As part of our coverage of National Correctional Officers Week, The Corrections Connection asked officials from Corrections USA to talk about the most important issues that pertain to officers walking the line. Brian Dawe from Corrections USA responded to our request and the following is what he had to say.

Q: What are the greatest concerns for corrections officers today working in prisons and jails or in community corrections? Is it safety? job security? pay?

Brain Dawe: Safety is the hot topic wherever we go. I have been on the road better than half of the last six months talking with officers all over the nation. More than ever before, safety is on everyone's mind. I've never seen anything like it in my 23 year in corrections. It is virtually the only topic the officers want to discuss. Job security, increased pay and benefits are always going to be water cooler topics, but safety is at the forefront of everyone's minds these days.

Three hostage takings in the past year or so, several officers killed in the line of duty, assaults at record highs, cut backs in training and equipment, more gang bangers, gross overcrowding, understaffing etc., they all lead up to disaster. In Oklahoma alone they are down over 20% of their security positions. Some shifts do not have enough staff to even respond in an emergency. All these supposed intelligent politicians want to lock everyone up, and no one wants to pay for it. So we pay the physical price upfront and society pays the rest over time.

Q: What can corrections administrators do to improve working conditions for officers? Can you give any changes or efforts that are working?  

BD: Mandate that statewide elected politicians spend six hours in an officer's uniform on the tiers, in the chow halls, and on the yard and watch how fast things change. Then, bring down the walls. Let the media in, let them see the conditions we work in, give them the facts, not the fiction.
Unless administrators are willing to buck the politicians and tell them the truth, very little will change. You will only see change when there is a riot or someone gets killed. Corrections is reactionary.
The only way to truly improve working conditions is to increase staffing levels, provide the necessary training and provide the appropriate equipment.

Q: What is the biggest misconception about corrections officers and corrections in general and how would you clarify that?

BD: That we are not law enforcement. The misconception of who we are and what we do is at the heart of the problems we face. The politicians, media and the public are clueless about what our lives are like. They think once a felon is off to jail he/she is no longer a threat. Tell that to the 33,000 staff assaulted every year. A total face lift and image enhancement campaign should be waged.