"Training is a foundation of your every activity.  Everything you do will be a direct reflection of your training, education and past experience."

Since Tracy Barnhart entered the law enforcement field, training has been top on his list.  One of his main goals throughout his career as a police officer and now as a juvenile corrections officer in Ohio has been to educate others and provide them with quick and realistic solutions for the problems they encounter.  Now, he teaches a professionalism course to his fellow officers at the Marion Juvenile Correctional Facility.  In addition, he recently created a training booklet to accompany his course.

Recently, The Corrections Connection talked with Barnhart about the importance of staff training and professionalism in corrections.  He also discussed another course he teaches to staff at the institution regarding manipulation by inmates and inappropriate relations.

Q: Can you discuss your background and how you became interested in officer training?

Barnhart: My background is based in law enforcement as I was a police officer for over 10 years prior to taking my current position as a juvenile corrections officer at the Marion Juvenile Correctional Facility in Ohio.  I was a police lieutenant where I started my education and desire to train other officers on aspects of officer survival and awareness tactics.  I then took a position as the chief of police in Edison, Ohio, for approximately three years where I took my knowledge of community policing and initiated a community wide program where I conducted community crime prevention seminars as well as had weekly newspaper articles with two different newspapers on crime prevention topics.  I have always had a strong desire to assist others in real world, most current education practices in which the individuals will get information and tactics that they can employ NOW and not have to study for years to fully understand. 

Q: Why is training so important for correctional officers?

Barnhart: Training is the most important thing that you can do for officers, new and seasoned.  Remember, professionals are not born; they are made through training, experience, dedication and time.  Knowledge and then advanced knowledge will be the keys to your future success in the field of corrections. 

Q: Why did you decide to create training booklets?

Barnhart: I created a training booklet to coincide with my professionalism course that I teach as an in-service at the institution.  I feel that the current mentality within the corrections field is one of, "sink or swim" and I don't have this same view.  The booklet covers varied topics ranging from, "Options prior to the use of force", "Closing the Gap", to "Deception detection tactics."  Personnel can be trained to perform if the right training is instructed in the right way that allows individuals to excel.  The information has to be presented in such a way that personnel feel that it will give them the best chance for success in their career and then be able to use it now.  If not, the training, no matter what topic, will just be an easy vacation away from the job. 

Q: Can you address the importance of staff professionalism (especially for staff who deal with youth)?

Barnhart: It sounds funny and we joke about it throughout the institution but the bottom line is that we are paid professionals to "take S---, with dignity and style."   Professionalism isn't just a word that people cannot often define but a way of life in the corrections profession.  Being a professional means that you adhere to three core values: Honor, Courage and Commitment.  Now, there are several traits that we also involve in our profession but one is knowledge, which is why I wrote the training booklet.  It is bad news when the customers know more about your job than you do.  When dealing with juveniles you have to understand, you must remain professional at all times.  They will be watching you so that they can observe character flaws so as to exploit them later.   The youth will task your commitment, courage and honor and there will be days that you will say on your way out the door, "They did not pay me enough to do what I just did."  And there will be days that you will say, "I can't believe they paid me for what I did today."  

Q: What are some of the key points that you teach in your course?

Barnhart: I teach a variety of courses throughout the department such as Emergency Response, Suicide Prevention Training, Professionalism in Juvenile Corrections, CPR / First Aid, and Inmate Manipulation.  The ones that I feel are the most important are the inmate manipulation and the professionalism courses.  The key points are maintaining the basic set of core values, understanding that you will be tested every day and following the rules.  If you always do what is right; then you are never wrong. 

Q: Can you discuss the issues of manipulation and inappropriate relations?

Barnhart: Whenever I teach this course I start by talking about the countless staff that have been removed because of manipulation and inappropriate relations with the youth.  It sounds elementary the fact that you do not have an intimate relationship with an incarcerated youth, yet our facility alone has three staff on the state's sexual offender web sight and countless others resigned under suspicious circumstances.  We have had countless staff disciplined as well as removed for contraband issues, hence the reason for the new manipulation course.  The games inmates play are as comprehensive and intricate as any business.  They have nothing to lose and everything to gain by manipulating the staff. 

Q: What are some strategies you encourage staff to use to avoid these circumstances?

1. Be part of a correctional team
2. Be suspicious & question actions
3. Follow rules and procedures
4. Monitor remarks, gestures and youth actions
5. Communicate with supervisors
6. Communicate with fellow employees
7. Don't be afraid to talk about mistakes
8. Know your job, and do it well
9. Document incidents and actions
10. Learn to say "NO"
11. Never give or take anything from the youth
12. Address the youth appropriately
13. Never discuss other staff with the youth
14. Don't relay personal feelings with the youth
15. Never give one youth authority
16. Constant discipline of rule violators
17. Know your youth
18. Take early action
19. Be cautious and knowledgeable

Q: Do you have any plans to create more training modules in the future?  What other issues are important in staff training?

Barnhart: I plan to continue adding training topics to my booklet as issues arise and I now have 18 titles within the booklet.  Eventually I hope to create a test covering all the topics in which individuals will have a chance to test their knowledge over the trained areas leading to a "corrections specialist" type status.  It is funny,  to be a certified Ohio police officer you have to complete over 600 hours of specialized job specific training prior to going to the agency and completing a lengthy field training officer program and yet our corrections academy is only 15 days long (three weeks) leading up to two weeks of job shadowing / mentoring at the facility.   Remember, as I stated before, "The sink or swim mentality."  I am attempting to change this way of thinking a little at a time.