On to MS

Crime rate was on the rise and traffic was getting ridiculous downstate where my wife and I lived. It was convenient living down there due to low commute times. But someone got knifed in a parking lot that was about a mile from our house while putting her groceries in her trunk, so it was time to sell and move. We would take the toyota we had at the time and drive up North on our days off and look for areas to move to. I'm a up north boy and my wife was raised downstate. The compromise was nothing above the through-way line. So off we would drive on an adventure to an area neither of us knew anything about. We'd pick a spot on a map (NO GPS's in those days) and off we'd go to see what it was like. I asked my Dad one day where he'd move if he were me in my situation and he gave me the central part of the state near where I finally ended up doing most of my career.He was right it is a beautiful part of the State. Rolling hills and green valleys. We drove into "N" one nice sunny day coming in from the east on 23. It's a beautiful view and the town lies in a nice Valley. It was one of our first choices. But I wasn't so sure I'd transfer to GT very quickly if at all. MS was North of there about one hour. Just outside of my commute comfort zone. So our house is on the market and my name is on a couple jails MS and GT. So we have to wait. Well I couldn't have sold a fixed up dump like it was any quicker. We had it sold for what we wanted to get out of it in about a week. That was great and also sucked somewhat, we had to scramble to find a place to move. T's Mom and Dad came through for us with letting us stay in a small house they owned about an hour and half drive north. We moved in and I commuted to GH for the last few months which really sucked and added a lot of extra time on to my work day. So eventually I transferred out to MS. We got the first apartment we could find and off we went. I reported to MS in August the summer of 1987. It is and old Psych center totally different from GH , medium security jail. Inmates had rooms and the only cells were in the box. The place was sprawled out and they had a bus you caught to take you to the other side of the jail. And it was an Inmates job to drive the bus. That was a hard place to get used to after working GH. They wouldn't give me a night stick which sucked. No one seemed over happy to help a new Officer out. Most of the CO's there were home so to speak. Meaning they were not planning on going on to another jail. I had decided that I more than likely would end up here for quite some time. So you get a couple days orientation and this one other CO was there with me getting the tour etc... He tells me he just came in from GT and how great it was. I had him beat in Seniority and was wondering how he ever got there. But if I remember right in those days you could transfer in temp and when a permanent spot opened up you could go on to the permanent spot. So he goes on and on how great it is there and the swapping is the best he has ever seen. It was one thing after another so he's filling out a transfer paper which at the time I thought wouldn't amount to anything. But what the heck I filled one out too. My name had been on the list already for GT but never moved up much, maybe one jump up on the list the whole time I was on it. Let me jump back to MS I don't have many stories about it due to only working there about a month. But it was in my view totally unorganized compare to GH. I was given a job at line up one morning and went to get my keys only to find that the person already had collected the keys for that job. Went back to the WC and told him what happened in which he gave me another job. Only to find it already taken. Three tries that morning and I finally got a job. That sort of thing was common. I worked every shift they had in the month I was there. I walked around the outside of a building one 12-8 shift which they had house Inmates in without first putting up the security bars on the windows. They were on the third floor. So I walked around and made sure there aren't any sheets hanging down from the windows. I also would go up and help with the counts when they were taken. Easy job but those kind of jobs to me are what sucked most about being a CO. Either way. I met some good CO's and bad while there, I'm sure once I got a bid there things would have been much better. But I had filled out a transfer which I didn't think would have amounted to anything. The apartment we had rented was a half hour away. So other than working whatever shift for the month I was there things were working out. Then I get notified I think by phone, that I'm transferring to GT. A few days later I reported to GT. It took over and hour to drive there from our apartment. But I was happy to leave MS I figured I couldn't possibly bounce from shift to shift like I was any worse than I was there. It was the Fall of 87. It must have been about the end of September. Somewhere around that time. Thanks to that CO named King I was where I ended up spending the next 23 years working. Next time GT.

Shanks, shivs etc..

