5 Things to Expect DAY ONE as a Correctional Officer

I rather be a special agent since the requirements are much stricter

Lol I’ve been working in the Jail for almost A year planning on going to bpoc soon but he is right get to know your inmates they can help you with a lot stuff u don’t know and yes a lot of them will test u so stay focused and make sure to take care of your mental health

I start in 2 months. Federal prison

My 1st day of training will be tomorrow I'm excited... It's a new experience for me.

can someone be red green color blind and join? If they. Can still see said color?

I remember my first day on the job. Security dropped a new inmate in my housing area worse housing unit in the facility btw let’s just say it ended with a slashing and me losing vacation days

Learn a trade... avoid Corrections.

Mental health worker here. Your discussion of managing emotions and burnout…spot on. Find little moments to yourself, find effective, ethical ways to vent.
Abso-f}^ing-lutely.

“Everyone will hate you. Even your co workers…” have fun!!

Aqui no Brasil hoje somos chamados de policiais penais,vocês ficam reclamando aí nos EUA então imaginem ser um oficial correcional aqui nas cadeias brasileiras cheias de facções em guerra entre eles e contra nós.

I worked corrections for 3 years. On the midnights, I had 188 inmates to myself. This is the tour we did building maintenance, cooked two meals (1400 trays), and got inmates ready for transports. Inmates never bothered me. Staff did. They snitched, undermined others, brought in contraband, and slept with inmates. Cops wrote us parking tickets while we worked. They hated us because so many of us got arrested. I say never take this shit job. Even the public doesn't like you. Just wait for mandatory overtime forced down your throat.

Great Video!

i dont want to do it.. but

100,000 a year sounds good to me.

just right after I graduated from High school, my acquaintance that I knew wanted to pursue and study to become a Correctional Officer. Told me, all you do throughout your shift is sit on your lazy @$$ and get paid. I dunno if that was the case, but we were young then so hopefully now that we've matured, he probably thinks differently of it by now.

"First day" for me is open to interpretation.

I remember coming in a few times to sign endless paperwork, be interviewed by a panel of staff, go over my background, take an ethics test, etc.

When I was finally hired and getting paid it was three weeks of mostly Death By PowerPoint. A lot of our instructors were random staff members who didn't know they were supposed to be pulled from their real jobs to teach us. They'd show up late, try to figure out how to use the computer, read a PowerPoint, and go. We had a ton of downtime and this was a foreshadowing of our Annual Refresher Training. We eventually had on-the-job training where we spent four hours shadowing senior staff in the prison but it was a bit uneventful.

After our training was complete I was assigned to the visiting room for a day. Senior staff saw an inmate masturbating to his girlfriend so I ended up escorting the girlfriend away from visiting. I came back and my coworker yelled "There's cum all over this place!" We later ran about a quarter to a third mile for a fight in a housing unit that was broken up by the time we got there. So I guess that was my real first day as a CO.

The next day was self-contained breathing apparatus training like firefighters wear. We went into a shack and they filled it with smoke. Honestly, I was scared because I'm a bit claustrophobic. But I got through it.

On the third day, I was assigned to screen incoming staff. Two other duties are to listen to inmate phone calls and relieve an armed patrol to get gasoline. The x-ray machine was down so I couldn't screen anyone, I was too new to have access to the computer program for inmate monitoring, and I couldn't relieve the armed patrol because I wasn't firearms qualified yet. I also didn't know the schedule yet so I had no clue that for six hours no staff would be coming to work so basically I got paid to sit in a room by myself and do nothing. I tried to ask some staff if there was anything else I should do but they told me to stay at my post. At the end of my shift, I saw a staff member who was a lieutenant and told him, and he said I should have notified operations sooner. That's easy to tell a rookie, but I had no idea what a lieutenant was, no idea how to call one, and no idea that I would be waiting all day to end up doing nothing.

A control officer found out my schedule and asked me to switch the next day. Essentially he conned me into doing a split shift so he could do a double and just go home afterwards. I wanted to be a team player but it was a lesson in learning when to do favors and when not to do favors.

On the fourth day, my entire experience consisted of escorting a lady whose boyfriend jerked off in the visiting room, running to a fight that was already broken up, SCBA training, sitting alone in a room for an entire shift doing nothing, and of course three weeks of PowerPoint. So with all that experience of course they felt confident in putting me on a housing unit by myself with about 120 maximum security inmates. No big deal, right? Nervous was an understatement. Shortly after unlocking two inmates threw scalding oil on another inmate, although I did not witness this myself. He ran to me, and the other inmates took turns stabbing him and kicking him in the head with work boots. I radioed for assistance, sprayed everyone with OC, and ended up making the worst debrief video my lieutenant had ever seen since I had no experience with debriefing. I came from a journalism background so I guess I went on and on and on... kind of like this comment.

It was a bit dysfunctional but after proving myself in a fight staff eased up on me a lot. It turned out to be a blessing because I was tested so early and passed so I didn't have to go through as much bullshit as most rookies. I just started my ninth year and honestly, I miss the old days. There was just a different code.

I was a Co for 2 yrs. Day one I was a B officer in a dorm with 50 inmates. A bit scary and intimidating. Nothing bad happened still it can pop off at anytime.After 2 yrs I moved on it's a tough job and it's not for everyone.

Years ago I asked a man who just became a cop for like less then a year. I asked him “Correctional officers are pretty much prison guards huh?” He said “Yes & No”

Thank you I’m filling out my application soon

I can be shy at times and I’m not the best communicator (starting conversations/small talk). So I shouldn’t even try to get on??

DOD a lot of work crew on probation.

I’m just finished my first week at the new facility oak wood in Michigan

My first day is in 3 weeks

Thanks for this informative information

My first day, got sent to the worst Dorm in the prison.

you all have very hard job i dont think i could do it plus i enjoy my present job

As someone who graduated from police academy with a few recruits who went on to work at the prison I always had so much respect for corrections I don’t think i could ever work there myself I know working the streets are dangerous but it’s something about the prisons I couldn’t do

I've been in the field going on 18 years and NO is my middle name!

Does correctional have to be tased or peppered sprayed? In academy?

You don’t carry guns ?

Co here. Can confirm, this dude knows what he is talking about.

I still remember the smell on the first day of the jail I first started in.

That's how I found out that blood has a smell.

I'm a CO little over a year this whole video is FACTS

CORRECTIONAL, thats a laugh.

You can expect to be hated. Expect to be challenged. Expect to get involved in a heavy fight. This comeing from the convict side of it. You in our house. Give respect get respect. Disrespect begets disrespect.

I start my academy on the 5th thank you for the guidance

Good info!

I've practiced....

Worked in California CDCR for 13 years. Good stuff.....

Hey CO ,DID WHATS HIS NAME GIVE THAT TO YOU THE OTHER DAY ?? WHO?? DEEZ NUTZ HA GOTTEM

This Video is fire!!! Great Job GUARDIAN RFID!

Very helpful for someone like me who is just starting out, thanks for the info!