http://marchaseguro.com/wmoikn/k5wbr03trwa8felauq737n4i7y97kdgs6.gif




Kevin Burns

Raleigh, Maury, D.C. and Richmond...and a little more

It’s been way too long since my last update so I felt like I needed to fill everyone in on what’s been happening. For those of you that didn't know, I completed my first year at the DOC in December of last year. I celebrated that by taking 3 weeks off. It was a much needed break away from the prison. Just like any job, you get burnt out after a while of the same ole routine. That is exactly what was happening to me. I needed a break, so I took one.

While I was on break, I went and took the test for the Washington D.C. police department. I passed it with flying colors...mostly because it was the exact same test as the Richmond, VA police departments test. All I have to do now is send in my paperwork so they can get the background process started. D.C. starts out at $48k and goes up to $53k after 18 months. That's not too bad. Mainly it's because of the cost of living there and the high crime rate in the city. But, any large city is going to have a high crime rate so it just part of the job. I love D.C. so we shall see if this goes anywhere.

I still haven't heard anything back from Richmond from where I took the polygraph test for them. That was back in November so I'm not really sure what the deal is there. I know I passed it because the guy told me I did before I left to come back. They said that the academy was at the end of January, so if that is true then I guess I should be waiting on a letter saying I didn't make the cut lol. As soon as I hear anything new though, I promise to put it on the blog.

I'm going to be applying to Raleigh PD next week. A good friend of me suggested to me that I should, so I'm going to. I had been considering it for a while but wasn't sure if I should. But when I talked to her last she said they are really needing people right now and since I have been with the DOC for over a year now that should help me tremendously to get in there. So hopefully I'll be turning in my application to them and get that process started.

Finally over Christmas vacation I got something I had been wanting for a long long time. I consider it my present for Christmas '11 and '12, my Birthday '11 and '12 and graduating Basic Training for the DOC. I finally got my Smith and Wesson M&P .40 handgun. I love it. I've only been able to take it out one time so far since I have been so busy since I got back to work, but I know I will take it out more once I get more time and things slow down a little. It’s such a great gun. Field stripping it is so easy and cleaning it takes almost no time at all. As soon as I get the chance I'm going to get my carry conceal permit that way I can have it on me at all times.

Now on to the news of the prison. As you can imagine, when I was gone for 3 weeks the rumor mill at NCI started running at full speed. I remember the first night I walked into the block, the first thing I heard was "oh no the dickhead is back!!", and "dammit!!!, Burns is back". I can't help but laugh when I hear stuff like that. I'm way past the point of caring what those guys think of me. I'm not there to make friends with them even if other officers are. The first rumor that I heard was that I had been fired. That's the normal one that you get when you’re gone for a week or so. But, the next one I heard made me laugh out loud. It definitely took me by surprise. An inmate came up and told me that he had heard I transferred to the women's prison down the road and got my ass beat the very first day I worked there so I decided to come back to Nash. I thought that one was by far the best. Then there was the one where everyone was saying I had transferred. This one I was a little surprised about. I hadn't told too many people that I work with about my transfer plans so when I was told this it got my attention. Come to find out, a few days later I had several inmates come up to me and tell me that one particular officer was going and telling all the inmates that I was transferring, and exactly which prison I was going to. At the sound of this, I was pissed. I already had zero respect for that officer and can't stand them, but now they are going and telling my personal information to the inmates. I decided to take control of this situation real quick and let both my sergeants know. They spoke to the officer and let them know it was unacceptable. What they did next is something to laugh about. Instead of acting there age (which in my opinion is way too old to be at the DOC), they decided to act like a teenager and throw another officer under the bus also. Really? You can't just take responsibility and own up to your mistake? That's pathetic if you ask me. But, I can't expect anymore from that person so I just move on. By now the inmates know I'm leaving. They know where I'm going and every day I'm in the block they ask me when I'm leaving. The only answer I give them is "I'm leaving when I feel like it. Until then they get to deal with me."