Shanks and shivs, knives if you will. This I promise will be a bit shorter. I already mentioned a stabbing I had responded too and the Inmate had been stabbed 19 times. I only saw one of the wounds and it looked like he had been stabbed with a table candle. Nasty wound right in the forearm. So I was talking to the family last night about the blog. And it occurred to me to try and write about the various homemade weapons I have seen. Now I spent most of my career at a Minimum security jail. So it should be a shorter blog post. But I do have a few stories to share. While working the 8-4 shift at GH I would often get assigned to the Industrial work area. The jobs would be completed before 4 O'clock and I would finish up and walk on up front to see the Sgt. for something else to do. I was trying to be a good employee. Inevitably he would assign me to help with the Inmates leaving visits. It only took a couple times to realize that that was what I would get if I did the right thing and walked up front. Nuts and Butts (you can figure out that if you think a bit)is no fun at all, most of the time. So I learned to make a job for myself after say the auto shop Inmates all left for the day. I would frisk the area. The first weapon I found was in the laundry. I was climbing up on one of the huge machines they have there and found razor blades setting way up on top. You had to climb up a bit to get at them. They were the kind used in your father's or grandfathers razors for shaving. These were pretty common. Also in the laundry hidden in pipe insulation I found what looked like a wood working tool. Like a lathe tool. Wooden handled but this one had been taken to a grinder and or filed to a sharp point. I remember being a bit nervous just taking it up to the arsenal. Not sure why but I was. Another time I was assigned to the biggest auto body shop I have ever seen. Located in the back of GH the Inmates at the time did a lot of vehicles that the DPW in the city had wrecked. Real quickly a little background, an Inmate had beaten another Inmates head in with a 3 lb hammer and the CO that had the bid job there took a couple of weeks off to get his thoughts back together. So I was assigned that job for a couple of weeks. All the big wig's in the place were coming down and they were trying to get shadow boards made up so we could keep track of all the tools. Not sure how that would have prevented the Inmate from taking the hammer and bashing the other Inmates head in but. So it was the same thing I needed to kill about 45 minutes and would frisk the shop. Well I found in one of the open lockers a nasty shank made from what appeared to be a spackling knife that was approx. 5 inches across the top but it had been cut by a pair of tin snips to a point. It was roughly in the shape of a diamond and left all jagged. Man if someone was stuck with that thing it would be hell to sew you up. It also came with a nice case to cover the blade which was a nice touch to the project. That's a few from GH now just a list of some other types I have found without the story. Frisked a guys coat once and found a 10 inch folding hunting knife. Frisked the outside rec. building and found a metal spatula up in the rafters which had been sharpened a little on one side. It had not been finished yet. Since it was a work camp CO's regularly found pieces of "bow" saw blades. Some I have not found but have seen other find were made from melted tooth brush handles, melted cigarette cellophane wrapper, Of course the tooth brush with a razor inserted in the bristles is quite common. I saw one once that looked like a Bowie knife made from a piece of plexi-glass. I guess what I finish saying is this. If it can be made into a shank, shiv, banger, etc.. they will do it. The Inmates can stick a razor in their mouths and spit one right out without cutting the insides. They will secret them wherever they can.. What you see in the movies for the most part is correct. Never saw anyone find one but have seen the collection they use for training purposes and yes even homemade (zip)guns. Not much of a point to make about this other than it is all over the place and the Department's. drug sniffing dogs seem to find at least one shank on every visit at GT. So weapons in jail is now of the way. On to something else. Not sure what yet.

GH war stories.

If I would have to say of all the "war" stories that stick in my mind there about three short ones I always tell people if they want to hear one. Some people love to hear stories of jail work. But there are a few that stick out above the others. One time I was running to a RED alert and thinking I hope none of the CO's were hurt and I hope it isn't too bad. That sort of thing. I show up at this junctions point where they have three gates in the joining hallways so we can stop the spread of riots, that sort of thing. When I get there things have already come to conclusion as far as the fighting goes. None of the Staff had been hurt. So your heart goes at ease. I was one of the first to arrive and the Sgt. says take this guy to the infirmary. He was stabbed but able to walk. So I assumed that some one previously there had frisked him. Bad idea. I guess the Sgt. should have told me to do so but also I should have asked but here's this fairly small inmate bleeding all over himself. So I hustled him down to the infirmary. There were Officers there so when I got there I turned him over and went back to my bid job which at the time was the package room. I know it doesn't sound like much of a story. But one of the CO's in the infirmary told me later that when they took his jacket off they found 19 total stab wounds!! They had also found a razor in his jacket concealed somewhere. What always struck me odd was that this inmate had thought he could throw his jacket on to cover the stab wounds and go back in the block like nothing happened. Now I had seen one stab wound on his arm. It looked like someone had taken a candle stick and was able to stab him quite deeply with it. A nasty wound for sure. What I hadn't seen were the 18 other shots! And this guy actually was trying to avoid getting medical help. Luckily he hadn't pulled the razor on anyone. I felt sick in my stomach when I found out he had a razor somewhere on him. Lesson learned was any time something like that happened for the rest of my career I made sure the inmate was frisked.
Another one I remember was responding to "A" block one day for some big fight taking place. When I get there two of the biggest inmates in the place were having a big dispute. The only issue was the bigger heavy set one was trying to get through the bars to kick this muscle bound inmates ass.. He was totally out of control and would not listen to directions from the Officers. He was a fairly well known inmate in the block and usually was a well mannered inmate. So what I found funny was this guy is refusing to let the CO's cuff him and struggling like crazy totally had lost it, and there were two Officers on each arm and they were having difficulty getting his arm close enough so the cuffs could be used. I remember saying to the one female Officer on one of his arms. Let me take your spot due to she was about 115 soaking wet.. Not that she wasn't giving it her all, but his one arm was about as big as her whole upper body!! We finally did get him cuffed and I remember the normal sized cuffs were tight with just one click. Things calmed down and I guess the whole fight was over the one muscle bound inmate had thrown his oatmeal into the other guys face. I think if the gate hadn't been there someone may have died over throwing oatmeal.
The last one I'll bring up is the story if an old black inmate who was known around the jail for knowing karate. Some of the CO's who had been around a while tell the story of seeing him kick a ceiling pipe in the hall leading to sick call. Now that is really up there so I always wondered if that story was true. But if was a long day at jail and stories always helped. I'll stick with not telling names but we'll call him "M". So "M" had been in a big altercation at some point in a the furthest north Max jail in the state. He hurt some CO's and ended up getting hurt quite badly himself. Serves him right I'd say. You want to act like an idiot you get what you got coming to you. But for the last few years I guess this inmate "M" was going about jail life without issues. You see the story goes he had shaved all his hair off his body and used Vaseline everywhere on him so no one could get a good hold on him. And totally naked, no hair, greased up, and he decides to do some fighting. So this old story floated around the jail. But for while now "M" was acting like he should so life in jail goes on. Until one day I am heading to the block to do the count. The CO controlling the gate, I can't remember his name but did know it then, says "Hey "H" go check the yard there's still an Inmate sitting out by the TV". So I go out and here's this "M" sitting there. I went up to him and asked him why he was still out. He said he didn't want to go back in. And it was going to take a lot of you to make me. So I'm not a lot of you, so I go back in and tell the CO's running the gate better get a Sgt. here. It was the notorious "M". So I had never been up close to "M" prior to that day. He wasn't very big or in very good shape. I was like this guy doesn't look like much. But whatever, the Sgt. will no how to take care of it better than I. I had given him an order to leave the yard I'd given it a shot. So I'm hanging out there waiting for the Sgt. to show and when he gets there we go out in the yard again and the Sgt. tells this guy he has to leave the yard. I can't remember who was all there but it was about 4-5 Officers and the Sgt. I remember "M" looking at us and he starts sizing us up. He's pretty big, He looks fast, That sort of thing. The Sgt. makes a decision to let him sit there a while., No one was getting hurt so no since pushing it I guess he figured. I thought at the time we should have dragged him out of the yard, he shouldn't be allowed to do what he like whenever he wants. Plus I thought we could have easily done it. But now after all the years under my belt, I think the Sgt. made the right choice. Let him sit there a while and maybe he'd decide, once he figured the TV wasn't coming on any time soon, that he should come inside by himself with no force needed. Well it was count time and as any CO knows it's what we get paid for doing. "The Count" So I have a company to count and take to chow. So the Sgt. orders all of us out of the yard and tells some of us to go do our counts. I was really curios about how it all ended so I'd ask whoever if they had heard anything. I guess they got as many CO's they could and surrounded him. They had given him a lot of time and he kept acting like he was going to fight. He hadn't greased himself up but apparently his rep had followed him. Enough was enough and they closed in on him and as the first one was close enough to touch him he gave up completely. Off to the box he went!! An odd event to say the least. Maybe he owed a gambling debt or just want to spend some alone time in the box. Who knew.. More "war" stories for another time.

