Commander that reminds me of our soft-hand techniques like the zip-lock, bounce Betty, carry-a-long.

Word to the wise Bridgeport, keep the attitude high like it is now. Make everyday the first day and it won’t get old soon. Listen to DT, he is an instructor and seems ultra knowledgeable. Need any STG training, just ask. We all on here specialized in something. That is what makes this a great forum. You get to squeeze out knowledge from each of us and in turn, we get to feel like those years of training and instruction, were not wasted. Good luck and keep up the good work.

Hahaha yea you’ll do just fine! Sounds like you’re enjoying yourself and that’s awesome. We’ll discuss the technique over strength stuff at another time tho…

Bridgeport we had defensive tactics last year. One of the females was our nurse. She is quite tall and thin. One CO was supposed to attack her like an inmate would, she gave him a side kick in the leg and he went down in a scream of pain…

Fun isn’t it. Wait until you start your Riot training. Now that is Fun. Especially the scenarios.
As for you. I think you will do well in the Job. You seem to have the right attitude. In a few years time you will be on here advising someone starting out.

He definately proved to us that technique can beat strength. Thanks for saying I’ll adjust and fit in nicely, I was honestly a bit worried until this week and now I’m more pumped than ever and firearms are next week, woo hoo!

Size of the dog in the fight! All good and if you need to beat down inmates at times, then just be justified and follow policy! Sounds like you’re gonna adjust and fit it nicely.

DT today was awesome! The instructor seemed pretty impressed with me and I whooped up on some guys quite a bit bigger than me and LOVED it :) No, it doesn’t mean I’m gonna beat down inmates for fun, but it’s the first time I’ve ever really hit or kicked anything and I had a blast! Tomorrow is the last day for that but I plan on practicing a lot at home.

Bridgeport how goes it?

Very true Irish. The inmate with the goods runs the game Right before I retired, there was a real power struggle between “Heartless felons” and “Bloods”. I worked out of the gang office (Security Threat Groups) for around 13 years, this was done in additon to my duties on shift. It is hard sometimes to explain how things go down and why and why other groups don’t become involved. The AB’s mostly sat back and allowed the Black gangs to fight among each other. The less of them in General Population, the less competition there is. In Ohio, the AB’s pretty much run each prison. Sometimes it doesn’t seem like it but, go behind the scenes and you will know the truth. They sit back, stir the pot and watch the drama fly. When the smoke clears up, they are still there running the betting slips, operating the stores in each block and controlling cell phones, money and dope. Campi you were close. MK-4 holds 126gms, MK-9 holds 620gms and MK-46 holds 1376gms (if I am not mistaken).

Oh yeh, I haven’t forgotten how fubar things in that place could get in a hurry. I still remember having to run on several alarms or having multiple uses of force in the same shift. Anytime someone asks me how it was working at Luke I just say SNAFU.

I think most of it comes down to either respect or control and the alpha dog mentality. Inmates all want to be the one everyone respects and fears. So usually trival things turn into a huge deal either because of control or the institutional market. I.E. an inmate with contraband has more influence than one who doesn’t.

Assuming that the cans are 150 grams. The reason it took so long is because they had to replace the empty ones at the armory and come back.

When I did tours for high school kids I told them we had a fight on day and afternoon shifts at least once a day. I also tried to scare the young boys (16 to 18) by telling them that unfortunately for young boys when you go into the block they call you a “new jack.” The kids in the block will demand “rent” for staying in their block which always means as a new jack you don’t eat. I told them that a new jack who refuses to pay rent they take into the last cell in the block, cover him with a blanket and beat the crap out of them. I think we should tally sometime what causes inmates to fight. I have seen fights caused by one inmate changing the channel from basketball to another channel, fights over food all the time because some idiot steals another inmates meal, fights over who controls the block or pod…

They were a little slow that day Irish, we had a fight in one of the blocks on K-side and two fights in C-corridor at the same time. Got a little hectic but, we won in the end, again. I know you remember how much of a cluster it could be at times.

3 minutes and 1000 grams of OC? We all must of been slacking that day.

Will do, thanks again and everyone stay safe

Good mind set. keep your head up and eyes forward. Let no one take away from you being the best. Good luck next week. Keep us up on your progress.

We have dorms and are required to do 4 box/bunk searches a shift. There are other things that are below par but my goal is to do a good job and advance. Thanks so much for all of the advice, got DT, firearms and chemicals all next week and the week after, can’t wait!

Bridgeport I agree with Commander. If you are doing a cell search the inmate needs to be out of the cell and away from you. We made them turn around, face the wall, hold onto the bars and talking was not allowed. Each inmate was removed by other officers then strip-searched in a private area, kept in the box and watched until the block was searched. One thing I do like is we have a box which is a line painted on the floor in white. When inmates come to the floor they must stand in the box until an officer tells them to do otherwise. As for assistance from another officer I think you will find in a fight everyone comes. Stay safe.

You will find other things about corrections that won’t be satisfactory. Main thing is do your job and back up any staff who need you. Once they realize you are dependable, they will respect you. I found many staff members that I particulary didn’t agree with but, when the s*** hit the fan, they came running to my aid. Nothing like working in the Inmate Dining Room when 30 Inmates break out into a gang fight and 15 Officers respond, have it under control in less than 3 minutes and only use 1000grams of OC. LOL. Makes for a bright morning. When I completed shakedowns, I locked the Inmate up in the shower. We have cells at my old prison. I did not want to me on my knees looking under the Inmates rack and have him kick me in the back of the head. When I was done, I would escort the Inmate back to his cell. Let the Inmate know I was not intimidated by him. Also let him know who was running the show.

Yeah, got to do a box search today and the inmate stood right next to her box and looked at me so I just told her I would let her know when I was done and she walked off. They said the biggest problem there is attitude. It’s a small facility so there aren’t near as many problems as you get with the bigger places. I guess the only thing so far that pisses me off is the other person in my group is almost 400 lbs. and in no way can do an effective job. I’m not in the greatest of shape but I can haul ass if need be and get the job done.

Oh yea! It’s better to come in as a “bitch” than to come in soft and try to be hard down the line. Once you learn the way your facility runs and what is expected of you and the inmates you can always figure out how you’re gonna roll on certain situations. But, if you try to be soft and then flip on them they’re not gonna buy it.

When you’re new it’s all testing the water and pushing the envelope. Just say “no, no, no” and you’ll be good.

Thanks guys! Today was pretty good as well, an inmate that stared me down yesterday tried to compliment me and be my friend today, all I could do was laugh and shake my head. The next time she saw me she tried to smile real big at me and I just looked at her as I walked by. I have no problem speaking with them and being friendly but I guess she was supposed to ‘test the waters’ and I would rather be known as a bitch than a pushover. I was wondering what STG meant, thanks for putting that in your post :)

Well “Gun” remember the only easy day was yesterday. Keep plugging away and soak up all the knowledge you can.