The other week we did a shakedown at the facility. A shakedown is where you do a complete search of the institution. That means search every cell, bunk, library, kitchen, etc. All the inmates are individually strip searched and held elsewhere till we complete the search of that area. I was one of the officers chosen to assist with the strip searches. Let me just say, I did more strip searches in that 4 hours than I have the entire time I have been at NCI. As you tell the inmates, it's nothing personal, strictly business. The sad part about the entire thing is how many officers ran and told the inmates that we were going to be doing a shakedown and the day it was going to be. The entire purpose of it is to purge the institution of as much contraband as possible like cell phones, marijuana, cocaine, tobacco, weapons and so on. How do they expect it to be effective when you have all these dirty officers running and telling the inmates what were about to do. It's like they consider the inmates their friends or something. It disgusts me. One inmate who was out to the hospital actually left a note on his bed saying when we did the search to not take his extra pillow and mattress because he had approval for them? Seriously?!?! I hate the thought that there are so many officers that are bringing in all this contraband and feeding these inmates information all for a few extra bucks. I hope every one of them are caught and put in prison. Obviously they have no morals or self respect. They deserve to be an inmate.

I went for my interview the other day at Maury. I think it went really well. They gave me a list of 10 scenarios and asked me to tell them what my action/response would be for each one. I'm really hoping that I'll be able to get this transfer. I have plenty of support behind me right now at Nash. Several of my supervisors have assisted me in the whole process and I couldn't be more thankful for all they have done to help me. I have never had the kind of support as I do at NCI. I know that once I leave I really am going to miss those that I have grown close to. My sergeants have been some of the greatest mentors I have ever had. I couldn't ask for better supervisors. The same goes for my Lt. and Capt as well. I have gotten so much support and backing from all of them. A big Thank You goes out to them.

I think I have pretty much caught gotten everything caught up now. Sorry it has taken so long. Like I always say, I'll try and work on posting them more frequently, but no promises.





Below is a link to a story that was published in the yahoo news section just today. An inmate at CP in Raleigh speaks of how easy inmates on Death Row have it. Please read this story. People don't understand just how easy these guys have it. They aren't being punished. They are in grown up daycare. It's pathetic.

Update 12/14/2011- One year, cell phones, staff, transfer and 3 week vacation!

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Update: 11/25/2011

Its been almost a month since I updated last so I figured it was about time again. First off I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I spent a couple hours with my family before I had to go to work. Thankfully it was a very quiet even though it was a late night.

Things have been rather hectic and crazy at work lately. There have definitely been a lot of ups and downs with the people I work with. Mainly just two of them. But even with it being just two of them, that still puts a huge strain on the rest of us. We are working through it and coming together to form a "family" the best we can. In there we need to know without a shadow of a doubt that everyone has our back if something happens. The inmates can always sense when there is even the slightest rift in the relationship of us officers.. They can tel if one hates the other or vice versa and they feed off of that.

Other than the aggravations with the people I work with, its been not too bad to go to work. so many people I work with cant figure out why I love my job so much. Do I feel like I'm making a difference? No. Not even a little. But every morning when I get off work I feel like I earned my paycheck. Does this job challenge me? No way. But I have learned so much more than I ever thought I would by taking this job. This leads me into an update about the job apps.

I still haven't heard anything from Richmond yet. I'm assuming they are still doing the background investigation. I haven't heard anything to let me know any different. Since I have gotten no word from them, I did go ahead with the application to the Washington DC Metro police. They start out making an insane amount compared to all the surrounding areas plus it will get me close to the Federal level which is where I wanna end up anyway. I'm actually proud of myself for following through with all these jobs and applying instead of just telling myself I'm gonna do it and then stop short. I go to take the test for DC Police in December. Looks like another road trip is in store. That's ok though.
I've also decided that at the end of the year I'm gonna go ahead and put in for a transfer to a prison facility closer to home so I can try and actually save some money. With spending almost $600 a month in gas, its killing any chance of saving I might have. So I'm gonna start all that paperwork towards the middle of December as well. The administration at Nash has been awesome in this whole process. They have been behind me 100% and have offered to help in any way they can. I hope they are offering because they consider me a great employee to pass on to another facility. Who knows. i just know that I'm definitely gonna miss my Sergeants, Lieutenant and Captain when I leave Nash. They have taught me so many things.