Animals and jobs.

I touched on it a bit in the last days blog. But one thing for sure about corrections work is the diversity of the jobs in a jail like GH. You can go from the wicked busy to the help me stay awake!! I've had both type of jobs over the years and I'd have to say the extremes in both area are hard to take. Barely having anything to do jobs are created just in case something goes down. Like I said before about the tower job. Boring until the sh** hits the fan. Then you go from bored to possibly shooting someone. Thank god they are mostly boring. The wicked busy jobs leave a lot of opportunities for you to mess up. Your days go by very fast but it is easy to get burned out. I'd have to say there are fewer of these wicked busy jobs compared to the bored out of my skull jobs. Most fall somewhere in between. One thing I liked about GH was someone would almost always be available to relieve you for a break. We didn't get normal breaks like most workers. We worked a straight 8 hours day along with 15 minutes of line-up(where they give you info on what's going on in the jail, etc...). If you had to open and close a gate all day it was nice to get a break from it. You were standing and turning the biggest keys I had ever seen, over and over and over. Some of the gates were electric and in that case you sat on a chair all day pushing buttons. Sometimes the CO would have a stick with a taped up tip to push the buttons with. I guess if you had to do it every day you come up with ways to keep from getting a blister on the tips of your fingers. One time the CO working one of these electric gates on the midnight shift which must have been terribly boring opened the gate for a skunk walking down the hall. Skunks were all over the jail and there were plenty of open spots for them to walk under the pass through spots in the hallways. He must have thought it was funny opening the gate for a skunk. He also must of thought it was funny to see what would happen and close the gate on it while it passed through. It took quite a while for the hallways to smell normal again. While on the subject of animals. One of the most common flying around the jail were Bats. I guess they thought it was very cave like. And they would be right!! Well someone killed one once and wrapped it up in plastic. In the Officers break area, (vending machines etc..) they had a machine for buying sandwiches and once you open the little sliding door, it's quite easy to slide in a bat wrapped up nicely in plastic. Pretty funny but a bit gross.. My friend "F" said I thought it was a pretty good deal a bat for $1.25. I guess I've got the theme for today narrowed down to animals. So I'll finish with a story about frisking a cell one day. Like I said the new jacks get to do a lot of frisking. So I'm frisking this cell and trying to check every where. It's sometime unbelievable how much an Inmate can cram into a small 6x8 cell (rough size). So it's going like most frisk go until I open one of his Tupperware bowls. It was full of Cockroaches!! I'm not sure how he was managing to keep them in while adding more to it. But there they were all moving around and I was like totally grossed out. I had never seen a Cockroach until GH. I guess everyone needs a house pet from time to time and you have to take advantage of what's around you in some cases!! I wonder if he had them all named!!

