Why do you work in a prison/jail?

[Hockey9019]

I'm curious on why you want/wanted to work in a jail/prison?

I would go crazy being inside the jail/prison. I am the kind of person that needs to be outside seeing new stuff every day.

[Titansfanmjfink]

Well i work in a city jail. To be honest I took the job to get experience in the field as I one day want to be a cop. But being that we have people coming and going every few hours, you get to see a lot of new stuff. Most of the turds are drunks... makes for some funny, annoying guests in the graybar hotel. When i first took the job I thought all the ignorant/stupid/drunk turds would annoy me, but its actually a lot of fun.

[Norm357]

Not a Cop or a C/O.

I think I would enjoy being a C/O and have considered it several times. The only thing that has stopped me is the money.

[gfex81]

working in a prison is way different than working in a jail. from my 4 years of experience as a C/O, i can tell you that the department of corrections aint for everybody.. its the toughest beat in law enforcement. no guns just guts. i love my job. your always learning somthing new.

[WellAdvised]

its the toughest beat in law enforcement.

Quite a statement to make. Can you elaborate?

[manahmanah]

working in a prison is way different than working in a jail. from my 4 years of experience as a C/O, i can tell you that the department of corrections aint for everybody.. its the toughest beat in law enforcement. no guns just guts. i love my job. your always learning somthing new.

I agree with this statement to an extent. In our agency we have to work the jail until a spot in Patrol opens up. It's like this in many CA Sheriff's Departments.

Working in a jail gives you a vast knowledge of the people and personalities you're going to encounter in the street. You learn how to talk to people, who they affilliate with, if they're on parole or probation etc.

I don't think you can say that corrections is a TOUGHER BEAT than being on the streets. Each is it's own animal. It also largely depends on where you patrol, and in which jail facility you work.

For instance, I'd be hard pressed to say that working the jail in Clearfield County PA is more difficult than patrolling the 22nd Police District in North Philly. Philly has almost 200 murders this year already, it's a very very dangerous city to work in.

I am quite certain that it is also much more dangerous to work in the Philadelphia city jail than it is to patrol the streets in Lancaster PA.

It is the same for prisons vs. jails. It would be difficult to find a Los Angeles County Deputy that works the jail that does not encounter the same danger a C.O. working at Pelican Bay State Prison.

Working in either setting has it's own unique set of circumstances. The danger largely depends on who you have housed in your correctional facility and the kind of people that live in the town or city you patrol.

My point is, I don't think you can say one is tougher than the other. They're both dangerous and offer unique challenges. It takes guts, knowledge, and training to be able to operate safely and efficiently in either setting. What is really important is that whether we are a correctional officer, Deputy Sheriff, or Police Officer do our job with integrity, do it safely, and ensure that we and our partners go home at the end of the day.

I forgot one last thing. Regardless of how safe or unsafe your city or facility usually is it's important for all of us to remember and be prepared for the fact that on any given day at any given time, the poop can hit the fan. If we're unprepared mentally or physically we could find ourselves taking a dirt nap.

[Samuel]

working in a prison is way different than working in a jail. from my 4 years of experience as a C/O, i can tell you that the department of corrections aint for everybody.. its the toughest beat in law enforcement. no guns just guts. i love my job. your always learning somthing new.

Are you suggesting that street cops don't have guts or have less guts than custody/jail/prison personnel? Also, what kind of law enforcement experience/background do you have (where you can authoritatively state that working the department of corrections is tougher than any/every other law enforcement assignment/detail out there)?

[wcso234]

working in a prison is way different than working in a jail. from my 4 years of experience as a C/O, i can tell you that the department of corrections aint for everybody.. its the toughest beat in law enforcement. no guns just guts. i love my job. your always learning somthing new.

IMO..............its not the toughest beat in law enforcement. I spent 5 years as a c/o in a max. security state prison for the mentally ill. We had the worst of the worst who could get away with anything and blame it on being mentally ill.
We had back up that was 20 seconds away. We had nurses and doctors on staff 24/7. If we got hurt, had a headache, or anything else they were right there.
AS a a rural cop back up can be 30 minutes away and all a gun does is give you something else to worry about when rolling around fighting on the ground. Our radio system has deadspots and we have to drive at high speeds
at times.
Comparing the two is apple and oranges

[GoDirectly2Jail]

IMO..............its not the toughest beat in law enforcement. [SIC] Comparing the two is apple and oranges

Agreed. This thread should not turn into a pissing contest about what is tougher, patrol or corrections.

Each job is a challenge, which require similar but not identical talents, and there are those individuals more suited for one career over the other. Neither job is for everyone, and both can get you killed if you are careless.

[Prometheus]

I work in a prison. I work there because the money is decent, the bennies are good, the work is steady, and correctional folk are some of the best folk around. That said, my real dream is to be a road deputy.

However, from those I've talked to about working on the road, the hours really suck. I've been told that you never know if your shift is going to end when its supposed to, and days off are not really your own as you can be called into court with as little as two hours notice.

