To Sonya Lane, professionalism is paramount to her job as a deputy jailer for the Shelby County Sheriff's Department in Memphis, Tennessee.  For this reason, she became the first female corrections officer in the state to be certified by the American Correctional Association last spring.

Recently, The Corrections Connection talked with Lane about how she became a Certified Corrections Officer and what that achievement means to her and her female co-workers.

Why did you choose to enter the corrections field?

I got started in corrections because I know that this is a job that will always be around.  You will always have corrections and corrections will never go under so I decided to start my career in corrections and go up from there.

I became a deputy jailer on February 1, 1990 for the Shelby County Sheriff's Department in Memphis, Tenn.  I've been working for this department for 15 years.

What steps did you take to become a Certified Corrections Officer?

The Certified Corrections Officer [CCO] is a part of the Certified Corrections Professionals program with the American Correctional Association.  To become certified, I had to send in several documents, like evaluations, letters from my superior officers and documentation showing my place on the organizational chart as an officer.  Once [I was] approved, they gave [me] a [location] where [I] could go and take the test [to become a CCO].  The test consist[ed] of 200 questions [concerning] correctional law, security, ethics and just everyday standard operating procedures.  Once you [take] the test, they notify you that you have passed or failed and, if you passed, you become certified.  I took [the test] in Biloxi, Miss. on May 22, 2004.

When they sent the letter telling me that I passed the test and that I was certified, they also sent a letter [indicating] that I was the first female [to become a CCO] in the state of Tennessee.

Why do you think other women have not taken the test?

I can only speak for my department.  The people here wanted to [to take the test, but] a lot of [them] are afraid of tests.  They know the job, but they are afraid of written tests.  [They said,] "Let me see [how] you're going to do first."  It could be just fear of taking tests or just a lot of people really don't know about it.  I think it's only been in existence for the corrections professionals for about four years.

What does this accomplishment mean to you?

To me, it means that I actually stepped up for the women in Tennessee in the field of corrections.  That's the highest that you can go in the field of corrections to be certified as a corrections officer.  For me, I stepped up for a lot of people because there are a lot of people here in my facility who are preparing to take it now.  I just kind of laid the road out.

It is my greatest achievement. 

In what capacity do you work now?

As a deputy jailer, I'm on special assignment right now.  We're actually a holding facility.  We have close to 3,000 inmates.  Right now I'm working with the ACA committee to work on getting the building accredited and we're working on hundreds of policies and procedures to make sure that we're in compliance with ACA standards.

What other activities are you involved in?

I'm still in school now at the University of Florida online.  My major is criminal justice. 

What are your hopes for the future?

Hopefully I can be a part of the ACA audit team in the future.  I should be finished up [with school by] the end of 2005.

What keeps you going?

One of the things that keeps me coming back and keeps me striving for more professionalism [is that] our jails division here has had a lot of negative [attention in] the community, with lawsuits.  So I'm trying to bring the positive side back to our facility to let them know that we do have professional people here [and] we do have positive people here.  [I want to] let them know that it's not all bad here.  That keeps me striving to do better.

[I have] two children Alex, who is 12 and Austin, who is 1.  I get a lot of help from my husband and family support.  I work 8-4 and the kids are at school.  The baby is with his father during the day.  It works out pretty good with the classes [that I take] being online and [the kids] know that mommy has a study time.