Final Project: Alternative Action Plan

Athena Howard
April 21, 2015
LS 100: Introduction to the Law and the Legal Profession
Interview Transcript
Interviewee: Shanita House
Occupation: Detention Officer
Questions
1. Out of all the different career options to choose from with a criminal justice degree, why the job as a detention officer? 2. What are all the requirements for this job? 3. What are the pros and cons that come with this job? 4. What is a typical day in the facility for you? 5. Have you had any scenarios where your ethical thinking skills such as dealing with a disrespectful coworker/inmate occurred? How did you handle it? 6. Why did you choose the criminal justice degree instead of a political science degree? 7. Would you recommend this job to someone else? 8. What advice would be you give to someone that wanted to pursue this career or any other criminal justice oriented career? 9. Do you plan to keep this career or do you want to pursue something else in the criminal justice field?
Notes from Interview 1. Learning new things such as how the jail systems work and how important a detention officer’s job really is 2. Requirements: must be 21 years of age, undergo an extensive background check, U.S. citizen, high school diploma, college education not required but could be extremely helpful 3. Pros: the knowledge of the jail/court system, good benefits and pay, job security
Cons: long training, dangerous, work holidays, and odd shifts 4. Go in briefing room where the LT comes in and let them know about what was going on the shift before them and things they need to do or watch for. LT calls out duty assignments, go to assigned areas where they begin supervisory rounds. Feed twice a day during day shift and one time at night during night shift. We get any people out of court that need to be placed in the facility. Every day is not the same, it could be hectic or laid back. 5. She had an incident where an inmate came in mad and disruptive. She began to talk to him to try and diffuse the situation. The more and more she talked to the inmate he began to calm down. He finally told her what was wrong with him which, was one of his family members had passed and it was hurting him. The next day the when she saw the inmate he stopped her and told her how much he appreciated her. She felt really good about that situation. 6. Criminal justice always appealed to her. She could be hands on with different things in the system and how to handle different types of inmates. 7. She would recommend this job to other people because it is a great job. Even though it has its pros and cons like any other job. It is an opportunity to change things on the inside instead of doing from the outside looking in. 8. The best advice would be to remain humble as you possibly can. Hard work and dedication is important but not as important as being humble. Never forget that the inmate is not beneath you but is just as equal as you. 9. Would eventually like to try being a probation officer, because it is more laid back and could get a chance to explore instead of being confined inside the jail.

Reflective Summary

I selected a woman by the name of Ms. Shanita House. She is a detention officer at Pitt County Detention Center in Greenville, NC. I choose her because she is a person that inspires me. She graduated from high school and then went straight in the work field. She felt that she was trapped in the situation of just working the same job forever, so she decided to go back to school. She did not attend a traditional 4 year university, but a community college and majored in criminal justice. Soon as she graduated she received a job at our hometown detention center. She currently still works there and is constantly looking to be promoted into a higher position. Her experience has relevance and importance to my own career goals because we both worked before the decision to go back to school. It is important to do what is best for you and your life choices when dealing with how you plan on making your money for the next couple of years. The idea of working in a facility is not my first choice, but it I consider it to be a strong alternative decision. Her ambition to strive for better and continuing to work hard at what you want is why she is important to my career goals, because she is leading by an excellent example. When I asked her would she mind doing the interview, she was more than delighted. We had set the date and time and she came up with the idea that we should do it while she was at work so I could shadow her around for the night. I was more than thrilled to experience the jail system from another standpoint other than a visitor to an inmate. When arriving to the facility and her getting everything in order for the interview the actual hustle and bustle of the facility had me thinking that I picked the right person. My first couple of questions were the basic why this job, what are the requirements, and what are the pros and cons of being a detention officer. She felt that she could learn more by working in the jailhouse than the court room. The requirements for the jobs are must be 21 years of age, a U.S. citizen, extensive background check, a high school diploma, and a degree is not required but it can certainly be helpful for the job. The pros and cons that she felt needed to be known were that you get knowledge about the jail/court system, you have job security, and good benefits and pay. The cons are odd shifts, working holidays, long training and could be very dangerous. A turn of events then took place, where the interview had to be shifted to another time. We both heard the siren that indicated that there was a lockdown going on. I had to be escorted out and she had to get in position, so our interview had to be rescheduled. On the next day when the interview took place we picked up where we left off. I continued to ask the other questions that we did not get a chance to answer. We then discussed the typical day, any ethical scenarios, and advice that would be given to help the aspiring officer. Every day does not go the same, sometimes it can be hectic or laid back. She had an encounter with an inmate that came in mad and disruptive. She began to talk to him to try and diffuse the situation. The more and more she talked to the inmate he began to calm down. He finally told her what was wrong with him which, was one of his family members had passed and it was hurting him. The next day the when she saw the inmate he stopped her and told her how much he appreciated her. She felt really good about the way she handled the situation. She explained that she always wanted to be hands on with her learning of jail/court system. She loves the job that she does, she would recommend the job to others and plans to continue trying to make a change from the inside out. From this interview I learned that as long as you have a passion and dedication for the job that you do it will be forever be a great feeling. Some advice that I got from this interview was to always remain humble. Even though being a detention officer is not my first choice, the aspect of being humble is very important. Hard work, dedication, and communication can get you far in life, but being humble can take you even farther. Knowing that the people you encounter are your equal and not beneath you helps you gain the other factors like confidence, attentive listening skills and ambition to get the job done.