Guest Blog Piece - Correctional Officers or Corruptional Officers?

Correction or Corruption?

I am very pleased to introduce my first guest blogger, Gem and her post below.

As of the 2012 statistics,there are 2.3 million individuals incarcerated in the United States,more than any other nation in the world.That means that for every 100,000 people, you'll roughly find 700 of them currently behind bars.The infamous American justice system has, for many years now, fascinated, confused, and absolutely terrified me. I have many qualms when it comes to the American justice system as a whole, the death penalty and the frightening, ever climbing number of exonerations (which requires a whole separate Blog itself !!)  then there's the mandatory minimum sentencing, racial discrimination, ahhh the prison slave trade of the 21st century, the devastating effects of long term solitary confinement, the introduction of longer and harsher sentences, the treatment of juveniles, the diabolical living conditions and so on and so fourth, it's a perpetual list that would make the most sane person go crazy with questions..how the fuck do they get away with it? I'm still working on that answer!!

 But what I want to talk about today is ..correctional officers. And not the good, job - well done kind!! The corrupt, abusive, immoral type with their warped mentality for harassment and power exploitation and the troubling allegations that are continuously arising in the media today! ((although, I'd like to state at this point, this is in no reference to every C/O, or even the majority for that matter and it is a fundamental point to recognise that there are and continue to be some very respectable, hardworking and decent correctional officers within the system) 

In march 2012, in Lanesboro prison, Polkton N.C an escalating series of events occurred which finally ended in two inmates savagely attacking and stabbing another inmate. It is alleged that the correctional officer working that particular unit opened the cell door to allow the perpetrators to carry out the brutal attack. And sadly this isn't just an isolated incident, it seems to be shockingly common within prison with more and more cases happening.  

In 2014, another inmate, at another facility was approached by a dangerous and some what delusional inmate and in so many words 'offered out'. The victim saw an opportunity to flea through an exiting door, but unfortunately before he could reach it, a correctional officer shut and trapped him in, leaving him caged in to accept and suffer the unprovoked attack, beaten with bare fists within an inch of his life. He sustained severe head injuries that at best will take months to heal from, at worst years or possibly never. Stripped back to the bare basics, left to learn how to write, walk and even talk again. Meanwhile, the families of such victims receive little support, it's an incredible battle just to get even the most minuscule of information on where or how their loved one is, and in some cases the only way to receive information is from the cell mates who have the decency to contact them and keep them informed! Figure that? The ones much of society blanket labels as heartless criminals unfit for society are the ones who show more humanity and compassion than the ones you would expect to. 

And now I sit here and try and comprehend how people are suppose to trust in the integrity of correctional officers for the safe guarding of their loved ones when the very people who are suppose to control and maintain the peace and order within prison are the very ones breaching it and assisting in fostering the prison system's culture of brutality and violence?? And this isn't anything new, nobody (OK maybe some) is under the illusion that the system isn't a breeding ground of opportunity for corruption on both sides of the law. Daily exploitation, abuse of power, smuggling operations of contraband, fraternising and sexual relations, bribes, beatings to name a few. 

It is all too often publicised that correctional officers risk their lives on a daily basis for little reward, and that is true. The average wage for a C/O is documented at between $22,000-$39,000 a year, in places it's one officer to every 100 inmate ratio, if not more. Long shifts, unsociable hours and often known as the lowest, dirtiest step on the criminal justice career ladder. However, none of that makes the corrupt conduct of a correctional officer right, or even OK for that matter!.. How many inmates are going to have to die or be seriously injured mentally...physically at the hands of the system's negligence before change occurs, how many family members are going to have live in fear of not only having to worry about the environment their loved one lives in but over the people who are 'suppose' to protect them? How many more travesties of the American justice system will be swept under the rug and conveniently covered up and forgotten about? It's the stuff nightmares are made of..,It's children being sentenced as adults, it's young men and women being thrown in to the lions den to deal with the most sadistic of people and that's just some of the officers, and they can't always speak out,It's shut up and put up or face more danger, more abuse, more aggression, more retaliation. And then those very same people have to be introduced back in to society upon release after years of torment under the care of officers, bullied in to believing they are less than human, worthless, their confidence, dignity and self perception whittled away, it's sad, heartbreaking. Some serious amendments need to be made in all areas of the system...that's a given, and hopefully one day change will prevail, until then...i will keep talking about it, writing about it, and doing what ever is possible even to make the tiniest of difference. 

I just want to thank you all for taking the time out of your day to read something very important to me.

The American justice system needs change.