Odds and ends

This will be various things that don't deserve much time but were interesting to me then. The OJT jail which I refer to as DS if you recall kept the Inmates in file two by two totally quiet. It was nice moving them around this way. GH on the other hand was like just try to keep them on one side of the hallway. Speaking of Hallways. When Industry (where they worked) let out it was wall to wall convicts!! Officers would be right in the middle observing so nothing would jump off without someone seeing it. I remember once asking this Sgt. if I was suppose to be doing something while standing there. And he says to me you are doing a good job keep it up. I found out later he was relatively new as a Sgt. at GH. So he really didn't know either. Joking around was common place. I remember once some Officer put a new recruit up to going to the Box and asking them for their Inmates that were signed up to go to the movies. Pretty funny if you ever worked the box or can imagine it, they only get out for one hour a day. They never get to see a movie or a TV for that matter. But he was new and still learning and there was no harm done. I also remember this one Officer who used to climb up the fencing material inside some of the blocks to try and catch Inmates up to no good. That was pretty funny. I used to like working the box. We'd get all of the work done and have the rest of the day to do whatever. As long as nothing happened that is or course. We'd play catch with a football (inside) play guitar, etc.. whatever we felt. So it wasn't always tension working this job. I later won a bid to work there full time as the relief. Before I got a chance to work the job I received my transfer. One weekend I reported to work and for a job that day was given the outside garage.. I got the most key rings I ever had to carry. I was to report out there and if they needed a vehicle I would be there to get one for whoever would be taking the trip. I think I also had to run the visitors for the Annex out to the Annex from the main gate. That was one easy job compared to others I had on the weekends. One job I always hated on weekends were the visiting room jobs. They had two. New and Old visiting room. The old one was better than the new one. You pretty much spent your days trying to keep Inmates off there girl friends/ wives. Really crappy work!! Another was the main gates going to either side of the jail from the main admin. area. It was really busy due to visits really pick up at GH on the weekends. This guy runs all the gates but the hard part is he also has to keep track of the Inmates going to visits. That job was probably the most ridiculously hectic job I had while there. People would get ticked off cause you would be busy and not notice them at the gates. One gate at a time is all that's allowed open so pushing buttons and marking Inmate ID's (a way set up to keep track where they were visiting) over and over and over until your shift was over. Every now and then, the facility would have special event days. They were called something like "San Juan Batista day" amongst others. Things like that. They would have a special area set up for the Inmates and we'd have to report to the rear gate and process them all through. It was wicked busy most of the time. Once for one of these special events I thought I got lucky and got assigned a tower post. Man that day sucked big time. Talk about boredom. I knew a older guy who had worked a tower post on the Midnight shift for like 19 years. I don't know how he could have ever did it. I couldn't do that job for one shift without going buggy!! Enough for one day check back later..

GH and and various jobs.

Going to work at GH was a experience that stuck with me for the rest of my career. My job title for most of my career has been "resource pool" or sometimes called "miscellaneous". I soon discovered it was better for me not knowing what I would have to do when I got to work. That way I couldn't dwell on it over night. GH had well over 2000 inmates and was like a city behind walls. There were a lot of different jobs and many of them were very chaotic. So not knowing what was in store would free me of thinking about what I had to do and how I would do it until I actually got to work. I tried to stick with that concept most of my career. They do occasionally have to assign you to an off shift. So those days I would know. Years later I fell off from following this rule I made for myself and would check the day prior. It was good and it was bad. If I found I was going to be extra, it was good. If I found I had to go chop trees down I didn't care for it. Doing this may have caused me to "Bang in" sick a few extra times. One other positive thing about Resource pool jobs is you do something different most every day. CO's have for the most part a very boring job which occasionally goes from boredom to Chaos, real quick!! One of the worse jobs which would come up from time to time would be Funeral trips. Me and another Officer would take an Inmate down to some of the worse neighborhoods in the city. It was an one hour stop but was always tense. Not many CO's want to do this. Some will if on OT. I was never that lucky for a 10 hour OT for a funeral visit. I guess I could have had this job in my "shocking" section. Who would have known they routinely take Inmates to funeral visits. When I got to the Minimum security jail, it was always a decision to decide whether you would take the cuffs and leg irons off him so he could sit with his family and grieve. It was left up to the Officers but could be denied by higher management. I think of all the ones I had, and it was quite a few, we took the stuff off on every one. Never had a incident. I mean these guy in the minimum had no wall or fence to keep them from leaving the place, and plenty of time to do so. The rarely ever did. So the decision fell on the Senior Officer which I was a few times and we took the chance. Didn't make much since but after the hour we'd shackle him back up and drive back to the jail. But this always made me uneasy. I hated going after a while. Well I jumped right out of GH for on that one. So let me pull myself back in. For a two week stint I was assigned this job picking garbage along the outside of the cell blocks. I had what was called the In-grade gang. I took 4-5 Inmates and walked around the outside of the blocks picking garbage. After a few days of this I was getting pretty bored. This job was funny in a couple of ways. Luckily I was young. I ran a company of of H block to chow which for some reason at their meals on the opposite side of the jail. So after doing the count in "H" block, Off I'd march them down the halls to breakfast and then back over and lock them in. I'd do what they call a "GO around" which consisted of asking them if they wanted the yard or stay in that sort of thing. Then clear over to the other side to "B" block to gather the workers and once gathered head back toward "H" block to get tools from the closet where they kept the tools for the gang. Then outside to various area picking garbage. Once done back to the closet and back to "B" block and then I'd walk all the way back over to "H" block and run the lunch meal and do the count. Only to repeat this in the afternoon. Lots of walking and I wondered why anyone would bid that job. Luckily I had it just two weeks. While working this detail I asked the Sgt. if I could get permission to take a couple of them into the Attics and pick up garbage that I knew had accumulated over the years. Which they did grant me permission to do so. I'd take just two Inmates up and pick garbage. I knew there was lots of garbage up there due to working the yard roof post. After that they asked me to go down in the Morgue and pick up garbage down there which I did. Under GH is a series of underground tunnels connecting the blocks. They run the plumping and wiring that sort of thing. So while at GH I was just about in every corner and nook in the place. Even up in the area where they kept the electric chair although I was not allowed through the door where it sat. So I never saw the chair. We cleaned the area where the Inmates that were going to use the chair resided until the day came. If I remember correctly it was called the death house. From the biggest auto collision repair shop I'd ever seen to the Morgue, to the death house the Inside theater etc... while at GH I saw just about everything. That's enough for the day time for dinner....

