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| Rookie of the year |
| By Ann Coppola, News Reporter |
| Published: 02/25/2008 |
The first order you give to an uncooperative inmate. The first walk onto a yard filled with hundreds of convicted felons. The first violent incident you respond to. These are moments correctional officers will never forget, and they can be daunting times for officers just starting their careers.Sergeant Barry Evert certainly remembers the overwhelming pressure he felt when he began his corrections career eight years ago. Now a trainer of new recruits at California’s Pelican Bay State Prison, Evert wants to help the next generation of professionals through moments like these and the many others that will follow. His new book Scars and Bars: A Survival Guide for Correctional Officers and their Families offers advice on surviving the “firsts” and becoming the best officer and person one can be. Corrections.com: Why did you want to write a book for the up-and-coming corrections generation? Barry Evert: I train new recruits, and I’ve noticed a lot of the new cadets come from different backgrounds than previous new officers. Corrections used to attract a lot of tradesmen, people with years of experience in the work force who came to the job for the financial security. Now we’re seeing an increase in college students coming in, which is great, but many of these kids have never held a job and they’ve been pretty much sheltered from the type of violence that goes on in prisons. So I thought I’d write something to better prepare them and make it easier for them to integrate into the prison environmet. CC: It seems like there’s so much advice an experienced officer could give to a rookie: what did you decide to focus on? BE: I talk about how to set yourself for up for success in your first two years. These years, especially when you are 21 or 22 years old, will pretty much determine the kind of person and officer you’re going to be for the rest of your life. If you’re not careful, you can turn into a burnout: someone who hates their job because they don’t understand their job. The main theme of the book is not defensive tactics; that’s something they’ll learn much more about on the job. This book helps new recruits to psychologically prepare themselves for the worst case scenarios. My concern is that when the officer goes home, they go home in one piece. This isn’t a book about self-defense; there are so many out there. It’s about self-survival, what you have to do to be the most efficient corrections officer, to be a good spouse at home, a good son or daughter at home, and a productive member of the community. CC: The book touches on how nerve-wracking it can be the first time a “rookie” steps onto the yard or tier. Tell us more about that. BE: Most of us never step foot inside a prison and most never will. When you do for the first time you’re nervous, and if you’re not, there’s something wrong with you. The first day where you actually have to supervise and give orders to an inmate can be overwhelming. The same goes for when you experience your first incident with violence. You realize it’s just you with four or five officers on the yard with possibly 200 or 300 convicted murderers, and it’s your responsibility to keep you and your partner safe. CC: How can new officers deal with that pressure? BE: One of the best ways to do that is to make sure when you get home, you have a life outside of work. The most important part of the book to me is the chapter called “Life Outside the Walls.” It goes to the core of my book, which is about how to be an officer, not how to be a prison guard. You have to adjust your life to your job, and the responsibilities that come with that, but you don’t have to be a super cop all hours of the day. CC: Your book isn’t just for correctional staff, you address officers’ families as well. Why did you include them? BE: I wrote that unwittingly, the spouse will sign up for the department also. The families are going to have a lot to deal with as their husband, wife, son, or daughter goes through their first two years as an officer. I’ve made phone calls to spouses several times about an incident, and they panic, not just because they’re worried, but because they often don’t understand how something like that could happen. Correctional staffs rely on each other a lot, but the bottom line is you need to be able to rely on your spouse and your family. I’ve made mistakes with what I did and didn’t share with my family about my job, and I’ve seen a lot of officers who’ve done the same thing. Your family doesn’t need to know all the details, but it’s nice to be able to come home to someone to talk to after a really bad day. CC: What kind of impact do you want Scars and Bars to make? BE: I’m hoping this book will be in every training classroom across the country. I think it will help anybody who is going to work in a prison environment including free staff, not just sworn custody. I also hope that maybe the advocate or civil rights activist will read it so they can see that we’re not just correctional officers, we’re human beings. Contrary to popular belief, we have a heart; we cry and we laugh. Some days we go to work and don’t do a darn thing other than feed and clothe the inmates. But there are other days where we see things we wish we hadn’t and we break down. My hope is that this book will equip new staff with the tools they need to successfully navigate these times. Email Sgt. Evert for more information about his upcoming book |
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I also look forward to seeing Barry's book on line. I suggested the title Scars and Bars which Barry has used. I also wrote the foreword and helped him to edit his earlier versions of his text. I believe Scars and Bars will become "must reading" for new correctional officers all over the country. A bible so to speak. As for those of you who have been in the game for a while, it probably wouldn't hurt for you to read the book. It would be a great reminder for you to snap out of the complacency that we are all prone to have set in from time to time. Robert Walker Former Lieutenant - State of Maryland Department of Corrections Retired Agent in Charge, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Retired Security Threat Group Director, South Carolina Department of Corrections
I look forward to reading "Scars and Bars;" especially how the root work force has changed in regards to age and formal education. The author has it right on, it's not so much the physical defenses that hold importance as is the development of mental toughness.