Prisonlandia, part 10

Prisonlandia sometimes reminded me of the George Orwell classic 1984, where all the characters are living completely meaningless and unfulfilling lives in a dystopian society where the only thing that matters is one’s love for and duty to Big Brother (the Government). Even the Prisonlandia “newspaper” is a completely self-serving piece of propaganda utilized to place the system in a positive light. I imagine that North Korea has a very similar publication that it passes out to its citizens. 

 

Guards and Staff

 

Just like inmates, there are several different types of characters and temperaments that make up the guards and staff within the Prisonlandia. First of all, I want to clarify that I do not and have never, referred to the guards within Prisonlandia as “officers” or “boss man”. To most it's probably not a big deal but for me it boils down to this: an Officer in the military is a rank that requires education and discipline and is not easily obtained. Secondly, a Police Officer has various requirements depending on the department, but at the very least, it requires a six-to-nine-month academy, studying for a challenging test in order to become licensed, weeks or months of field training, physical standards, and carrying yourself in a professional manner. In comparison, TDCJ guards are a lot like a security guard you might see working at a mall. No physical standards, limited training, minimal education, and lack of general social skills. Please understand, that there are good people working within the system, and this is not a blanket statement, however, many of the guards I dealt with during my time wouldn’t be able to keep a job at WalMart so why in the world are they working in a security sensitive place like a Prisonlandia? It’s all about money, or actually the lack of money being spent by TDCJ. If the State would increase their standards and their pay scale in order to get quality staff, they would see a drop in contraband finding its way into the Prisonlandia. What do you expect from a slacker with no work or life skills who is struggling to make ends meet but has a pulse and so he goes to work in the Prisonlandia? Then, an inmate approaches him and offers him stacks of cash to simply bring something in such as a phone, cigarettes, or narcotics. So simple, but I digress…..

1). The guard who got bullied growing up: this guy is out for a vengeance. He has a cheap badge and a pair of handcuffs hanging from his rearview mirror and he can’t wait to tell you what to do. Outside of the Prisonlandia fence, he’s probably timid, passive, and awkward around everyone, especially the opposite sex. Coming to work and bossing you around is the only sense of control in his life and he finds it completely intoxicating.

2). The depressed antisocial – this poor individual seems as though he/she hates life and everyone he encounters. He also despises lifting a finger to do anything or to assist anyone. May very well be bi-polar or emotionally unhinged and will often over-react to insignificant issues. No business in their right mind would hire this person and so he works at the only place, the Prisonlandia, where his employer cares nothing about the customer (inmates).

3). The female who needs attention: No woman in her right mind would want to work at a Prisonlandia, right? Not unless she gets something there that she can’t receive anywhere else – attention. So the ugly, toothless, obese women come to work in the Prisonlandia and love the attention that inmates shower upon these hapless souls. There is a second type however, the attractive girl who needs attention. I saw a handful of these attractive women, some of them fresh out of high school, working in the Prisonlandialandia and all I could do was shake my head. These girls had serious daddy issues and insecurity problems, and inevitably, they would hook up with some loser inmate who ultimately costs her the job.

4). The angry guard: Constant temper control issues. Always cursing, turning red, easily agitated about little things, sarcastic, and probably suffers from erectile dysfunction. There is a good chance this guard is overweight and gets bossed around by his wife or girlfriend who more than likely cheats on him. You’ll often wonder why he’s so angry when you’re the one that’s locked up.

5). The Bitch: Female guard who hates men and cherishes everyday where she can boss them around and treat them like garbage. She has probably been in an abusive relationship, cheated on, and emotionally damaged and taken advantage of.

6). The Momma – This guard or staff member loves the inmates, sometimes more than she does her coworkers. She should be at home baking cookies instead of working in crappy Prisonlandia. She’ll boss you around but not in a mean way, but in a motherly way.

7). The Veteran – Most of these guards were pretty good. I talked to some of them and it seems that they chose corrections because it was an easy transition for them much like law enforcement commonly is for Veterans. Several I spoke with were only doing corrections temporarily and had plans to move on to greener pastures, some of them in law enforcement. Love our Veterans! Thank them for their service when you get the chance. 

Having been from a law enforcement background, and having to adhere to consistently high standards while at work, it was difficult for me to accept the fact that I was now under the control of people who apparently had very little standard of any type. It was certainly a check on my humility and pride. When asked in an interview, when did he learn to have humility, Mike Tyson responded “I learned how to be humble when I lost everything”. It was a costly lesson for me as well. Despite my characterizations of the staff, they are people just trying to make a living, who have a story and who have concerns and issues like everyone else. However, the “system” as a whole, can do much better.

Just remember that when a guard blows up or overreacts to something, his reaction is probably about something else entirely and has nothing to do with you. This is true for anyone in any situation. The guards are people and have stress in their private lives like bills, spouses, and mortgages. Sometimes the reaction is about another inmate you might not be aware of who just told them to go fuck off. If a hot-temper guard becomes a regular issue just remember, the pen is mightier than the sword.

