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 felt like I was preforming a valuable service for society at large, and I was fairly well compensated for it. Yes, the job was dangerous. Not ridiculously so, but you could not go thru the day with your brain on auto-pilot. Even if you were careful you would, from time to time, find yourself in situations that got physical. That's part of the job. Yes, I would still recommend a job in that field. It is much more "political" now than it was in my day, but I would still recommend it, just not as highly as I might have 15 years ago. The job is definitely important in the whole process. Assuming you allow that locking up bad guys is part of the process there must be somebody to both keep an eye on them and provide them with needed services. Without that aspect the system would come apart fairly quickly.
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When I hired on all the background, etc. was handled locally for each hiring authority and was not even slightly centralized. I think personally that, after 60 days (Dec 15) I would send them a polite note to inquire about your status. If they say DO NOT CALL I would be inclined to not call.
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We seem to have lost part of your question. You have to find your own comfort zone which takes a while. You clearly can't write up every minor infraction. However, if you let sexual or rude personal remarks slide they may come to believe you enjoy the attention, or at least don't mind it. My inclination would be to be fairly strict along those lines.
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In the California system, which is the only one I am truly familiar with, the ability to gain or not gain good time credit is a matter of law.
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As far as I know there is no LEGAL problem with a Correctional Officer getting involved with an ex-felon AS LONG AS THAT EX-FELON IS NO LONGER ON PROBATION OR PAROLE. Also of course you would, for practical purposes, have to let him know about your past. It would be a problem for access for firearms and ammunition, assuming he owns a gun. You are (presumably) prohibited from possessing or having access to guns or ammunition. Whether there would be some informal kickback against him, that is another question altogether.
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As far as I know it is not ILLEGAL but it is highly questionable. The staff member would be looked at very closely from a security standpoint, and the prisoner would be moved to anther prison due to security concerns.
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Assuming you are all in the same family it should not be a problem, at least in CA. If the former felon was no longer on probation/parole it would not be a problem in any case. In CA staff are required to report family members and close friends who are under the control of the department, as long as that was done it should not be a difficulty.
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