United Front

[Crosstimbers Okie]

I culled this from a Texas Department of Criminal Justice related site years ago and just rediscovered it.

BOP staff know that the cracks to be exploited are at all levels of the agency. But the deepest ones tend to begin at the mid-level of management and work their way up.

UNIFIED FRONT

A unified front is a psychological tool used by law enforcement personnel to prevent challenges to their structure. In a prison environment we are in a similar situation in that we are basically enforcing rules and regulations that would otherwise not be adhered to. The element we deal with day to day has made a living through breaking down authoritative lines and twisting the meanings of law to fit their own warped sense of right and wrong.
As correctional officers it is our responsibility to enforce the rules and regulations set out by the administration and maintain custody and control of these incarcerated felons. This can become cumbersome in the event that we allow them to interpret right and wrong for us through their eyes.
As you have been taught throughout pre-service and in-service, one method used by inmates to manipulate the system is to use an employee as a gopher or ally. This is often a complex process that sometimes goes unnoticed by the employee until it’s too late. This method begins by separating the victim (Employee) from the rest of the staff. Once they have convinced that employee that they (inmates) are the friends and the other staff members are against them, then the largest part of the plan is taken care of. All these inmates need to do from that point is feed this belief periodically and eventually the employee will come around.
The victim is selected in most cases as a result of an incident that the inmates have observed or heard about between two or more officers. Speaking metaphorically, once they have a crack in the wall, they simply pick at that crack until there is a gaping hole through which they can climb and do as they please.
A shift that presents no cracks to be exploited is said to be unified. If you approach a fence to climb and you notice it is extremely high, but you notice some gaps or easier routes to pass through, your natural instinct would be to pass through the gaps. The purpose of a unified front is to give the impression that there are no gaps. Even if there may be a few, they are invisible to the inmates and they have to spend a great deal of time hunting for them. A fence with no visible gaps will likely cause the inmates to give up and learn to stay on that side of the fence.
The job we do is tough enough without having the added burden of inmates picking away at our defenses. With a weakened front line we would spend more time trying to patch holes and lose sight of our goal. Even though things don’t always work out as planned and employees sometimes have disagreements, the outward picture must always be of a strong impenetrable wall that would be futile to even try to break through.

[GUNNER]

Outstanding article and very true. it drives me insane to hear an officer talking about another officer with an inmate. This is something I will never do, unless it is me telling an inmate that I don't want to hear him talking about one of my fellow officers.

[cellsearch]

As I,ve stated before we usually are our own worst enemy.Great article,should be common sense.There's alot of great officers where I work,but there are a few hug-a-thugs.

[Sayjack]

The subject matter is articulated very well which is no small task in our field. Crosstimbers Okie, is it possible you could cite a specific source for the article?

[Crosstimbers Okie]

No. I don't remember where I got it. The site may not even be up anymore. I had forgotten about it until I was digging around my hard drive recently.

[Hack]

Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and the door shall be opened unto you.

TDCJ Unofficial Web Site & News Letter

[Crosstimbers Okie]

Thanks Yank.

Yeah, I believe that's where I found it.

[Sayjack]

OHHHH, the power of communication and cooperation.

[Bigens256]

Originally Posted by Crosstimbers Okie

I culled this from a Texas Department of Criminal Justice related site years ago and just rediscovered it.

BOP staff know that the cracks to be exploited are at all levels of the agency. But the deepest ones tend to begin at the mid-level of management and work their way up.

Here is the question I have for the hacks on the site. With a Obama Administration what changes are coming down the pipe when the topic of additional staff being added to all Federal facilities throughout the United States. Since I departed the BOP, I've seen an increase of violence towards staff . Not to mention serious attacks in the USP's. Other Federal Law Enforcement agencies are equipped with advance, engaged and extremely informative union officials who focus on the big picture such as increasing staff numbers rather than creating a hostile working conditions by filing on any person that stands up to them. You hacks know the union officials I'm talking about. Use the union for maximum gain. The union should Focus on the new administration for change. Correctional Officer lives are at risk daily and additional Officers needs to be added to increasing numbers of Correctional Workers in the housing units. The union should push their elected representatives to push for cat-walks (gun ranges) inside the housing units like the state of CA. Lets push programs that call for additional protection for the Officers. THAT'S WHAT A UNION SHOULD DO TOWARDS THIS NEW ADMINISTRATION FOR CHANGE!. This is my perspective. What's yours!

[GUNNER]

Originally Posted by Bigens256

Here is the question I have for the hacks on the site. With a Obama Administration what changes are coming down the pipe when the topic of additional staff being added to all Federal facilities throughout the United States. Since I departed the BOP, I've seen an increase of violence towards staff . Not to mention serious attacks in the USP's. Other Federal Law Enforcement agencies are equipped with advance, engaged and extremely informative union officials who focus on the big picture such as increasing staff numbers rather than creating a hostile working conditions by filing on any person that stands up to them. You hacks know the union officials I'm talking about. Use the union for maximum gain. The union should Focus on the new administration for change. Correctional Officer lives are at risk daily and additional Officers needs to be added to increasing numbers of Correctional Workers in the housing units. The union should push their elected representatives to push for cat-walks (gun ranges) inside the housing units like the state of CA. Lets push programs that call for additional protection for the Officers. THAT'S WHAT A UNION SHOULD DO TOWARDS THIS NEW ADMINISTRATION FOR CHANGE!. This is my perspective. What's yours!

Well at this point AFGE and Obama have talked about every federal agency except the BOP. Therefore, I see things going in the direction they are already headed in.