Update

Last week I made the third trip to Richmond to take the long dreaded polygraph test. Of course I passed it with flying colors. Everyone keeps asking me if I have heard anything since then. To answer everyone at the same time, no. I am surprised to an extent and at the same time I'm not. I knew from the start this was going to be a long process. They started out with over 600 applicants. I know it has to take a lot of effort to narrow the field down the fill the 25 open vacancies in the next academy. In a way I'm really happy that I haven't heard anything cause that means that I still have a shot. On the other hand it's rather aggravating to not here anything cause I'm not sure what the next step is. I know if I was meant to get this job then everything will work out. Several people don't wanna see me move back out of NC, but I have to do what makes me happy and if getting this job makes me happy, then that's what I'm gonna do. Hope everyone is having a great week. I have 3 more days in my vacation. Im gonna spend them doing nothing. I'll update again next week or sooner if I hear anything.

Back to the grind

After 4 weeks in Basic Training for Correctional Officers, and an extra week off just because I wanted to, I finally returned to work this past Friday night. I lucked out and was A-section first half which meant I was able to just walk around and help where needed. When I finally made it into the block, and the inmates seen me back for the first time, there were numerous gasps for air. Several inmates even yelled out "oh no, Burns is back", throughout the block. I took this as a sign that they just love me when I work haha. For the first hour or so, I kept hearing those same things over again. Several inmates came up and asked me how my vacation was. I of course told them it was awesome! It was definitely a little weird getting back into the swing of things after being gone for over a month. There were so many new faces of inmates that had transferred in from other camps, from other units, and even from the other block. I know its gonna take me a while to get used to it all again. Its almost like starting over except for the few inmates who hate me even more now that I'm back. It's ok. For me, that just tells me that I do my job right, the way its supposed to be done, and the inmates hate that. That sucks for them I guess. Just makes me look like a better officer when they complain about me. The weekend ended up going by pretty fast. Saturday drug my at a snails pace but Friday night and last night flew by. Thank goodness. It was nice to see my co workers again after being gone for so long. They were, surprisingly, happy to see me. Even the one that I haven't really gotten along with since I got there welcomed me back. It was kinda nice. also waiting for me at the Unit was a letter from the Superintendent of the facility congratulating me on my accomplishment. This kind of positive energy is what makes me so happy that I left my former job and came to work with the state. It makes you feel appreciated in everything you do and accomplish. The first weekend has come and gone and it's now my short week. I was feeling a little tired already after 3 days, so I decided to take the week off lol. Yes, you read that right. I was at Basic Training for 4 weeks, took a week off, worked 3 days and now I'm taking another week off. The best part is, I'm only having to use 12 hours of vacation time, which in the end will come out of my holiday comp time bucket. That means I'll end up using no vacation time at all! Haha! Love it. Now, it's time for me to go relax at my moms...for a week!

Polygraph outta the way

Today was the big day for the polygraph test for the Richmond Police. I was really nervous going into it because I have never taken one before, therefore I had no idea what to expect. The examiner I had was completely full of himself and "tooted his own horn" for nearly the entire 2 hours. He was the best, he had been on TV, he knew all the cheats, etc. Blah, blah, blah. After that went on for a little while he kinda chilled out. Started talking to me about Buffalo cause he realized I had lived there. Come to find out he was from North Tonawanda. What a small world. In the end, all that talking made me feel a lot better. He went over a lot of my background stuff againjust to see if i had given the same answers as before. He gave me the test twice. I didnt complain. In the wnd, I ended up passing it. Now its on to the next step I suppose.