Right now I work exactly 40 hours a week, every Sunday and Monday off, absolutely and completely. So the road may have to wait a little while.

[gfex81]

WOW... I did not mean to offend any of my fellow officers in this forum. The phrase "no guns just guts" and "the toughest beat in law enforcement" is what the department of corrections use here in Florida. I do respect the officers who are on patrol. I was a patrol officer in Puerto Rico so i know how dangerous it is out there..Sometimes your sitting in your car waiting for something to happened or make a quick stop to the house or stop at a handy way and talk to your buddy for a couple of hours. Yeah i know how it is. Don't get me wrong it's dangerous out there sometimes deppending on the county you work in...now while 3 sometimes 2 c/o are on a post with 96 inmates who don't give a F@#k because they have 20 to life sentences or on death row. Trust me since i've been a c/o for the state of Florida i've had 4 or more uses of force in a 8 hour shift or poop or urine thrown at me for no reason. This is for 5 days out of the week. I can't make a quick stop to the house or get some fresh air. In a max. security prison we have to shower, shave, feed, pass out mail in an 8 hour shift. then you got those who want to kick and flood there cells all night or cut. Once again i did not mean to offend my fellow officers. Everyone is entitled to there own opinion.

[North Patrol]

working in a prison is way different than working in a jail. from my 4 years of experience as a C/O, i can tell you that the department of corrections aint for everybody.. its the toughest beat in law enforcement. no guns just guts. i love my job. your always learning somthing new.

First off my wife (a hard nosed cage kicker) agrees with you 100%, go figure.

Second, guys, I don't think he was trying to offend anyone he's just proud of what he does. No harm in that. It's like when firemen say they are tougher than cops. And we all know that's not the case. :D

Go on gfex81, yell it from the mountaintop, we're listening. :rolleyes:

[Samuel]

WOW... I did not mean to offend any of my fellow officers in this forum. The phrase "no guns just guts" and "the toughest beat in law enforcement" is what the department of corrections use here in Florida. I do respect the officers who are on patrol. I was a patrol officer in Puerto Rico so i know how dangerous it is out there..Sometimes your sitting in your car waiting for something to happened or make a quick stop to the house or stop at a handy way and talk to your buddy for a couple of hours. Yeah i know how it is. Don't get me wrong it's dangerous out there sometimes deppending on the county you work in...now while 3 sometimes 2 c/o are on a post with 96 inmates who don't give a F@#k because they have 20 to life sentences or on death row. Trust me since i've been a c/o for the state of Florida i've had 4 or more uses of force in a 8 hour shift or poop or urine thrown at me for no reason. This is for 5 days out of the week. I can't make a quick stop to the house or get some fresh air. In a max. security prison we have to shower, shave, feed, pass out mail in an 8 hour shift. then you got those who want to kick and flood there cells all night or cut. Once again i did not mean to offend my fellow officers. Everyone is entitled to there own opinion.

If the FDOC uses those phrases as mottos or sayings, you should have put them in quotes. Since you didn't, it was You saying it...

Yeah, it's a piece of cake out here working the streets - the other week, I logged almost 70 hours in 4 days (yes it sucked!). The Earliest I got off was 3 1/2 hours After shift (and that was even with someone Else writing 3 reports for me, booking narco for me, and someone Else helping me process a couple of arrestees). Guess what? NONE of that week was spent sitting in my car "waiting for something to happen" or stopping by any houses other than responding to calls for service or talking to any of my buddies for a "couple of hours". :rolleyes:

BTW, I have worked custody. You aren't the only one on this board who has 'seen some sh1t' while working lockdown. I had really sucky days/weeks supervising inmates too.

[Samuel]

It's like when firemen say they are tougher than cops. And we all know that's not the case. :D

lol

First, I respect the fire guys and appreciate them being out there. "Tougher than cops"? Well, I don't know about that - they've got different responsibilities and duties. I sure wouldn't want to deal with some of the crap they have to deal with.
Around here, however, WTSisHingTF, they won't roll in until after we've (LEOs) made the situation safe. OTOH, you won't catch me standing on the roof of a burning building chopping away at what I'm standing on with an axe! :eek:

[North Patrol]

First, I respect the fire guys and appreciate them being out there. "Tougher than cops"? Well, I don't know about that - they've got different responsibilities and duties. I sure wouldn't want to deal with some of the crap they have to deal with.

That sounds like you're saying you don't respect C/O's and I know you did not mean it to sound like that. Kind of like what the kid did in his post with out the quotation marks. And just like firemen, C/O's have different responsibilities and duties. My wife is a career cage kicker and I know for a fact I could never do the job. So for me it would be tougher than working the street.

OTOH, you won't catch me standing on the roof of a burning building chopping away at what I'm standing on with an axe! :eek:

I worked as a firefighter with a volunteer department and most of my family and inlaws were in the fire service and I have to agree with you completely on this!

Not nit-picking just explaining my views, however meaningless.