A Correctional Point of View

As a corrections officer in a California state prison, I won’t boast that I am the most experienced at my job. I’ve only been posted at this prison for 3 years, but being here this long has helped me to discern the kind of relationships that inmates and corrections personnel begin to elope into. I won’t deny seeing my co-workers become friendlier with certain inmates than others. I won’t even deny that my co-workers snuck stuff like porno magazines and cigarettes in here beneath their jacket to give to certain inmates either. Respect however, goes a long way here in California State Penitentiary, regardless whether it’s right or corrupt. I think that this is the biggest issue in this prison, the abuse of our legitimate power. Most of us are able to come into work and do our jobs respectively; we get a new inmate, we process him or her, get him or her clothed and secure their belongings, and then it’s off to whatever assigned cell he or she has. If the inmate has questions or requires assistance, that’s what we’re here for; given the inmate hasn’t had a track record of misconducts. Most of us, including myself, enjoy our jobs here; those that see it my way, feel that we’re doing a service to our community, straightening out the lives of the people here behind bars.

Diaz, a fellow officer of mine whom I’ve known for at least 3 months is an experienced vet at this detainment facility. Last week, a prisoner was sent to the Special Housing Unit after we found cigarettes under his bunk mattress. He was one of our more violent inmates, a self-proclaimed leader of a white supremacy gang. He claims that Officer Diaz was the one smuggling them in, and because Officer Diaz wasn’t satisfied with amount of money the inmate was wiring to him, him and a few of my other co-workers did a “random” search on his cell. Another