LIFE AND TIMES OF A CORRECTIONAL OFFICER
By R. Mark Shepard

(Chapter 2)

In the eyes of a Good Correctional Officer there is no such thing as COLOR, meaning Race, Creed or the Color of a Convict or inmate's skin. The word Color means anybody wearing the Color BLUE, the Color of the uniform worn by the Convict or inmate who is serving time in the State of Florida. That's the only Color a good Officer should and will see.

At times you will hear me refer to a Convicted Felon as a Inmate, or a Convict. Yes, there is a Difference, even though the Department of Corrections does not want Officers calling them 'Convicts' any more.

Explanation: A Convict is a person who knows what he has done, and he has excepted that, and he knows what he has to do to survive and how to do his time. He knows how to play the Correctional System, he knows how to get the good jobs within the system, and he will never disrespect an Officer, AND, he will abide by the Rules and Regulations to the extent that he will not get caught disobeying any of these rules, AND, if he does get caught, he will, usually, be Straight up with the officer and accept the Punishment that the system is handed out to him, when he breaks the Rules and Regulations.

Then there is the Inmate. He is the type of Person who is Sentenced to prison, whether it be for a short period of time or a long sentence. He does not know how to do his time. He does not know how to play the System, he does not know how to act and talk to an Officer when an officer tells him to do something, and basically he does not care. When he is told to do something, he is the one with the Bad Attitude, and disrespect in his voice, and he does not care if he has to fight an officer or go to the Confinement Unit just because he was either asked a simple question or was told to do something according to the rules and regulations of the Institution and refused.

Let me shock you and tell you that there are numerous beatings and assaults on Correctional Officers and Staff... NO?  I didn't think that would shock you. Again, I will tell you, it's all in the communication amongst each other, whether it be talking to inmates or amongst the staff. There ARE and ALWAYS will be Correctional Officers who think they are invincible, or if you will, SUPERMEN, because the inmates are not supposed to touch them.

So often Sgt. Tom and myself have seen officers talk to inmates and Convicts alike as you have seen in the movies of the 30's, 40's, 50's and even the 60's. You know, the officers in all of their Super Powers and Stupidity, will say something like, "Hey boy, get over here right now", or “You better get your Stupid ass over here".

These Super Officers have ZERO skills in Communication. Some of the Officers think that  just because they get to go home after 8 hours on the job, nothing will ever happen to them. They forget that they are doing time, locked up in the system just like that Convict or inmate, but only for 8 hours a day, instead of 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

One day an officer, fresh out of the Military, you know the kind - he's the one with that High and tight haircut, knowing in his own mind that he is one of those SUPERMEN -  he was on the prison yard amongst other officers and about 450 to 600 inmates and convicts. He was verbally disrespected, and this of course did not please the officer. This Brave young Superman of an officer {Mckenzie}, went up to the inmate and slapped him with all he had.

With approximately 8 to 10 Officers on the yard at the time, this could have turned into one of the Biggest Major Disturbances, or should I say, the Biggest Riot that the Florida Prison System would have ever seen. But because of a couple of Experienced officers who had Excellent Communication Skills, the officer who slapped the inmate got away with just a minor beating.

I'm not saying that you have to Coddle, and be pleasant or treat inmates or convicts with total respect. Most of the inmates are in the prison system because they, as you know, raped, murdered or dealt drugs, or Molested children, and the list goes on.

The attitudes of the Supervisors have an effect and carry a Positive or Negative affect down to the officers and others that work under him or her. The O.I.C. (officer in charge), which consists of either a Lieutenant or Captain, are also Human and every once in a while comes to work with a Negative attitude, just like everybody else who has problems.

The officers of course, pick up quickly on this, and they know that they are in for a very rough day if a Supervisor comes to work with that Negative Attitude, talking down to officers before the Shift even Starts. Sometimes, or I should say, most of the time, no matter what capacity the supervisor comes in, they forget where they have come from. Most of the officers know how to do their jobs, and they do it without letting the O.I.C. get to them. But there is that small percentage of officers that let the O.I.C. get to them, and it sticks with them... Unfortunately.

CONTACT MARK SHEPARD
markshepard2003@yahoo.com