This is the target from the shotgun....
This past week I had to go to the range for pre-firearms training before i go get certified as a C/O next month. The two guns that the state uses are the Smith & Wesson M&P .40 and the Remington 870 12 gauge shotgun. Prior to going to the range I had never fired a shotgun and had only fired a handgun once. After we finished with the handgun practicing, the instructors came by to look at my target and couldn't believe I had no prior firearms training. Needless to say I did VERY well according to them All of my handgun rounds hit the target in a close group except for two. The second have of the range time we got familiar with the shot guns. How to load, unload, clear, etc. We each got 10 shots with it. All 10 of my shots hit the target at 25yards and were in the zone which we were aiming. At the end of the day I was very happy with how well I had done with having no prior shooting experience.
After the day at the range, I had to work the next night. That is where i received my "change of scenery" news. As most of you know, I drive 65 miles to work...each way. It takes about $450 in gas each month. My shift premium that I make for working nights offsets most of the cost of my gas. I got a call informing me that after I get certified, I would be getting moved to day shift. I wasn't happy. Not only would i still be driving the same 65 miles, but i would also lose all that extra money I had been making. We did some negotiating and come to the agreement that I will transfer to another facility at the end of October or November, closer to home and I'll still be on night shift. Its a win win situation for me. Ill be traveling at most 25 miles to work, and ill still be making my shift premium for working nights. Here is the downside.... They prison I'll be transferring to is whats called a close-custody facility. Where I am currently is a medium custody, None of the inmates at our facility are handcuffed and can move about somewhat freely. At the new place, every inmate is escorted around in full chains, handcuffs and leg cuffs. There are way more fights and it's just an all around much more dangerous type of criminal to be around.
I'm gonna approach it with an open mind and don't judge it before I get there and see how I like it. I like a challenge. I thrive on a job that can test me mentally and physically and this just might be what I need.
***In the middle of writing this I got an awesome phone call of a great job opportunity that I have been pursuing. I hope that things pan out and i can start on a new path. I know that GOD is leading me where I'm going right now and that's all I can ask for.
I figured it was about time to do another post. I hope you have all enjoyed reading the blog so far. I have been pretty slack on keeping it updated. I'm gonna see if I can work on that. The past couple weeks have been a little hectic. I had some drama with a coworker last week, and if you know me, you know I hate drama. But just like my Sergeant told me, karma always comes back. Wouldn't you know, 3 days later he was right. Neither of us believed it would come back so fast. The situation they were placed in, gave them an opportunity to see the type of person I really am. I defended them, and helped to correct their mistake. They realized I'm not there to file complaints, write grievances or get them in trouble. I wear the blue uniform just like they do. When were locked in the Unit together we are a team. Were a family that has to stick together no matter what imperfections we each have. They seen that even though they tried to get me in trouble, possibly fired, three days before, I still had their back. Things are much better between us now and I believe that is what it took for us to have a better understanding for each other and the way we do things.
Cell phones have become a hot commodity this year. I just cant understand what causes an officer to want to jeopardize there job for an inmate. The going rate for a cell phone right now is $500. In the month of July alone they have found 5 cell phones. Three of them were found just the other night. One inmate was stupid enough to actually be talking on the cell phone while laying on his bunk in the day room...are you kidding me!?!?! Did he really think the officer wouldn't notice him holding a phone to his ear? They keep finding these phones left and right, which means that officers are bringing them in just as fast as they are found. It just don't make any sense. I know we don't make enough to be rich, but risking a state job, for a guy who committed a felony, and will tell on you the first chance he gets, just don't seem worth it. Maybe I just don't understand.
The other day an inmate (who hates me no less) told me that I had no common sense because I worked at the prison and that obviously I couldn't get a better job than that. Its times like this where I have somewhat learned to keep my mouth shut. He tried arguing his point for the next 10 minutes but I easily ignored his 6' 5" 300lb ugly gorilla lookin self. Instead I decided to make a point. So when my Sergeant walked in the hallway I stopped him and pointed at the inmate and told him that the inmate said that because we worked at the prison, we didn't have any common sense. Seeing as how my Sergeant has been with the DOC for 18 years, he didn't take to kindly to that. By the end of their conversation, he made the guy feel 6" tall instead of 6'. Later on I told my Sgt. that the inmate must be sadly mistaken, because he is the one in prison letting a 25 year old tell him what to do (mind you this guy is 50-55 years old)because of his lack of common sense, and poor judgement, yet I'm the one with a stable job, steady income and a clean record (other than my Virginia incident). Obviously the inmate had no merit to anything he said. It's days like that, that you have to have very thick skin and just let it roll off your back. I guess that's one thing that makes this job so easy for me is that no matter how much trash talking these guys do, no matter how many times I'm called gay, an no matter how much they try to belittle me for who I am and how I do my job, at the end of the day, I'm walking out that door and headed to my truck while they get ready for chow call. I also found out that I'll be doing my pre-firearms training this month. That means I'm gonna be one step closer to being certified, and that all important 5% pay increase. Once i go to training for a month, most likely in Greenville, I'll be fully certified by the state.