Got a few stories about GH

What shocked me the most about Corrections?? I will try and keep this a fairly short post.. haha!! Let's go with the Inmates first. I'm from a real hick area located Upstate. The nearest full time resident was my Uncle's farm and that was about 3/4 of a mile up the road. Our road was half dirt and to say the least a old country road. Seeing a car pass by was a event and we would almost always know who it was. Summer vacation from school started out great but by a few weeks we would get lonely for our school friends. We hardly ever got a chance to see them during the summer. By the end of summer I was looking forward to school. Just for something to do, besides fishing and swimming in the Salmon River. So when I saw the minorities all together locked up, with backgrounds that were completely different to mine, It was a culture shock type of event. I was seeing a totally different form of life style!! Men with boobs was something I wish I had never seen but soon after starting work a GH I witnessed it!! Out in the yard with general population was a guy with a bra size bigger than many woman with a five o'clock shadow. He must have had plenty of opportunities in jail, and seemed to be quite popular amongst his fellow Inmates for some reason. Many of these men have to spend there time in prison locked up in the PC (protective custody) ward. But this guy was walking around in population. I guess Prisons have what they call Jailhouse homosexuals. Apparently they are homosexuals in prison but when on the street switch back. This all was very shocking for me in 1985. The next thing I'd say about inmates being "a shock" was the size they get lifting weights. Luckily for CO's they are the ones that seem to cause the least problems. Most everything else I expected. As far as the CO's and other staff. It seemed that Prisons were created so Upstate country boys could run them. Pretty much 90 percent were "Up stater's" looking for honest work and benefits. These guys were from the same type of area I was from. Sorry guys about this comment I don't mean to offend but there are a lot of CO's that don't quite fit the image you have of an Officer dressed in blue performing his job. The IQ levels vary greatly. Once you learn the job you know you don't have to be a rocket appliance salesmen (reference to Trailer Park Boys)to perform your duties. You'd also think that the State would have a system that promoted the best CO's up the ranks. They don't. They have a testing system which many times promotes people that should never be leading anyone. That was shocking how bad some of the management can be. Not all, so the good ones take up the slack the bad ones can't handle. The wall inside looking up is a bit shocking. Esp. while working the yards and thinking if a riot breaks out could I get out of here? You feel the I can't get out feeling at various points too. The things that Inmates do while they are in jail, was shocking. At least it's something I never would have guessed. They make furniture,underwear,license plates, cook food, milk cows,cut down trees ( I did a lot of that with them) etc.. etc.. Pretty much anything that is done on the street. The amount of violence in the max jails is shocking. During my time at GH I'd say at least one red alert a week. So I got to sprint at least once a week to keep up my speed!! And for what I have heard that was a fairly quiet time at GH. It was worse earlier and later than when I was there. I am going to stick with these things. More will resurface I am sure. I will talk about the "GT" (where I spent most of my career) stuff for later.. It's a stressful job and one that most civilians can't quite understand unless thrown into it for a while. I know that people like to hear the stories. I also know that like me a lot of CO's don't like to inform people they work as Correction Officers. I remember years ago going to this bar with a fellow CO and he told the locals there he worked for the phone company. I have never lied about it but down played it most of the time. It's not the kind of job where you come home proud of the work you have done that day. At least that's how my career went. It's a job that provided for my family and we live a decent life style because of it. So my last bit of shocking (may not have been so to some it's hard to put it in words that reflect the atmosphere in jail) It is really hard to believe that I did 25 years when my goal was to work a few years get my degree and move on to something else. I am doing that now, so it just took a few more years than expected. That's shocking!!

I'm done

I'm done!! Well it's a bit off target today due to it being my last day!! I couldn't help but start with that. So on to some more stuff at GH. I only spent two years at GH but I got to know a couple guys that got to be some of the best friends I ever had. "F" & "S" are their Initials. They can figure them out. I still try and get together with "F" as much as possible. He could have retired but is hanging in there. He's got a lot of things going on and has more struggles than most but not as many as some I guess. He knows we are there for him. "F" was one of the first good friends I made at GH he was married and had one daughter. Our wives got to be good friends fairly quickly and that always helps. I guess it was his sense of humor and way of working that I liked right from the start. We worked together in the same are of the jail and had a lot of laughs. He was one tough dude and would never ever take any lip form some Inmate that wanted to give him any lip. The package room at GH was a very busy place to work. Esp. on weekends. Inmates would be denied many things they thought they should have but it was our job to make sure no contraband or not allowed items were let in. That's why it seemed we got a lot of attitude from Inmates that thought we made up the rules. Everything was written down in what they call a Directive and we would have to follow it to the letter. But Inmates are constantly trying to get something, anything, if they can. They have nothing better to do than try and make you let them have it. Sometimes (quite often) they would get ornery. "F" was the best I seen at making Inmates back down from a heated argument. And he would always make us laugh while doing so He is a great guy and a good Officer. I hope to see him more now that I am no longer employed by the State. The other guy I got to be good friends with was "S". Or "H" after I found out his real name. So here's the main story I wanted to tell in today's post. "S" and I are working the roof post that covers the yards during recreation. It's a small shack located on the roof of one of the blocks that overlooks two very large yards. We take a gas gun and a AR-15 up to the post and observe the Inmates lifting weights running etc... Well there's a two hour break while they run chow and do the Master count during the middle portion of the shift. They don't pull us off the roof due to the weapons being up. So we sit and talk and eat our lunches. So "S" and I are talking and I think all the times I've seen him around that he is of Spanish decent. But what do I know, I from a High school that had nothing but Caucasians. It never mattered to me but this is what I would have guessed for "S". In reality he was from a Mid eastern country as I found out on that day. He's telling me all about when he was a kid and his Dad was going to send him to Italy and at the last minute he had a chance to go to NYC and took it. He was in the Military over there and fought in a war etc..etc... It was quite a life story to say the least. Went on to NYC and worked his butt off to make a go of it. And was running the Officer's mee at GH and decided to take the test and yada yada yada he's a CO. So after hearing this "S" says so where are you from? I said you wouldn't know it but I'm from a small town in Upstate NY. His reply was is it any where near Sandy Creek?? I looked at him in disbelief. He had guessed the town I went to High School!! A guy from Egypt guesses my High School!! So I asked him how he knew of that town. He says my wife is from there.. I knew every kid practically in school. And I mean every grade!! So I say who's your wife?? He says "SB" I said no kidding?? It might have been No Sh** I'm not sure but you get the idea. Her brother was in my graduating class and she dated one of my best friends brother back in High School. So we set up a time and I met her at is apt. One thing leads to another and we start Bass fishing together and we became good friends. Both of these guys had other Officers backs and would be there when the red alerts were calling. They would do what was needed and to stop it and knew when enough was enough. Exactly the way I thought a good Officer should be. That's another reason we all got along. Similar people from totally different backgrounds. But still friends for life!!

