Why is the Media Dissing Corrections?

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Why is the Media Dissing Corrections?

The public and media appear to be standing in solidarity against the public servants carrying the badge and wearing the uniforms of correctional / detention officers. Never defending this profession has become a regular bad habit of this mainstream resource and expectations and respect are at the lowest levels than ever before. Each and every day, the media pushes their agenda without any resistance for its biggest targets in the political light and public service settings – the prison industrial complex that has been burdened by the need to contain and house more criminals than ever, at every level there is within the United States.

Law enforcement has been criticized and demonized by the press as rogue individuals screw things up for those that do the job with honor and unquestionable courage. While there is little discussion about how to improve the prison systems, there is plenty of talk what is wrong with the structure put in place by statutory and moral requirements as well as specialized incarceration needs such as solitary confinement and gang controls.

These talking points are often issues about corruptive behaviors and practices and little is said about the good things these men and women inside these jails and penitentiaries do that is deliberately left out in the darkness of the truth. There are numerous acts of valor and life-saving events that are never recognized in the public’s eye and the truth is seldom told and dissed into the darkness forever.

I seldom defend those individuals that bring to light the horrific and brutal misconducts of the abusers and power mongers that do exist amongst the good guys. Even when they are wrongfully identified to belong or attracted to the wrong crowd, there is always a reasonable explanation why this happened but seldom does the press take the time taken to make it clear as the media seems to be only attracted to sensualized Hollywood type of thinking that often makes correctional officers the bad guys of the criminal justice system without exception as well as never providing them a second glance or reprieve to expose the realities.

Hardly ever do they [press] focus on the administrative strategies that allows such mishaps to occur or exist as it has already been often to be determined to be a fault of an officer that went astray on the path of righteousness and honor. Rarely do they take the time to examine the deliberate indifferences created from above as they labor these officers with more tasks each day while at the same time take away their resources and ability to get the job done the way it was designed to be done by sound correctional practices and procedures.

Little is done to make the light shine brighter on the positive things done as the ultimate priority is to demonize the workforce and demean their character so that they will get no help in their role as peacekeepers and containment specialists of the cruel and criminal intentions of mindsets wearing the chains of captivity ordered by society and cultures to keep them safe and apart from the rest of civilization.

Little is done to improve hiring and selection processes. Hardly any efforts are made to find the smart, the intelligent and the well-trained individuals that could and do great work behind the high fences and concrete walls. If they were to be put under public pressure, all the state needs to do is simply force the administrators to hire better qualified persons and compensate them accordingly rather than disposing their value and not give them otherwise qualified considerations for doing a good job.

In addition they need to meet their staffing patterns to fit the job at hand and match the post charts to what the mission is and the type of population or custody they are handling. Sound direction and management principles should guide the daily routine and short cuts and tacit approvals should be minimized and done away with as soon a time permits using only sound correction practices to get the job done.

Hence there are none or many applicants today that flock to the doors of employment and seek an chance to become one of these blackballed members of the criminal justice system that often pretends they don’t exist. The price they pay with humiliation and indignities resembles those of a dishonored veteran that fought for his country but is quickly forgotten.

Of course this kind of ideology overlooks the fact that prisons are growing in size and bed space numbers and that some kind of corrective action in assembling a good workforce is rapidly becoming a necessity to deal with the overfilling and mass incarceration numbers.

There are no caps on bed space in many communities as they enjoy the partnership of private entities that have promised to help them carry the burdens of incarceration when their real motivation is the profits made from the inmates housed at their facilities. Thus there will soon be an increased demand for more correctional officers and more money to run the prisons but without the proper planning a disaster is about to happen.

The increased workload will change many workplace rules and result in various adaptation of lesser restrictions which will allow the private hybrid governance agreements to expand and become a franchise that may be able to withstand the pressures of self-existence on their own but not without the aid of taxpayers willing to boot the money to keep the gates wide open and offer more bed space at cut rate options that will reveal a stockholder’s dream come true as they fill their pockets with profits made from the trade.

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