Its been a few months since my last post and a lot has gone on. There are so many things that I have learned while working at the prison. My attitude toward so many things has changed. Some for the better and some for the worse. After having a glimpse into the prison system, it makes you see things in a whole new light. You see things that people on the outside will never see, therefore never understand.
The inmates get free education while they are locked up. By free, I mean that you and I pay for them to get an Associates degree in whatever they want while they are locked up. Even with it being free, they still find a reason to complain. I had an inmate complain a few months ago that when he tried to go for his third, yes HIS THIRD degree while in prison, he was mad that it was so difficult to get into the program cause it was in high demand. Are you freaking kidding me? Were paying for these guys to go to school, get an education and yet they still find a reason to complain. They get it for free, while I had to spend $30k on mine. It just makes me sick to see and hear how they act about things like that. Its the same way when it comes to them getting medical attention for their petty problems. They will claim a "medical emergency" for the most childish of problems. But, it only costs them $7 so why do they care. And if they don't have the money, the state just keeps a running tab on them so when they eventually get out they can get their money back. I just find it unbelievable how easy they have it yet they find it easier to complain. Some of them have legitimate reasons to see the nurse, doctor, etc. but for every legitimate one there are 10 that are just plain stupid.
The amount of contraband that comes in to the facility is absolutely crazy! Since i have been there, they have found 10 cell phones or more, hundreds of cigarettes, pot and cash. Almost all of it is being brought in by the officers looking for some quick cash. I just don't understand why someone would risk their career and even jail time to help these inmates get this stuff. One of the inmates actually had a phone with Internet, started a Facebook page and had posted pictures of himself in his cell and around the prison! Are you freaking kidding me! But I guess the officers that bring that stuff in just don't care. Oh well, its their job they are risking...not mine. I know I'm clean and that's how I'm gonna keep it.
I have been at the prison now for 7 months. The respect that I'm getting from some of the inmates is something I never expected. At our last Unit meeting, our Unit Manager made it known to everyone how they had no worries about me because all the inmates hated me and the way that I ran my blocks. I make the inmates follow the rules that the lazy officers never do. Not because I like being in charge, but because that is my job and I'm gonna do it to the best of my ability. When i talk about the respect that I'm getting, here is what i mean. In the past 2 months, I have several inmates come up and get in my face, cussing, yelling and being completely pissed off at me because of something that has happened whether it was my fault or not. In each of the instances, the inmates came up to me either later that night or the next time I work and apologized for the way that they acted and the things they said. This has taken me completely by surprise. Its just not something I expected to happen. The inmates are finally beginning to realize that I'm being exactly the same to everyone and my attitude is consistent every day that I work. The first thing they tell you when your in training is to be firm, fair and consistent. I do my best to be all three. When I come to work, i leave all my personal feelings and drama at the gatehouse. When i leave, i leave all the prison drama at the gatehouse. The inmates know how I am gonna respond to things they say or do. and they respect that. They may not like it, but they know I'm gonna do my job.
The people i work with also has its own challenges from time to time. Some people i work with are awesome, some not so much. At the end of the day though, they are wearing blue just like I am. No matter what is going on to make me mad I still have to have their back if they need me and the same goes for them if i need them. There have been a few times that this has been questioned. No matter where you work there is always gonna be people that you don't get along with at work and the prison is no different. When you work with the same 4 people for 12 hours on a regular basis, you find each others weaknesses, strengths and things that can aggravate the crap outta you. Like every job, your coworkers are gonna gossip and talk crap about you to one another. This job is no different. The good thing about the prison is the speaker/intercom system in the Unit. You can hear it all. I've never been one to bite my tongue if something bothers me, and ill speak my mind in a heartbeat. And working here is no different. Though my coworkers may hate that I tell them how it is, they will always know exactly where I stand on something. And from the way they act when I say these things, I can tell they aren't used to having someone speak their mind without reservations.
According to several people, the month of August should be my month for going to training. Ill be so ready for it when the time comes. A Mon-Fri work week and only during the day. Its gonna be so nice. After working nights for 7 months it starts to take a toll on ya but that's life. I'm not gonna complain cause there are plenty of people who would be glad to take my place. During training I'll get handgun, shotgun and rifle training as well as hand to hand combat and baton training. Should be a good month...not to mention ill get lots of OT that month.
To sum it all up, I love my job. The schedule is awesome and I enjoy what I do. I'm not necessarily making a difference but I like it.
