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.
My GUESS is that a judge is a judge who presides over a court while a commissioner is an Administrative Law Judge who presides over an administrative hearing, such as an inmate disciplinary hearing or a parolee revocation hearing. It would, however, depending on what arena and what jurisdiction you are operating in. Not exactly my field of expertise.
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The wrong reason is because you want to punish bad people. Right reasons, ,maybe to help protect society.
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I don't know that any system requires a degree for Correctional Officer. A criminal justice degree might help. A degree in Organizational Behavior might help. Military experience is often helpful and military people are used to the command structure which some people have trouble with.
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Minimum age depends. As far as I know to be a peace officer in the U.S. you must be 21. Often they will hire you at 20 `1/2 so you are 21 when you actually get out of the academy and go to work. If you are a :"jailer" (non peace officer) you can be hired at 18 in most states.
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Meter Maid
Is it tough to have a job that consists exclusively of ruining peoples' days?
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Why is movie theater food so overpriced?
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How cooperative are Mexican authorities re: US immigration and border control?
Public (government) and private is about it. Public is "better" in that it pays better, you have more authority, more legal protection and as far as I know always better benefits and retirement.
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In Ca yes. I think it is 13 weeks right now. I suspect there is some sort of legally mandatory minimum training in all states for peace officers.
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It depends on the jurisdiction and the exact circumstances I expect. My GUESS is that one bad test for weed would get you a nasty note in your personnel file. One bad test for coke or heroin might get you fired. Of course the tests are not 100% reliable and, if the person being tested protested his innocence they might very well put him/her on the mandatory test list for a few months. Unless the agency has a hard and fast policy there is a lot of wiggle room and good, long term employees are too valuable to be discarded lightly.
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