Corrections_Today_Fall_2025_Vol.87_No.3

BOOKSHELF

New corrections officer In the first book, Officer Palmer discusses how they were trained and how they adapted. He spoke of post orders, a set of standard operating procedures on how he would work a post (job assignment). He indicated how important the daily log was because they might have to docu ment what happened years after an event. He provided a tutorial on cell searches, which every new employee needs to know for self-protection. For example, when searching a cell, there were many nooks and cran nies. You did not search these areas without gloves on or a search mirror to show what you were looking at. There were many hiding places along the ledges, and you did not have hand protection, or pat the area, you may well have received a needle stick or a slice wound. In a few paragraphs, I was taken back to doing my first cell searches in E Building at the Federal Reforma tory, in Petersburg. Of course, I was a green behind the ears and a newly minted 22-year-old correctional officer. As someone with a degree in correctional administration, I found out what I learned in college was different than what I learned in those first months as an officer doing cell searches, pat-downs and visual searches, or what are known as strip searches. While working in the dorm, we did not talk about the various theories of crime, such as social disorganization theory, which posited that crime happens when neighborhoods engage in behaviors other than accepted in society, thus, being disorganized with significant instances of poverty, which resulted

in actors committing crime. How ever, knowing the many different theories of crime provided knowl edge that was demonstrated by Officer Palmer when he wrote about an activity. The lessons went on to learn about CPR and Disciplinary reports. Mr. Palmer discussed the value of disciplinary reports, which gener ally controlled behavior because inmates did not want them to count against them when they went to the parole board. When discussing the 5 W’s and an H, my mind returned to Lieutenant S., a brilliant self taught supervisor. After turning in many disciplinary reports, he would mark them up much like Gram marly provides suggestions on how to write better. His work was not a suggestion; he would mark up the disciplinary reports and tell you why they needed correcting if there was time. Officer Palmer infers the same there at LLCI. We all had someone who taught us how to be good of ficers. The book certainly is not a substitute for an in-person lesson or training; it reinforces those things we had long ago forgotten. He discusses at some length the good and the bad officers. Essentially, experienced officers who were good helped the new officers. The discussion went to ensure you treated individuals respectfully and were firm, fair and consistent. Respect, dignity and treat ing those confined firmly and without favoritism went a long way in keep ing incidents at a minimum in your unit. Treat them in a manner you would like to be treated if you were in prison. As he writes, he thanks the many good officers who helped him through the years, indicating

that both had learned much from the interchanges. For the few officers, he also learned a lot; how greed or inap propriate relationships would always catch up with them because there are no secrets in prison, and eventually they would quit or, if they continued, be found, arrested, and prosecuted, with no paycheck or retirement. However, through the lessons on how to carry yourself as an officer, I think the paragraph on how it was appropriate to show compassion said more to me about the kind of officer Mr. Palmer was when working than anything else. Day to day A chapter on the notorious and the crimes they had committed was illustrative, reminding those read ing of the violent behavior many of those confined committed. Because you go in every day and do your job, unless there is a “special” inmate, you generally do not dwell on what crime they had been convicted of. But this reminder provided reasons not to forget where you were. A chapter on who you trust is espe cially relevant, as it tells who you could rely upon and who saved you literally and figuratively over the years. Mr. Palmer said many more of ficers than Sue worked to have your back, but he also discussed those who only cared for themselves and, in one case, a supervisor who wrote him up for something he admitted was wrong. Officer Palmer received a reprimand for letting an inmate pass a key ring to another officer. How ever, without going into detail, it was found that this supervisor relished finding fault to show who was in

Fall 2025 | Corrections Today

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