Inmate got to ME???

[Area51]

Hey guys,

I was thinking today, How easy would it be for an inmate to get to you?

Think about it. Look around you and your area at work. Have you allowed yourself to be compromised by an inmate? Several inmates....

How would it make you feel knowing you may have become complacent at work, and hadn't noticed... New guys. PAY ATTENTION!!

What would you look for to tell if you have fell into this trap?

Here are the ways I could pull off of the top of my head... I have been guilty of a couple along the way, it is IMPORTANT to make a check list and correct yourself along the way...

I do and will continue to do so...


1. You are a first name basis with one or more inmates you work around.

2. You are comfortable sharing your personal finicial information with an inmate.

3. This really great inmate is your "Go to" guy when you need something done. You KNOW if HE does it, it will be done right the first time the way YOU like...

4. It is difficult to do your job without him.

5. He is more knowledgeable than you are about a project YOU are working on.

6. You have a hard time telling him "NO!"

(Hey bossman, the old lady didn't get the point spreads in the mail in time for this weekend... Would you look it up on your computer and print them off for me? If you don't mind... I would really appreciate it, thanks.")

7. It is easy to talk with this inmate about your personal hobbies/interests, in detail. He is really knowledgeable and has some great ideas about what to do...

8. You have relatives in common. (Don't laugh, I had an inmate come up to me at a state prison were I worked. Held out his hand to shake and introduced him self as my cousin... HE was 100% correct! I had never met him until that day... Needless to say he was GONE in a flash!)

9. You look forward to seeing him when you get to work, he is always funny/interested/cheerful/has your coffee ready... The list goes on...

10. Are you emotionally involved with him? (NOT LOVE OR SEXUAL) but, rather too close in light of your positions (Officer/Inmate).

11. Would you feel guilty if YOU were placed into a position where you had to write him an incident report or have to notify a Lieutenant that this inmate needed to be locked up?

12. Do you know more about his family, beyond the scope of your job? Why do you know so much?

Do you have a list? What have you saw others do that made you cringe?

What would your list consist of?

Add your list so we can learn...

The floor is open.

[ww1flyingace]

I'm generally anti-social so I feel Im less vulnerable than most people to inmate tricks.

But I have been in situations where I was tempted to give an inmate a break because he was a good worker, nice guy, not so bad, etc.

Too often I’ve seen staff talk about personal issues around thugs, and wonder what exactly is in these officers heads. Why are you saying these things. 90 percent of the time nothing will come of it, but all it takes is that one inmate who takes note of the important details of this conversation and will attempt to use it against you. Why risk it. Go tell the guy to kick rocks.

Im not saying never have a conversation with inmates, only that your personal life or opinions shouldn’t be discussed with them. Never. They don’t need know what kind of car you drive, if you vote Republican or if you think the new female officer is cute

THEY ARE NOT YOUR FRIENDS!

The problem we all have is we are all human beings. It is unnatural to be distrustful and say “No” to people all of the time. This is why we are all so susceptible to frauds, scams and con-men - they take advantage of our natural trust of people..

It unnatural to deny somebody the same basic rights and freedoms we enjoy and then tell some poor guy “No” you can’t go home or live in a cell by yourself.. We in corrections unlike many of the thugs we supervised are blessed with trying to be humane. It instinctively wrong to treat people like caged animals, yet our jobs require us to do this.

Even if you read some of these guys backgrounds and on paper you hate them, many of them dont all act like the brutal rapists, murderers, and thieves that their files say they are. They often act like us - like normal people. Makes you hesitant to treat them like a criminal.

Too many of these inmates are not humane. This is where our humanity becomes a curse. They see us all as prey because of it.. They dont care about us. We are a just a means to an end. No different than the old lady they car jacked or the kids they sold crack to in the hood. Anti-social, psychopathic, personality disorder misfits who would sell their mothers for a cigarette. They easily take advantage of officers who find it difficult to suspend their niceness for 8 hrs.

For 8 hrs it is our job to not trust these people. One slip up could get you fired or killed. I think I have enough motivation right there to keep me from getting tripped up in their games.

Partly how I can explain why so many officers get walked out of prison for introducing contraband is because they were gullible enough to trust the inmate. Somebody who is least deserving of our trust - a convicted criminal, and ironically the first person to snitch you off when you have been used up or it suits his purposes.

[all4114all]

This area is getting a little more difficult. Not that I expect to be compromised, BUT with the new philosophies in corrections and leaning heavy on reentry efforts, it is required that we become more involved in offender's lives. Now, this means they should be sharing info with us, however, being humans, I know that some staff feel the need to reciprocate the favor.

ie: Offender has substance abuse problems. Staff member shares that he/she had substance abuse problems.

On another note, I actually had a staff member tell me in nearly the same breath that another staff person trusted inmates too much and that she had such a hard time finding someone she could trust. DOH!!!!

[tdgfsu]

Most of the time new officers as well as older officers don't take time to look and see what the inmate is in for if you did you would not think of them as friends, or trust them.

[LVN63OIC]

Amen, I retired a few years ago after more than 27 years in Corrections. I have always tried to teach new staff that inmate's are not our friends. I have seen inmates befriend a staff member to get what they want and then when the staff member doesn't come through as instructed, the inmates turns in the staff member and wants to make a deal. To often this has happened and always with tragic results for the staff. I didn't always agree with BOP policy and administration, but didn't let my demise for them make room for the inmates to start that wedge. Once started it normally doesn't stop til something spits.