A few months ago I got word that NCI would be losing 30 Correctional Officer positions due to the fact they were gonna ship 500 inmates to another camp. I had spoken to everyone in my chain of command from my Sergeant all the way up to the Asst Superintendent of the prison (there are 6 people in between) letting them know that I wanted to be first on the list to transfer out as soon as the process got started so that I would have a shorter distance to work (its currently 65 miles each way). When we first got word, it was supposed to start this month and be finished by the end of May. We noticed 3 weeks ago that no inmates were leaving the camp so we figured something was up. Two nights ago the Lieutenant came into the block and spoke to me about the situation. She informed me that they are no longer going to even consider moving the inmates until at least 2012. So this has obviously put me in a sticky situation. Right now with gas prices what they are, I spend about $450 a month on gas alone. I wanted to transfer so I could try and save some of that money. The Lt. asked me if I had turned in my transfer request papers yet and I informed her I hadn't since I didn't know when I needed to. When I told her this she expressed that she and the Capt. would like for me to stay at NCI. I must be doing something right if she comes in and asks me to not transfer. So as of right now I'm not going to transfer from NCI. But after all of this, it has sped up the process of my secondary plan. Im gonna start working on that at the end of the summer now instead of waiting till next year. I cant wait around for things to fall into place if I can help them fall a little faster. So I guess for right now, I'll continue using 3 tanks of gas each week until other things can happen.
Well its now coming to the end of April and i have been working at NCI for almost 6 months. So much has happened in that short time period. I have slowly learned the ins and outs of how things are run without having to ask too many questions. Not that I don't still ask plenty of questions. There are so many things to learn when it comes to policies and procedures. They always say to read your policies and procedures books. Its kinda tough when its 6 inches thick. There have been so many eye opening experiences since I started. So many things that i just sit back and shake my head at in disbelief. I wonder how in the world can this really be happening. Then i remember that the system is broken everywhere. Not just in politics is it broken, but even down to the prison system. Why do inmates have the right to watch television. Didn't they forfeit all their rights when they committed the crime and were sentenced to prison. How pathetic is it that the administration makes exceptions and bends rules just to make the inmates happy. How did we go from the days when inmates were made to do hard work and had nothing, to allow them to eat all the chips, cheeseburgers, candy bars and soda that they can buy and have their own personal am/fm radio that they constantly are able to listen to. Inmates are not in prison. So what if they cant leave out the front gate like I can. They have it made. They get to choose what they want to watch on TV each week. They get 3 meals a day plus anything they buy from the canteen. They get free education paid for by you and me. When i say education...one inmate is working on his 3rd associates degree, while im $32,000 in debt for the same degree. I will be the first person to admit that I resent inmates. They go from a life where they took anything they wanted, to being given anything they wanted. It makes no sense. Don't get me wrong, I love my job. But it just aggravates me that people can be so blind as to what goes on behind closed doors. These shows people watch about prisons are a joke. That may be what its like in Super Max or Max, but not everywhere is like that. Earlier this month I was working and an officer came over the radio with a "code blue", meaning i had to run to that Unit as assistance. When i got there i was met at the block door by an officer telling me that i would need gloves. This obviously meant blood was present. As i go down the block where everyone was I looked into the cell and couldn't believe what I seen. An inmate had been upset cause he had no one to talk to. So, in an attempt to talk to someone he proceeded to use a razor blade and cut his leg open. Its an image that I'm sure will never leave my mind. I just couldn't believe that an inmate had attempted to kill himself all because he wanted someone to talk to. It just surprised me that even though the inmates have it so easy, they see to believe they have nothing. I guess you don't really know what you have until its taken from you. Another thing that i cant quite wrap my head around are how many officers risk their job, benefits and families to help get things for inmates. There have been at least two officers that i know of, who have been walked out of our prison in handcuffs because they got caught up in the lies that the inmates tell them, not to mention the several others from prisons elsewhere in NC. What do the inmates have to offer you? They are in prison. They don't have jobs. There is nothing that they can give me that i cant get myself. I guess the other officers just didn't see it that way. Officers are bringing almost anything these guys want in. So far they have brought cell phones, tobacco, marijuana and even sent the inmates money orders. Are you serious? I just get amazed at all the stories I hear about stuff like that. Is what they are giving you really worth the risk of going to jail? Getting a speeding ticket wasn't worth going to jail for me but i sure spent a night there because of one. But that also isn't permanently on my record for the rest of my life. When these officers get caught, not only do they get fired, they will never work for the state again and they will have to put it on every job application they turn in. So I guess that $500 you got for sneaking in a cell phone and tobacco just isn't worth it if you look at it that way. I value my job too much to do dumb shit like that. This job isn't hard. Matter of fact, its pretty easy unless you make it hard. At the end of the day i still love what i do. Not everyone is cut out for this job and i know that. Some people only last one day after training, one guy lasted 2 hours. This job has made me appreciate things even more now when it comes to the things i have. I see things in a whole new light.
