|
|
| Walking With the Predators |
| By Tracy E. Barnhart |
| Published: 09/21/2009 |
An officer, who is well liked and respected by his peers, returns from a well deserved break at 0230. The malicious darkness looms of what seems like an ordinary and routine third shift in the facility. But for him it’s a restless night and he knows that time will continue to drag. He wonders if his shift will end uneventful and after only eight hours or if he will be mandated to work first shift.
He remembers the day an operational manager once told him that he was going to go places within the department. As quickly as the promise of his big promotional chance came, it vanished just a fast. Politics, idle talk, becoming a union activist, and not knowing who the resourceful players are has sent him down another path. In the darkness of a lonely midnight shift that leads to nowhere, he contemplates his current situation, his future. It is then that the exhaustion overwhelms him and even though he is comfortable, he begins to sweat. However, time is now his lifetime enemy as he ponders the future, wondering why he is no longer energized and dedicated to the career or the people that he works side by side with. He is second guessing his motives for taking the career path he has chosen. He starts counting down the years until his retirement and counting those same years of more senior officers allowing him to ascend the ladder of seniority. He wonders if he has become as cold a person as he now feels. He is now at the point in his career where he feels too old to effectively play the game anymore. He feels the promise that the union and management have made is just empty hype and have fallen short of the desired results. “Where do I go from here?” He often thinks about quitting and taking out his pension money to start a small business to escape the daily stress, fear, and micro management of the administration. Sound oddly familiar? This scenario is like many individuals in the corrections field everywhere. Those once strong officers that have been broken down by the years of career stress, poor management and the leadership failures. We all start our correctional careers excited and ready to make a difference. Officers showing their desire to excel and bring their education and experience into the field, only to be denied the satisfaction of advancement. We turn cynical toward any decisions and skeptical of changes that the administrations make and often criticize those who take the side of supervision. Regardless of what state you live and what agency you work for, the difference is minimal depending on the security level and department for which you work. Corrections work is unfair and the strong feelings of frustration can be overwhelming throughout your career. It becomes difficult balancing long working hours, rotating shifts and different posts, watching the pain and conflict placed on one another by the inmates and management. It may be the reading of negative feed back portrayed by the media and watch dog inmate advocates attempting to govern and change the way that we enforce our rules, policies and laws. The constant pressure of being locked up with the predators of society for eight to sixteen hours a day contributes to that relentless monster called stress. We are under trained, understaffed and society cannot possibly comprehend what we endure each day in an attempt to protect their public interests. It is difficult to comprehend why an officer punched a handcuffed inmate after a violent restraint, but those who do the work can sometimes empathize. “It is the nature of man to rise to greatness, if greatness is expected of him.” John Steinbeck We hope that our families can understand why we are short, angry and frustrated when things get confusing at home. It is often difficult to explain what our day actually encompassed because if you tell them the truth of what you endure, they may worry and become fearful everyday you leave for work. Along with our health and emotional well being at stake, the levels of occupational and self induced stress contribute to the break up of many marriages and lead to large divisions between our children. We are more critical of our children each day because we see the result of poor parenting and undisciplined behavior in the inmates we are charged to correct. We are the keepers of the kept and it is difficult to separate our assertive demeanors from our family lives. We want so badly for our families to understand our dilemmas and plights but we don’t want to seem fearful, soft and out of control. Corrections is a career that demands assertiveness without panic and perfection without delay. Shortly into your career you will begin to question your desire to carry on the service and have to force yourself to come to work each day. Everyday brings another reason dispensed to go to work and if you have acquired enough sick time that day, those reasons may not be enough to make it into work. Corrections officers are the forgotten peace officers of the law enforcement society. We work in minimum, medium and maximum juvenile and adult correctional facilities. We are empowered by the state to maintain stability within the fences that cloak the occurrences of extreme violence from the public. We walk among the predators of society regulating the rules, laws and policies each day without the notice of the loyalty of our duty. The neighborhood that we police is inhabited by violent convicted felons who are authority defiant, aggressive and prone to assault us without any consequence of their actions. The intestinal fortitude necessary to walk into a pod full of predators bent on manipulating, bewildering and sometimes disabling you is immense. We walk among the predators and silently serve, because nobody else will! Our specific job is to maintain order, establish safety and attempt some sort of rehabilitation while maintaining professionalism and composure. We are second guessed and micromanaged by individuals whom we question their knowledge and abilities. It is easy to forget where you came from as you start the ascent up the ladder of success. Those same ineptness criticisms that you as