So the OJT business was over and it was time to move on to being full fledged Correction Officers. This was before GPS's and Google maps so I took out an old fashioned road map and figured out how to get there. I remember reporting for the first time. Now I had been there on my "Tour" at the academy so it wasn't a big shock when I saw the 40 foot wall surrounding the whole place. I also had been inside so I knew what to expect. I can describe GH as one really large place with walkways that connected the blocks and the Industrial work area. It felt like you were in a cave while walking the halls and the blocks were straight out of what people see in Movies. You pretty much could walk everywhere indoors. I recall this one academy instructor who's permanent work station was GH saying he got a lump in his throat when he drove up to the place. I never had that kind of reaction. Mind you it is one intimidating place. Old and dank. Kind of like the old farm house I grew up in, In a lot of ways!! Yea there were no bars but it was totally isolated. So What do I recall about the first few days and months at GH. Frisking cells, (and lots of them) Learning a different job almost daily, Nuts and butts (leave that up to your imaginations)after visiting hours. Pretty much any job that no one would ever want is what it comes down to. But Seniority is everything to Correction Officers and New Jacks would be in soon enough. One big advantage I had and this didn't take long for it to kick in. Although it did take years for me to figure it out, was this: I was called in to see the Sgt on duty one day and he said to me " You're not on a transfer list?" I said "Nope". That was the end of the conversation. I never left the day shift the two years I worked there. And my jobs got steadily better. Instead of running the 60 Inmate Underwear making shop I ran the gas booth during the movie. That sort of thing. Bringing up the Movie theater. That was one thing I found truly bizarre. Soon after getting to GH more than likely the first weekend. I had to escort a company of Inmates to the Movie theater to sit down and watch a movie. It was just like the old time theaters we had in the "Old days" One big theater. We would sit right in the middle of (and at the time GH had the most lifers in the state) the Theater filled with Inmates. And yup they turn the lights off. I saw "Desperately seeking Susan" with Madonna in it and I remember seeing "Beverley Hills cops". That day was one of those days that reminded you these men were of a different kind. In the scene where the execute Eddie Murphy's friend the convicts cheered!! There were two other days I remember that Movie theater. One was this time I was sitting in the middle watching and the film melted.. It's something that doesn't ever happen any more but anyone with some age remembers that it use to happen quite often. The light source for the projector looked like burning welding rods!! I know this from working the gas booth during one movie. I thought the place was going to tip over big time!! The place is dark and I'm thinking what to heck would I do if the "S" hit the fan? Try to run to the side I guess was what I came up with. But I was figuring I would be pretty much screwed. The Inmates were getting ticked off and just when one of them says "Lets "f" this place up" the CO's running the projectors got the film rolling again. It always made me wonder why we did the movies this way. The only other story I got about the movies to conclude this section of the blog was one day I am up on the roofs covering the yards when the yards closed we waited for them to open. Well this weekend we heard a lot of talk on the radios and the gist of it was the movie theater was having problems. We were ordered to step out on to the roof and be prepared to fire or use gas. We didn't have to do any shooting that day. They got it under control and OT (over time) was hired and they shipped out half a block of Inmates all at once!!! I'll never forget the show of "we will not tolerate this behavior" that the state showed that day. They hired a lot of CO's for OT and I was hired to work the few hours extra it took to pack them all up and then the Grey Hound style buses rolled in and they were off to other Max's. It wasn't too many years later they quit using the movie theater. And that's a good thing..,