Fun Fact: TDCJ had a 40% turnover rate as of 2021 (Texas State Auditor's Office)

If you would like to see the hiring criteria for correctional officers with TDCJ, visit this link:

https://www.tdcj.texas.gov/divisions/hr/documents/hr-policy/pd-73.pdf

The entire personnel manual can be found here:

https://www.tdcj.texas.gov/divisions/hr/hr-policy/policy00.html

The most powerful thing you can do while in Prisonlandia, is to know more about the guards duties than the guard. With that being said, you also need to know what is expected of you. You can find this information in the Orientation Handbook:

https://tdcj.texas.gov/documents/Offender_Orientation_Handbook_English.pdf

 

The Ninja Police

So, after ragging on the Prisonlandia guards I feel compelled to tell you about a crazy police officer I once knew, in fact I trained him. First off, let me preface this story by saying that although I trained this guy, all I could do was document his failures (and few successes) and pass him on to a final evaluator. TJ Hooker could have trained this guy and he would have fared no better than my attempts.

So, we all knew this dude was a little different. I mean, he drove a car with a license plate that read “Cutie Pie” so that became his nickname. One day during this officer's training, we met up with some other officers to have lunch. As we were sitting there one of the officers asked my rookie why he always wore long sleeve shirts (it was summer). The rookie began rolling up one of his sleeves to show a small tattoo that he had (at the time the department had a policy of no visible tattoos) and he also had a plastic guard attached to his arm. We asked him why he had the guard and he pulled out a knife from the guard. He then said that he had one on the other arm and one on each leg, each with a knife concealed in them as he proceeded to put on a knife expo. Ok, I thought – four knives is a little much, but every officer I worked with carried one – as in ONE. He then pulled out a Chinese star from his vest which was accessible just below the top button of his uniform shirt. Now, I’m a guy that doesn’t care about someone’s race but the fact that this rookie was Vietnamese and was carrying a Chinese star, was a little funny. We then asked him why he was carrying the Chinese star and he said that he was more accurate with a Chinese star than a gun. Hmm, I thought. I don’t recall any Chinese star training at the academy and beyond that, who would even try to use a Chinese star if you were in a deadly situation where a firearm was needed. At this point, he had all of our attention and curiosities. He then went further and stated that he was a pretty good shot with his firearm, but was more accurate with his left hand. Again, I thought hmm, odd since he carries on the right side. He then clarified this for everyone by stating that he draws faster with his right hand and so the instructors at the academy told him to simply draw with the right and then change hands before shooting. Uh, WTF is what I’m thinking at this point as me and the other officers are all exchanging strange looks with each other. At this point I’m thinking that my rookie is insane and somehow passed the background investigation. I made sure to document everything he said into my daily training report which combined with all the other reports I made on him, did not paint a flattering picture. Nonetheless, he moved on to the evaluation stage and somehow passed (probably had nothing to do with the fact that he did the evaluators taxes for free – he was a former accountant!). I’m sure after all this time, he has probably been promoted and is in charge somewhere within the department. SMH.

 

Stop and Listen

 

One of the most impactful things you can do while in Prisonlandia is be a good listener and lend an ear to someone when they need it. There are so many men locked away who just want to be heard, understood, and validated. I was one of these inmates at times and was always thankful when I met another inmate who would listen and take interest and at least seem interested while not criticizing or condemning. As you will discover in Prisonlandia, there is an infectious problem with effective communication due to the fact that so many are trying to be heard that they forget to listen. These guys will often interrupt, cut you off and speak their thoughts without any consideration to what you or anyone else just said - when you have two or more people together who do this, it can be quite amusing. 

“Most people don’t listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.”

 –Stephen R. Covey

When given the chance, actively listen to what others have to say and ask questions including how they feel about certain things. This will test your patience but earn you friends and respect and an understanding of your fellow man. Part of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is the need to feel accepted and understood, and I think that for many men (and women) who have spent considerable time in Prisonlandia, this need was never fully met, especially in childhood. Maybe you are one of the guys who needs to be heard – my advice is to find someone you can talk to about serious issues who will offer sound advice and encouragement. It doesn’t need to be your “homeboy”, in fact I would recommend that it not be. The crazy thing is, when we listen and ask questions of others, it is sometimes a question that we ourselves are subconsciously searching for an answer to. This brings to mind the story of the Zen Master.

There was once an eager young warrior who wanted to know the secret of life and wisdom and so he embarked on a long journey to visit with the Zen Master. Upon arriving, the Zen Master invited him inside. The young man immediately began asking questions and seemed impatient as the Zen Master spoke slowly. Every time the Zen Master would speak the young man would interrupt and say “Well what about this?” or “But that makes no sense” and “Of course, I knew that.” The Zen Master stopped speaking, got up and slowly began to prepare hot tea as gently placed an empty cup on the table before starting to pour the tea. As the Zen Master poured the tea, the cup began to fill, then it began to overflow as the Zen Master continued pouring tea as it spilled onto the floor. “Stop!” the young man cried. “The cup is full, it can take no more!” The Zen Master looked at the young man and with a smile said “If your cup is full, how can you enjoy my tea?” The young man understood the message about being unable to release his preconceived notions in order to learn something new or see something from a different perspective.

Are you able to set aside your preconceived notions, biases and keep an open and receptive mind? I challenge you to take an interest in others and actively listen to their words.

“People are interested in the person who is interested in them” – John C. Maxwell from his book, Winning With People.