an officer once spoke about your administrations is now how you may be managing your officers. As a leader of men you should know that managers tell officers to do things but leaders say lets do things together. We need more leaders and fewer managers in the corrections field. “Example is not the main thing in influencing others; it is the only thing.” Everyday we attempt to establish dominance within our institutions hoping that we can walk out the front doors at the end of our shifts. All tribulations are often blamed on officer inadequacies. We are understaffed everyday as I have never known any institution that had too many officers. It is not uncommon to have a fourth of your officers out on some sort of leave such as sick, disability, and inmate related injuries and yet we are pressured and divided by the administration while maintaining a low moral level because of our staff outages. Corrections as a whole, is a stressful unforgiving career choice that will task your mental stabilities. You will see many leadership shortcomings and individuals who are made bitter by the stress of the job. I only hope that you can overcome those shortcomings and pitfalls so that your initial dedication and reasoning’s you started with, eventually return. Bond together and create those strong lasting relationships with the individuals which are going through the same hardships you are. I hope that at the end of your career you can look back; smile, and say that you made a difference. “The harder that you work; the harder it is to surrender.” Vince Lombardi “The problems of the world cannot possibly be solved by skeptics or cynics whose horizons are limited by obvious realities. We need men and woman who can dream of things that never were.” John F. Kennedy Visit the Tracy Barnhart page |
Comments:
Login to let us know what you think
MARKETPLACE search vendors | advanced search
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
|
Well, I won't like these wild life channels only capturing the lives of animals and not saving their lives. I am sharing some information about schoolhousecom which is my own product based website where you can find your related products for free, Follow my website and book mark today.
He deserves this as he has shown enthusiasm, interest, passion and hard work, really, he deserves that. I wish he may visit maysmaleacademy and add his opinion here, I have worked here and it is my profession to make this blog world famous, thanks a lot for your quality information.
I spend time many of the subject material, I have to express i actually prized, I actually wants more information about the following, just because this can be very superb., Thanks a ton pertaining to discovering. payday loan consolidation companies
It has been almost six months and I have been following your work out and daily routine, I like your pattern over here, you can also become a part of our mcdonald-research center right now and work for others. We are here always to guide you to make a proper and decent pattern of money. Thanks a lot for your amazing information here.
There is an officer, who is famous and appreciated by his peers, returns from a well-deserved break at 0230. Australian writings discount code is beneficial for us. The malevolent darkness appears of what seems like a normal and routine third shift in the facility but was actually a tedious and painful task.
Fabulous article. That blog post impinges on a whole lot of immediate need conflicts of the contemporary culture. You cannot be uninvolved to help you a lot of these conflicts. It blog post grants ideas and even creative concepts. Highly insightful and even helpful. Crawley Accountants
Walking with preditors has always been a tough task. Free Sony PlayStation 4 Giveaway is on the way and you can be the part of it easily. The latest of its generation is PlayStation 4 that offers much more than anyone’s expectations. So now you guys have a chance to win a ps4 for free. We know many gamers who often look for getting this amazing gaming console free of cost.
Tracy Barnhart wrote an excellent article on Correctional Officers and the positions that we hold. The public can only imagine what our jobs as Correctional Officers are. They only know what they see on TV and in the movies. Unless you are a Correctional Officer, you don't understand the mental and physical stress that is invovled with the positions that we hold. Our family members suffer from our over protective ways due to what we see on a daily basis. We also hold our children to a higher standard so that they don't wind up on the wrong side of the bars due to what we see everyday. We are counselors, care-givers and nurses all wrapped into one. We are Correctional Officers, and we are where the real law enforcement begins.
That was the best article that I have read concerning our job. You said it all in one neat little bundle. This really needs to be published so others not in corrections can read it and see what we really do. I have been asked so many times what is it that you do or how can you be in there with them all day or do you have a gun in there with them etc. The public has no idea what we do and management has forgotten what we do. They are now trying to please those above them and those below them well they are kind of on their own. The officer pleases the corporal, the corporal pleases the Sgt. the Sgt. pleases the Lt. the Lt. pleases the Captain and the Captain pleases the Major and the Major pleases the Deputy Chief and Deputy Chief pleases the Chief, etc.........So you see, us at the bottom got a long ways to go to get our justice because there is no one thats trying to please us..........but we are the ones that are really holding the whole system together, without us none of them could do their jobs. The whole stucture would come tumbling down because we are the foundation. There is nothing that will stand without a good foundation..........
Finally! An article that articulates everything a corrections officer can and does go through no matter where you are or in what capacity you work be it jail/prison/or juvenile facility. Good job.
Awesome article---right on point and insightful.