On to OJT and then GH

So all went well at the academy and off I go to my first actual prison to work. I lived downstate at the time so I chose a spot located not to far from my home. One big advantage I had which many CO's don't is I never had to commute long distances. Most have to take a job downstate and try and work their way back up North. And eventually, somewhere near where they live ( one of the major reason not to take the job). I was already down that way so I was home every night. OJT (on the job training)is a six week affair unless the State needs you a bit sooner. But they didn't need us all that quick so we got the full six weeks. I reported to a Max jail with a couple others from my class. This particular jail at the time was the main processing center for new Inmates. It was surrounded by a razor covered fence. It was laid out in sections that were all similar in appearance and were color coded. So wherever you were working things were somewhat the same. Made it a bit easier for us. Of course we were "new meat" and were made to do any job they could dream up. I remember one of the things we were doing was processing the New Inmates that came up from a Island jail in the city. Those Inmates looked in various states of fitness and hair styles. But they all left deloused and with the same hair cut. Also most of the time with the same very large boxer under shorts!! I have to say it was comical to say the least to watch them parade through the process all in line. But most were very happy to have gotten out of the last jail they were in. We were also made to do a variety of jobs and shifts for the OJT time period. I made a lot of quick friends and when my time was finished I really wanted to return at the first chance I was given. They all pretty much told me once I got to my first actual assignment I wouldn't come back. They were right I never returned there after getting established at my first permanent assignment.
So while at the Academy they told us we should never ever eat state food. I remember the Instructor saying "don't do it" but then saying "you all will do it". I vowed at the time not to eat Sate food. About the third day working the 4-12 shift while on OJT I did in fact eat State food. It was like a pressure situation!! All the CO's around me were eating and I like to eat so,, I ate. I'm not sure if they can fine me now for that since I'm almost gone but I did break the rules on eating quite quickly. It's a 250 dollar fine and most CO's will tell you that if ever charged they got their money's worth. I only know of one CO that ever got charged the 250. So most don't worry about it all that much. CO's and Supervisor's all the way to Supers eat State food. Some more than others. Anyways on to other broken rules on OJT. I also was encouraged by the regular CO's to play Ping pong. Some of the cell blocks had tables right in the middle of the unit. The Inmates assigned to these units would have most of their rec. right inside. Those Inmates also spent a lot of time "locked in" meaning open ping pong table. I had honed my skills while at the academy and now I knew why they had a table there. We didn't play all that often but I do remember playing ping pong on duty. All in all they gave me a good lesson in Corrections. This jail was "tight". No talking while going to chow. The Inmates walked in order two by two. Commands were given to stop and go. If anyone dared to talk the whole movement would stop until the CO felt like it was time to move again. I thought at the time it was a good system. I also thought that all jails worked like this. I later found out I was wrong about that. It wasn't just playing ping pong and eating food. I saw my first results of a stabbing while working there among other things.. Inmates would be moved to the "Box" when they need to be contained in a more secure environment. Or sometimes they would just be "keep locked". Held in their cells for most of the time. Things that later became routine at my next assignment at GH. There are all types of personalities in this world, and that holds true with CO's . Pretty women (one that I remember seeing and being shocked that she would want to work in prison)and Handsome men work in jails and the opposite is also true ugly ones work there too. Funny people and serious people. All kinds. We were all wearing blue and doing the same job and that bonded us. You need someone to watch your back so to speak. As a "New Jack" I tried to figure out which way I would go when confronted with issues and thought often what a good CO should do. Over the years I have changed quite a bit but still try and hold by that ideal. All in all the OJT training was decent and I figured I'd stick with the job for a while. We filled out a sheet to pick where we would like to be assigned. It was called a "wish list" I wanted to go to GH and I was the only one in our group that picked it number one choice. A few of them looked at me like I was nuts. I was trying to stay as close as possible to home. When our assignments came back I got my choice. Me and one other from my class reported to GH in the summer of 85. He resigned within a year. Went to Florida and did landscaping. He was a good guy and got me into weight lifting. He was from way up North. I sometime wonder what he is doing now. So off to GH which was the same drive time for me, but a very different Max jail.

Academy

The academy was really quite easy. I forget almost everyone's name but do remember my roommate. I wonder if he's getting out as quick as I am? He works not far from where I work in a medium security prison. Never kept up with him much but occasionally if I were taking one of our trouble makers to a more secure facility I would ask whoever if they knew him and how he was doing. He was a decent guy who took things pretty seriously when it came to doing well. He received the highest score on the Shooting Range and was very proud of that. I also recall he did decent on the academics. But almost anyone could do well when it comes to that part of it. Matter of fact the whole thing was quite easy!! Out of our group only one women was kicked out. And that was for her inability to shoot and qualify with a passing score. Her personality did not fit the type of person who would want to be in Corrections at all and I wondered why she would ever had tried it. She was a bit on the timid side to say the least and that's usually not a personality trait you would want when it comes to this job. One of the Instructors told the group when she had left that they would have stopped her eventually and not allowed her to become a Correction Officer. After working the job for 25 years I can say they seldom if ever would do that. I've seen all types working this job. We had people passing the obstacle course who were very over weight matter of fact probably obese. Not much funny to write here about it. I remember a lot of out of shape people who would complain endlessly about the mediocre work outs every morning. I do recall one thing the Instructors did well was to instill in us the since of brotherhood. And we should stick together. When we would run every morning it was in a group, help each other out that sort of thing. I took that part very seriously. But the six weeks spent there did not prepare me for what actually goes on in Prison. Very little of what you experience walking through the gate of a Max security prison for the first time can be taught -I guess. Everyone would have there own reaction and mine was it didn't bother me all that much. When it came time to tour the local Max joint as a group I remember feeling and thinking what I would do if an Inmate decided to mess with someone in our group. I was in attack mode for the whole tour. Haha!! But I do remember thinking when the CO tour guide said if something happens just get out of the way and let the CO's take care of it. I said to myself no way I would do that. I guess that's why I got along well the 2 years I spent in that same max. I knew I would respond and expect someone else to do the same if the shit hit the fan as they say. Which it did on a fairly regular basis. Years later I made a good friend where I currently work who went on the same tour from the same academy and while there an Inmate took a baseball bat and bashed in another Inmates head. They were from the "Bug" ward. I remember working that day cause that isn't all that common, and they hurried the group through quickly. They must have all thought man this jail stuff sucks!! But he wasn't deterred!! So I should hop back to a couple of things that happened during the 6 weeks there. We had a lot of time to goof off. Playing Ping-pong that sort of thing. There was a soda machine in the lower floor and rec tables where we would hang out. Someone had figured out that if you put your coins in the soda machine and started pushing all the buttons at once you could get multiple sodas. Which everyone did!! Seems a tad dishonest now but it was fun then. So one night this off duty CO shows up who hadn't been out of the academy very long and starts telling us jail stories. I listened like everyone else. He seemed a bit on the odd side if you ask me. But what else was there to do. Later I ran into him working. He had a last name that was easy to remember. Like I said I won't use it now. But the same guy got in trouble several times for inappropriate behavior when it comes to wearing a side arm. I remember he made the local paper at least once. Which is always funny when you are a Correction officer. Local Guard gets arrested for blah blah blah. I got your "Local Guard" right here.. Like Rodney Dangerfield we get "NO respect". Who knows if he ever lasted for his 25. But he def. should have been weeded out!! All in all my experience in the academy was uneventful. One bragging note I did tie the Obstacle course record and the plaque has been collection dust for the last 25 in my basement. I remember my roommate thinking our room got two of the awards and feeling pretty proud of it. I could have cared less. My plan was to work this job for a couple of years and finish my degree and go on to greener pastures. Needless to say things change and plans are put off. Sometimes never to happen at all. If I didn't dislike the French so much I might add that french phrase that means "That is life" No going back... Next-Off to OJT and on to GH..

