ONE 'CORRECTIONAL' OFFICER ON
FLORIDA'S TRAINING AND CONFINEMENT AREAS
From: AN ANONYMOUS C/O
Sent: Thursday, April 04, 2002
RE: DID YOU LET IT HAPPEN AGAIN?Yes, I heard about this [Archie Davis's death at Wakulla CI]. Oh My GOD!!! What in the Hell is going on?
I am from XX, Florida. I received my CO training at XX Community College. The state did not pay my way through school. I paid it myself. I believe that is one of the problems with the hiring practices here in this part of the state.
The state pays people to go to CO school. This is not a good practice. Tax dollars should not go to pay people the salary of a CO before they are certified by FDLE and the state of Florida. This has cost the state millions of dollars. The way we hire and promote within the department should be carefully looked at.
Just like the public school system is doing today, the DC should have citizens on the interview panel as well as any promotional interviews. This should include ex-inmates, victims family members and other law enforcement personnel. ie, the FHP. What do you think?
I am very educated. I have a BS in Criminal Justice from XXX. I doubt very seriously that I would have much of a chance to promote anytime soon. Some of the Sergeants that I take orders from are a joke. I wish I had been in line the day that they were handing out stripes. I cannot tell you how many times I have done the job of a Sergeant because they were incompetent. However, in DC you must be very careful about Chain of Command.
I also believe that White Females make the better Officer. As long as she has high self esteem and does not get easily offended by some really gross "stuff" she usually can calm inmates down and bring hostile situations under control.
This is another point of interest that should be addressed concerning the practices of "no female/inmate contact at FSP and UCI. Other states allow female officers to work with close/maximum security inmates. Why does Florida have such a problem at two institutions? I have always wondered that.
Would I be scared? You are damn straight I would, but if we could get the men to stop being so "pig headed" and work equal beside the women, I believe it would be a good thing.
NO my husband does not know [I wrote you]. We have an understanding between us. I don't mess with his work, and he does not dabble in mine. I am my own person, and I will never do something to discredit him or our family.
Would he be mad? Maybe. Concerned.
He did ask me about my postings on Making The Walls Transparent. People at work read them and he didn't comment one way or the other about what I wrote. I think he knows better.
Yes, he is a great dad and husband. He has been in DC for XX years. All at UCI. He has seen some really awful stuff. I really don't like to hear about it, so we don't discuss DC much. Even when we are with our DC friends, we don't talk much about the Prison system. I think it is an unwritten rule to leave it out of our personal life and concentrate on being a family.
One last comment about my last e-mail. All of these terrible things have happened in Confinement settings. Women are not allowed in confinement. I hope I have made my point. No, we should not shower them, etc. But we should be allowed to help feed and do rounds.
XX