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 do not agree with your basic premise, so it is difficult for me to make a meaningful response to your question.
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I have no idea. I have never worked a women's prison. Unless there was a serious security issue I expect it would not be necessarily or desirable, but for all I know there is some specific regulation about it. The only thing I know for sure (and it may have changed since I retired) was that, even if the birth takes place at the prison, the birth certificate does NOT say State Prison as place of birth.
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It is hard to say what stresses one person and not another. I never had a staff member murdered on the job in all the time I was there. I did have staff members die. I had to tell staff that family members had died. I had to tell inmates that family members died, and tell family members that inmates died, often violently. I had inmates I got along wel with murdered, at least once by mistaken identity of having gotten in the way of something that was going on.
For some people the on-going stress, not immediate situation stress, is what gets to them. When the alarm goes off you don't know if it is a false alarm or someone has just gotten murdered. At the end of shift and you really want to go home you can't, because some butthead called in sick so he could watch the game. (That happened to me on Y2K when a couple of guys that had been prescheduled to come it simply didn't show.)
Sometimes the stressors are from above, from management. I had one boss who I truly beleive was deliberately trying to get me hurt to force me out of the job. I had one or two others who were lazy and/or incompetent. One or two that were just plain nasty for no reason. I was screwed with repeatedly on promotional opportunities, little things like mailing my interview notice to a "mistaken" zip code in Saskatchewan so I got it after my interview date. Once I showed up for a promotion interview 12 minutes early and I was ordered to leave as I was "too early" or I would be arrested for trespassing. Really. You get used to the inmates trying to screw you over. Its expected. You don't get used to staff trying to screw you over.
Soledad was a very violent place at that time. People trying to kill you just because you are there can mess with your head.
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Correctional Officer is an entry level position. The principle skills you must have to GET the job are an adequate educational level, the ability to read and write decently and a satisfactory background. Other skills you will be taught and develop as you go. The general duties are to supervise and supply security / custody for prisoners.
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Hotel Front Desk Agent
Have you ever had a suicide occur in one of your rooms?
EMT
What was the most gruesome trauma you witnessed while on the job?
Server / Bartender
What's the best tip you ever got?
Not exactly my field of expertise. If she lives with you and is a minor, you can and should have some control over her. However, selling pot is semi-legal in California and have guns and money is not illegal (unless he is an ex-offender). If, however, he is known ot have drugs and money in the house and is known to be a pot seller he is at increased risk of home invasion robbery. You might be able to leverage her actions by threatening to turn him in if any of his conduct is illegal, but if she calls you on it and you do not carry through you might be in a worse position than before. Also if she is still a minor and there is some joint custody you might be able to get CPS involved if you can assert the house is a dangerous environment for her, even if his conduct is not horribly illegal. There are also safe firearms storeage laws in CA which might give you some leverage, if he is not obeying them. Good luck with your situation.
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I have no idea what an MIP is. My GUESS is that the answer is no, especially if you are correct and the record was EXPUNGED. typically misdemeanors don't go away simply because you paid the fine, but I am not tha familiar with the law in Florida, or for that matter Michigan. Sorry I could not be helpful.
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A lot of it will depend on you. The first two years it will be hard due to the llve-in academy followed by several months of rotating shifts. After he gets settled in to a regular job with known days off and a known shift it gets better, much better. (Some people bid for a VR (vacation relief) job when they can so they get some good gigs along with some crappy gigs.) When you get some seniority you can start bidding for jobs that you will probably like, working with people or working with situations that appeal to you. Some people never get used to it. Most people do. The closer to retirement it gets the more it looks like it was a good decision. Mule Creek is a relatively new, well laid out prison in a nice area. Last I heard it had a decent administration that supported the staff.
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