Well this week has been busier than normal and its not even over yet. By now all of the inmates know that they are moving all of the bunks out of the prison and are getting kind of anxious. So far this week we have had 2 fights in our Unit alone. The first one was on Tuesday right before our shift came on. This one involved to gay guys none the less. One of them was the guy that refused to give up the cardboard box a couple weeks ago. He was the instigator in that right. He didn't do too much to the guy except give him a couple cuts over his eye. For as built as he is I would have figured he broke the guys nose. I guess having a lot of muscles means nothing if you don't know how to fight. Then yesterday we had another fight right before shift change. I'm walking up the sidewalk to the Unit and all the other officers start running past me headed inside. I instantly knew what was going on. But this is where I made my mistake. After seeing 25 officers run in there, I didn't follow them right away. What I should have done is dropped all my stuff and ran right behind them to help. My train of thought at the time was that it was probably only two guys i there fighting and all those c/o's should be able to handle it. Its not that I felt I wasn't at work yet, I just assumed they didn't need me. I assumed wrong. No matter what I should always run in there and make sure everything is ok instead of just assuming. It could have been a riot in the cell clock and here I am just taking my sweet time. But i know better for the next time that even though I may see 20 officers run in there, they may need officer 21 to help finish taking care of the problem. Its not something i thought much about at the time. Later on I spoke to a fellow c/o who is my age and has been there for 4 or 5 years. He filled me in on what I should have done so I know for the next time.
The funny part was when they were walking the guys out in handcuffs, the guy who got punch first was talking about how painful the spray was. He told the officer that after that experience, the next time an officer tells him to "stop!", that's exactly what he would do haha. I know first hand how much that OC spray hurts so its def in their best interest to not get sprayed. When i got sprayed, I was able to wash it out immediately. These guys had to wait almost half an hour before they were able to wash it out. Serves them right.
Lets just hope that tonight and tomorrow night are a little less eventful. There is always so much more stress in the blocks after a fight cause the adrenaline is still pumping and everyone is fired up. Hope you all have a great night. Time to get ready for work.
So it has been a while since I last updated this thing and I apologize. I have been pretty busy and haven't really had the time to sit down and clear my head. There has been a lot going on at the prison over the past several weeks. We most recently found out that they are opening 4 new prisons here in NC and that almost all of the inmates that are on bunk beds at the facility will be leaving. This will be great because it will take close to 50 inmates out of each block. The only downside to this will be they will be losing about 32 c/o positions at NCI. So most likely I will be getting shifted to another camp closer to where I actually live. If that is the case it with be to a close custody camp outside Snow Hill. I'm gonna like it and hate it at the same time. I have become good friends with several of the c/o's I work with and now I will be starting over again. The plus side to the whole thing is that I wont be spending so much on gas. Right now I'm spending about $400 a month on gas just going to and from work. That's a lot of money on gas no matter how you look at it. So the move is gonna have its advantages and its disadvantages. Ill also be going from a medium custody camp to a close custody camp ---> http://www.doc.state.nc.us/DOP/prisons/Maury.htm
Close custody is gonna be much different than the environment I'm used to now. There have been plenty of stories that I have already heard that's getting me prepared if I do end up going there.
A couple weeks ago i came into the block to relieve another officer for break. I noticed a particular inmate had a cardboard box (considered contraband because of fire hazard). So i told him to bring me the box. Instead of doing so, he said "no, you aint gettin my box", and took it and put it under his bed. Like that was really gonna stop me from taking it. So the other officer went on break and I just waited till the right time. Just before he walked back in to take the block back over, I went over to the inmates bunk and took the box. I was going to take it to the Sergeants office and search it then give him his stuff back and keep the box. Well as I'm walking out the inmate jumps up out of his chair at the front of the block and gets in my face and takes the box back from me all while the other c/o is just standing there. I recognized this and didn't want the situation to get out of hand all because of a cardboard box. So I called up the Sergeant and the situation was handled later that night. Later on the Sergeant told me that I should have OC sprayed the inmate when he did that because he took something from me and that's considered assault. I didn't know that then, but I sure do now. He also had a talk with me and the other officer pointing out that to the inmates its looks as though that officer dont have my back and how dangerous that could be in future situations.
The box incident was probably the most tense situation I have been in since starting there. There was almost a fight the other night between two inmates but I got over there before any punches were thrown. Its absolutely amazing to see the things these guys will fight over when they have nothing. The smallest thing will set them off and its downhill from there.
Another side note, I got my permit to purchase a handgun finally so im hoping that ill be able to get one sometime soon.
I will get better about getting back on here and updating on a regular basis. Again if anyone has any questions about things please just leave a comment and ill answer the best I can.
And yes, i realize there a A LOT of grammatical errors haha.
