©" Story" Law Enforcement, Correctional Officer

by Mickey Pig Knuckles Tue Jan 27, 2009 11:35 am

Correctional Officers

Introduction:

I have had the chance to work in the field of
law enforcement as a correctional officer.
This short story is a reflection of some of my
observations and emotions that I want
to share with all of you.
I hope you enjoy and understand
the reality presented here.

What would the average citizen say if it were proposed
that police officers be assigned to a neighborhood which
was totally inhabited by no one but criminals and those
officers would be unarmed, patrol on foot, and be heavily out
numbered? I would venture to say that the overwhelming
public response would be that the officers would have to
be completely crazy to accept such an assignment or make
such a career choice. However, as you read this, such
a scenario is being played out in all areas of our
great country. Federal and state Correctional Officers,
not guards, which is a person watching school crossings,
or walking the hallways of many schools and hospitals,
and our malls as guards. Correctional Officers work in
Correctional Facilities, empowered by the federal and
state to enforce its laws and the rules and regulations
of the Department of Corrections, in short, Law
Enforcement Officers.

Our daily beat is totally inhabited by convicted felons,
who, by definition, are people who tend to break the laws,
rules, and regulations of our society. Correctional
Officers are outnumbered by a ratio of 100 to 1 or more
in some cases during the average workday, and contrary to
popular belief, we work without sidearms. Yes, our necks
are on the line every minute of our work day. A correctional
facility is a very misunderstood environment. The average
person has little knowledge of it's workings. Society sends
it's criminals to correctional facilities and as time passes,
each criminal's crime fades from our memory until the
collective prison population becomes a vision of hordes of
bad people being warehoused away from decent people where
they can cause no further harm to society. There is also
a notion that prison inmates cease to be a problem when
they are incarcerated.

Correctional facilities are packed full of violence
perpetrated by the prison population against each other and
the facility staff. Felonies are committed daily but they
are called "incidents' and rarely result in public prosecution.
Discipline is handled internally and, as a rule, the public
is never informed of these internal crimes. In the
course if maintaining order in these facilities many
officers have been punched or kicked, bitten, stabbed,
slashed with homemade weapons, taken hostage and even
murdered in the line of duty, while being legally
mandated to maintain their professional composure
and refrain from any and all retaliation. In
addition to these obvious dangers, correctional officers face
hidden dangers in the form of AIDS, tuberculosis,
hepatitis B and hepatitis C. The courts are now imposing
longer sentences and the prison population is increasing far
beyond the systems designed capacity. As the public demands
more police on the streets, governments everywhere are
handcuffing police in prisons where violence reigns
supreme, jeopardizing those officers behind these prison
walls. Although you will never see us on "Cops," or
"Real Stories" we are law enforcement professionals.
The forgotten cop, hidden from view. ( except for the 1% or
less who make the news-our counterparts know how that works
when someone goes bad or something goes extremely wrong),
doing thankless duty on the worlds most dangerous beat,
hoping someday to receive respect and approval from the
public whom we sincerely serve to protect and keep safe
from these criminal's of crime.

I want to dedicate this to all who have served and have a
place in your heart for the work that must be done.
Thank You for reading this and understanding that we are
people too and want to protect of free society from these
evil people.

Penned By James

Penned By Mickey Pig Knuckles