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.
Correctional Officers are the grunts. They do the actual work. Towers, vehicle gates, search and escort, superivisng feeding and movement, transportation, supervising housing units and yards. Sergeants are first-line supervisors. They supervise the cops. Lieutenants are second line supervisors. They supervise the Sgts. They often make a lot of the decisions as to what officer is assinged to what position for those without enough seniority to bid on jobs. Captains scratch their asses, drink coffee, and harass the people who actually work for a living. There are some exceptions of course but basically that's it, at least in California. Lieutenatns also serve as administrative hearing officers for inmate discipline reports.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Bar Mitzvah DJ
Why are DJ's so unwilling to accommodate song requests?
Magician
How do you feel about magicians on TV who reveal how tricks are done?
Call Center Employee (Retail)
I've heard that a lot of startups are hiring really well-educated college grads and paying them a lot, reasoning that customer service is often a client's most lasting impression of a brand. What do you think, and is it something you see spreading?
I don't understand the question. It isn't exactly my area orf expertise. You should probably talk to a dermatologist.
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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.
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Yes, there is a general prohibition aginst overfamiliarity with the families of inmates or the inmates themselves. The idea is to prevent pressure, in either direction, to influence treatment or to expose the staff to problems. Staff are required to inform the system in writing when a family member or close friend comes into the jurisdicition of the department.
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