Bob Walsh
Stockton, CA
Male, 60
I worked for the California state system, starting as a Correctional Officer and retiring as a Lieutenant in 2005. I now write for the PacoVilla blog which is concerned with what could broadly be called The Correctional System.
I have never been a counselor. It is primarily paperwork, preparing board reports, progress reports, fiddling with pre-release paperwork, that sort of thing. In California it pays about the same as a Lieutenant, it is a non-uniform position and is mostly 8-5 M-F or 4X10. if you have custody background you can then move into a Lt. position without ever having been a Sergeant.
As for the second question, that is hard to say as i have seen some seriously stupid stuff. I remember one guy who locked himself out of his apartment then kicked his own door in. He then filed a false police report to avoid responsibility for the door damage. That was pretty stupid. Another guy got some mile-high action from a sweet young thing on the plane back from Hawaii and she turned out to be under age. He was prosecuted and lost his job.
Share Answer: 
I am afraid I can not help you much here. There was no formal psych test when I hired on. In general it is always good advice to get a good night sleep, try not to be too nervous and don't overthink the questions, but beyond that I can't help you much. Sorry.
Share Answer: 
I don't understand the question. It isn't exactly my area orf expertise. You should probably talk to a dermatologist.
Share Answer: 
Don't know. They didn't have one when I started beyond the general interview and observation by supervisors during probation. There is a formal psych test now I am told, but I have no idea what it is like.
Share Answer: 
Veterinarian
Who are the bigger hypochondriacs: dog owners or cat owners?
Casting Director
Are the melt-down auditions on American Idol staged?
Call Center Employee (Retail)
Which cable company do you think has the absolute worst customer service?
Depends on what you call "hurt." CDCr has something like seven or eight times the number of officers as does the CHP. The CHP rarely goes a year without an officer being murdered on the job, and there are usually more than one per year. CDCr often goes a year, or two, or three without an officer being murdered on the job. However, there is a lot of lower level violence either directed at staff or which staff get involved in responded to incidents. Some of it is just crazies going off. Your chances of being hurt during your career are very good. Your chances of being seriously hurt are relatively small, but it is certainly there. Just this month there have been two serious attempts to murder officers inside prisons, leaving the officers with serious injuries. If you work in a gun tower your chances of being hurt are small. If you work in a housing unit with GP borderlline nutters, the chances are much larger.
Share Answer: 
Good question. I don't know. I do know the system gets a lot of military retirees, and likes them. I worked with more than a few people who came in in their 40s and a couple in their 50s. I was 30 myself. If I HAD to guess, I would say the average starting age is 24-28, but that isn't even an educated guess, its a WAG (wild-ass guess). Older guys (and women too) are a lot more even and often have better work ethic than the younger people, and better writing skills too.
Share Answer: 
Generally speaking during your probation period (1 year) after you get out of the academy (about 14 weeks) you will do about 1/3 of your probation period on each of the three shifts, with crappy days off (unless you are an attractive female and are "friendly" or have a relative in a high place within the department). AFter your probationary period you can bid for a job, and the shift and days off that come with it. You will be very lucky indeed if you can get anything with part of a weekend off within three years. Some people bid on vacation relief jobs just to get the occasional good days off, though that is not guaranteed. Actually Fri-Sat or Sun-Mon are good days off as they give you a week day off to do stuff and a week end day off to goof off. First watch is about 2300-0700, depending on the exact job and instituion. Second watch is 0700-1500, third watch is 1500-2300, though like I said that varies from instituion to instituion and even job to job.
Share Answer: 
-OR-
Login with Facebook (max 20 characters - letters, numbers, and underscores only. Note that your username is private, and you have the option to choose an alias when asking questions or hosting a Q&A.)
(A valid e-mail address is required. Your e-mail will not be shared with anyone.)
(min 5 characters)
By checking this box, you acknowledge that you have read and agree to Jobstr.com’s Terms and Privacy Policy.
-OR-
Register with Facebook(Don't worry: you'll be able to choose an alias when asking questions or hosting a Q&A.)
Browse Jobs
Host a Q&A
Search
Submit Your Question
Host a Q&A
Last 7
