We will ALWAYS be watching... |
Every day we loose more and more correctional staff and the
reasons are many: “the job is not for me”, got walked off after a relationship
with an offender, introduced contraband, etc. The reasons may be many but the
end result is the same: we loose staff.
One of the most disheartening things to hear from new
correctional staff is that older, more experienced staff did not take them
under their wing and teach them what they needed to know. Any pre-service
academy serves the same purpose: teach the foundation of the job based on
policy and procedure. Since every facility is different in how they operate,
the nuts and bolts of the job are left to the facility to teach. Experienced
staff dedicate themselves to this mission.
The days of having offenders teach new staff on how to do
the job are long gone. Although it is true that this still takes place (in a
way), it is the older officers that should be taking that new officer and
training them how to do the job. A facility FTO can only do so much and the
training of an employee never ends. I don’t care how long you have been working
in corrections, you always learn something new.
Have we really thought of the ramifications of not teaching
that new officer how to do things the right way? We have no problem teaching
them the shortcuts, but how about the right way to do things. It may take more
time but in the end, it’s worth it.
When we neglect these new officers, offenders take notice.
It is for this very same reason that offenders will go after the new staff and
try to turn them into something that they should not be…a danger to the rest of
us.
I want you to think back to when you first started working
at your first facility. Did it really feel good to have the older staff look
down on you and not pay attention to you? Did you truly enjoy when you would
ask a question and they would give you a BS answer only making it harder to
learn what you needed to learn? How about when you needed help and no one would
take the time to help you? I would bet that there was an offender that saw this
take place and gave you “friendly advise” on what you needed to do.
It is this same helpful offender that will be there for that
new staff member and try to turn them. We know that it starts small but at what
point does it end? When will we put an end to this?
There are many veteran officers that will, and do, take the
time to teach these youngsters how to do things the right way and will always
be there for any staff member. To those
of you that are in this category, thank you from all of us. You ARE noticed and
we could not do what we do without you.
Keep the lamb away from the wolf and watch it grow into a
sheepdog. They are always lurking in the shadows just waiting for the
opportunity to strike. If not us, then who?
Note: This article appeared in Corrections.com
Note: This article appeared in Corrections.com
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