[Cubfan]

1. You are a first name basis with one or more inmates you work around.

H*** no. Inmates never use my 1st name. The only time I have called an inmate by their 1st name is if their last name is difficult to pronounce.

2. You are comfortable sharing your personal finicial information with an inmate.

Again, h*** no.

3. This really great inmate is your "Go to" guy when you need something done. You KNOW if HE does it, it will be done right the first time the way YOU like...

This is probably the only one I may be close to guilty of. I have inmates I will pick for projects because I know they will do the job right and will not fuss, half-a**, or expect any kind of reward. Mostly they do it simply for something to do.

4. It is difficult to do your job without him.

Doing my job, no. I have heard of officer's who sent inmates to do their count, though I have never actually witnessed it.

5. He is more knowledgeable than you are about a project YOU are working on.

That's sometimes a possibility. If you are given a project to paint the walls in the admin area, and this inmate was a professional painter (if he happens to not be full of crap), then yes.

6. You have a hard time telling him "NO!"

Quite the opposite for me. My "no's" tend to be so automatic that sometimes I say "no" before I understood what the inmate said.

(Hey bossman, the old lady didn't get the point spreads in the mail in time for this weekend... Would you look it up on your computer and print them off for me? If you don't mind... I would really appreciate it, thanks.")

I would just stare at him like he had bugs coming out of his ears.

7. It is easy to talk with this inmate about your personal hobbies/interests, in detail. He is really knowledgeable and has some great ideas about what to do...

I have talked about a football game that was on TV in the dayroom. That is about the extent. I too am not very sociable, which kind of suits me fine for this job.

8. You have relatives in common. (Don't laugh, I had an inmate come up to me at a state prison were I worked. Held out his hand to shake and introduced him self as my cousin... HE was 100% correct! I had never met him until that day... Needless to say he was GONE in a flash!)

I have had friends and aquaintences come through. I tell my supervisor and he would ask if I thought it was going to be a problem. I said no and it never was.

9. You look forward to seeing him when you get to work, he is always funny/interested/cheerful/has your coffee ready... The list goes on...

No, and I don't allow inmates to make/serve me coffee, nor do I understand officers who do.

10. Are you emotionally involved with him? (NOT LOVE OR SEXUAL) but, rather too close in light of your positions (Officer/Inmate).

No.

11. Would you feel guilty if YOU were placed into a position where you had to write him an incident report or have to notify a Lieutenant that this inmate needed to be locked up?

No. It was the inmate who got themselves into a situation to be written up/locked down, not me.

12. Do you know more about his family, beyond the scope of your job? Why do you know so much?

Nope. As I said, other than some football talk, I am pretty anti-social. Inmates who try to strike up a conversation with me tend to walk away after a minute, probably with the feeling that they just spent that minute talking to a wall.

[guarddog]

Working For a Detention Center (ICE Homeland Security) I've learned to say "NO" in 52 different languages. And it doesn't bother me at all....I sleep good at night.

[all4114all]

Originally Posted by Cubfan

No, and I don't allow inmates to make/serve me coffee, nor do I understand officers who do.

This is the one I do NOT understand!!! I have seen staff have offenders get them ice, water, coffee... UGH. Do they have NO IDEA what can be done with a beverage? When I ask, I am told, "Oh he wouldn't do anything." **** THAT!!! I'm tempted to do it to you just because you are so stupid!! lol (OMG did I just start to sound like an annoying jerk. lol)

[GUNNER]

Number three is one that I can relate to.

“3. This really great inmate is your "Go to" guy when you need something done. You KNOW if HE does it, it will be done right the first time the way YOU like...”

I always keep in mind that everything I do is business only, and the relationship that the inmate and I have is strictly officer and inmate only. We are not friends, and we are not going to be. I do talk to inmates about certain things. However, I will not cross a line. I can talk to an inmate about a football game, fishing, or even music. Again, I have a line that we can go to in conversation, and that is where it stops.
I talk to inmates; I give them the respect they give me. I give them what they have coming. I have no problem telling an inmate no. In addition, most inmates know that when I say no, that is it. Most inmates know that I will be easy to get along with, however, they also know if they cross the line I will absolutely do my job. I do not claim to be the perfect CO; however, I can honestly say that I am not going to end up compromised.

[GUNNER]

Originally Posted by all4114all

This is the one I do NOT understand!!! I have seen staff have offenders get them ice, water, coffee... UGH. Do they have NO IDEA what can be done with a beverage? When I ask, I am told, "Oh he wouldn't do anything." **** THAT!!! I'm tempted to do it to you just because you are so stupid!! lol (OMG did I just start to sound like an annoying jerk. lol)

Having an inmate get that kind stuff for you is an absolute wreck the way I see it. This could lead to being compromised.
Example, inmate thug comes in and says, “Hey Co let me go to chow early”, or whatever else they want to ask for. Officer says “no”. Inmate says, “Hey man what about all those times I brought you a soda, or fixed your coffee for you, come on CO just this once”.
Yea, I see where that is going. Just a little too dangerous, I think. One is setting oneself up for failure by these actions.