Not sure which way to go.

I guess the trip up North to medical and psychological testing is where I should start. I also have to add that most of my family when they found out tried to talk me out of it. I plowed straight through. So I have this two hour trip in a 1977 Chevy Vega which I paid 300 bucks for. I had taken out a college loan to buy it. I hear a lot of people who know the car saying what a crappy car. But for 300 bucks it was the best car I ever bought. I had also learned how to paint cars when I owned that Vega and K-mart cans of blue was my choice. Needless to say it turned out cherry..I wake up early for the drive up North and I'm dressed in my one and only suit. Right, the same one I got married in. I'm driving along in the Vega which I prepped for the trip topping off the oil. And anyone who has ever owned a Vega know you always had to check the oil. So I'm on this three lane in the middle of a small city located in the Southern part of the State. And what happens - I get pulled over by a local cop. 55 in a 30. Doh!! So here I am dressed in a suit, with new short cut hair, driving a 77 Vega painted with canned paint on the side of the road telling the cop I was headed up to do the things needed to become a CO and he doesn't really care and writes me a ticket(I didn't get out of that ticket but later found being a CO does help a lot in that category!). Only on the road for 10 minutes and the day is already messed up!! I got there and took all the required test. Thought I might fail the hearing test as most of you reading may know about my lack of good hearing , in both ears! The written Psych test were totally whack!! They ask you a lot of questions and most of the same questions about 5-6 times. I guess they want to weed out the liars. Well I can tell you they miss a few!! The morning goes by and we all are almost done. I'm eating lunch next to another guy from up North and he asked me what I said when it comes to drinking alcohol and I told him I put down what I actually do drink in a month(3-6 drinks). He said he had also and told me he was there for the second time trying to get through the testing. I asked him how much did he say he drank and it was like a 6 pack per day. I'm not sure why they flagged him not suitable. He also asked me, Had I ever smoked pot?? I responded I doubt many people my age hadn't tried it although I never "Inhaled" at college it was in almost every hallway on a Friday or Saturday night. His immediate response was I would never get the job! I guess he was wrong.. I passed without any problems. Several months later I was told to report to the academy.

K-mart

So I'm working at a K-amrt auto shop and my friend D says to me one day. Want to take the test for Correction officer? I asked what they did for work. And he says they work in Prisons. I asked how much money do they make. He says pretty much more than we make now. So I went home and checked for the ad in the local paper and found the information for the job and sent for the paper work. Filled it all out sent it in and waited. One day I got the time and place the test would be given. I went to work and asked "D" did you get your info back and he said yes. I can't remember the time frames exactly but we planned on meeting out in front of the local school to go and take the test together. I remember we were both a little nervous due to both of us calling in sick on a Saturday. I waited and waited for him to show and he never did. So I went in and took it by myself. The next time we worked together I got him on the side and asked him where he was and told him I had waited for a long time and he said he had did the same. Something was definitely fishy about it!! Come to find out he had taken the County Corrections test while I had taken the Sate test. So the gist of the story is I got hired and "D" had to wait until the next State test. Which he did pass and took the job. I actually had to take a slight cut in pay due to I had been promoted to Manager of the shop. But knew that within one year I'd make more money. And the benefits were quite good. Haven't heard from him since.. But "D" is the man responsible for my obtaining the job.

Almost over

4 More working days and I will be done with my career in Corrections. Not sure exactly what I will do with my working life now but 25 years is enough working this job. Good luck to those who work it longer. I have a lot of respect for Correction Officers they have a thankless job. Return home from work daily without any reward system other than the pay and benefits. I will attempt to submit a story or event if you will on some of the things that happened while working the last 25 years. Most will be on the funny side or possibly "can you believe that" sort of thing. I hope you enjoy it if you are one of the people who decide to follow along. Of course I will try and not offend anyone by leaving out real names etc... Wish me luck