Foundations

During periods of fiscal flaccidity, corrections always needs new ideas and better ways of operating.  This is the time when those with proposed innovations can shine.  Brainstorming session, now more than ever, are quite essential.

Did you ever get a flash of inspiration that surprised you and your colleagues?  This is a time when your brainchild cascaded from the tendrils of your mind like an unstoppable rush of water seeking the lowest point. The thought flowed wildly around you, almost enveloping you, as you remain solidly rooted.

It is rewarding when notions seemingly drop out of nowhere and bear fruit as a new and promote efficient ways of doing things. Read more…

joebouchard Self Scrutiny

We are engaged in an endless battle to keep the public, offenders, and ourselves safe.  No doubt, corrections is an important job.  However, it is no secret that the positive results of our labors are not always readily evident.

Then why do we do it?  Is the corrections profession worth it?   How do we anchor ourselves to our job?

 When asking such questions, we often feel forsaken in a wilderness of tasks looking for a meaning to our work.  Read more…

joebouchard Assessing the organization, Inside Out, Self Scrutiny

It seems that we ascend an endless set of steps in the pursuit of safety.  Contraband is a common menace in prisons.  It will exist as long as there is incarceration.  It is a never-ending proposition.

But an established contraband lord is not free of pressures to maintain an empire of illicit trade.  There are three threats to contraband empires, they are competing prisoners, corrupt staff, and professional staff. Understanding the structure and motives of these three groups will help foster safety for all in correctional facilities.

 Which would you choose as the lesser of two evils? Would you select the
 persistent and efficient criminal whose methods you know? Read more…

joebouchard Contraband Control

I have heard a few stories about my family’s past concerning the hazards of working in the anthracite coal mines of Eastern Pennsylvania. Clearly, miners faced many perils. Cave-ins, black lung, and poisonous gasses are just a few of these. Of course, these hazards are with the industry today.  And while mining is not quite what it was in Dickson City in the 19th century, I cannot help to wonder if they used canaries in the mines.  The image is evocative and iconic.

Just as in mining, past and present, not everyone would willingly work in corrections.  Read more…

joebouchard Security