the organization. It encompasses every aspect of life whether on or off the job. Warriors should recognize with the careful precision of following the required steps of the dance we can also learn new steps to operate better than basic or fundamental ways. Learning how to dance will also teach us to be able to move with more flexibility beyond the reactive state of mind and manage the environment.

In concluding the dance, we have to recognize that there is a great difference between correctional workers and inmates. Following the music and dancing to the sounds of this great dance we learn that following policies and procedures allows us to facilitate operational concerns within the standards set and make them safe and secure for the staff that work there, the population and the protection of the general public.