With 26 years of experience in the corrections field, William S. Stickman III was recently named deputy secretary for the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections' Western Region.  In his new position, Stickman oversees 12 prisons, a responsibility that he says his years of working in corrections have prepared him for.  Last week, Stickman talked with Corrections Connection Network News about some of his greatest accomplishments during his career and his hopes for the future.

Q: Why did you go into corrections field?

Stickman: The oddity is that, when I started in corrections, I didn't know what a corrections officer was.  I was at the civil service office [looking at different types of jobs], I took the test and I got an interview.  That's how I found corrections.

At that point I was [just] looking for a job.  After I started, it didn't take long before I realized that it fit my personality.

I was 21.

Q: What positions have you held throughout your career?

Stickman: I started off as a corrections officer in 1978.  I worked as CO until 1984, when I was promoted to sergeant.  In 1985, I was promoted to lieutenant.  In 1990, I was promoted to captain.  In 1997, I was promoted to major.  In 1997, I was promoted to deputy.  In 2000, I became a superintendent and now, in 2004, I'm the deputy secretary for the Western Region.

Q: What has helped you to climb through the corrections ranks?

Stickman: I think I was fortunate to work with some good people.  I worked in large institutions.  I worked in Western penitentiary, which had a lot of inmates. It was a maximum security institution and I was the security / intelligence captain.

With that job came the responsibility of doing investigations on inmate activity also on staff so I got recognized because of that.  [I also] worked with outside agencies.  I was fortunate enough to have some good people working for me.  We did uncover one major scam -a credit card scam.  We uncovered it and turned it over to [law enforcement].  It turned into to nationwide thing.  I think [other] corrections departments were finding out that they were having the same problem.  It really started a new direction in corrections in phone use for the inmates. 

I was fortunate to have people help me out [and] that I was at the right place at the right time.

Q: What are some of your greatest accomplishments?

Stickman: Being a lieutenant and captain for eight years - seven in maximum security by myself.

I was also assigned, because of my experience in the security office, to a transition team in 1995 at SCI Graterford.  [The institution was] having problems and the department sent a transition team down there to work things out and get things going in the right direction.

Q: How does your new position compare to your previous ones?

Stickman: I [now] oversee 12 institutions in the western part of the state.  This is real new to me because for 26 years [I worked in institutions].  I always set it up so I would do my office work and [then] walk around the jail at least two hours a day.  This is more administrative.   [I] deal with budgetary type issues and things of that nature.  Before [my job] was localized; I dealt with my institution.  Now I deal with [all of the] institutions [in the western region].

I am working [more] with the big picture here.

Q: What is most rewarding about working in corrections?

Stickman: I think some of the most rewarding aspects [of the job are] you get to see success both from inmates and the staff that I've worked with through the years.
In maximum security positions, I've been fortunate that every experience I've had with inmates who have left have actually been positive ones.  I know in Pittsburgh we also started a group where we worked with the city police and they brought in troubled youth [to the prison to talk to the inmates].  That's been very successful and that's still going on.  It's good to see things like that.  [It has been rewarding] to see staff that I started with come up through the ranks and be successful.

It makes [me] feel pretty good when [I] see that the inmates [who were incarcerated when I started] when I was 21 [are now released and out] trying to do something [good in their communities].  It's good to see people turn around like that.  It makes it worthwhile [to] work in corrections.

Q: What advice would you offer to people who are just starting out in corrections?

Stickman: I like to be a role model because when I was a sergeant talking to the new officers [during their] orientations, I think their eyes always lit up when I told them [that] I was in the spot they were [at one time].  [I told them if they] do [their] job, [are] dedicated, aren't afraid of doing hard work, they can move up through the ladder.

Q: What are some of your goals for the future?

Stickman: [I hope to] use my position here to maybe implement some of the things that I think would move us along in corrections.

I think one of the things about the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections [is] they're moving forward to go beyond just the institutions to develop some guidelines and policies so that we follow through with inmates when they get out on the streets - to make their reentry more successful so they don't come back to jail. I'd like to see that happen more.

[I also like to] see [the] department become more proactive in the community so people out in the street realize the job the corrections people do.  In a lot of ways we're the last part of law enforcement.  [We get a lot of negative coverage in the media].  Really, nobody is interested in seeing the lives we save.  [I want the public to] form a more positive view of corrections.

One of the things that is a well-kept secret is that corrections is a great career.  It's an interesting job.  You meet a lot of interesting people both staff and inmates.  It is a rewarding career.