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| Scent Of Risk Pervades Prison Officer's Job |
| By Hartford Courant |
| Published: 03/20/2003 |
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Every time he goes to work, Northern Correctional Institution correction officer Ronald Young fears the worst, but he says the job is worth the risk he takes. Young and fellow correction officers at the super-maximum-security prison in Somers face the risk of being killed, assaulted or having some of Connecticut's most violent male convicts douse them with blood, urine, feces or semen. The most volatile situation the 200-plus male and female officers encounter is transporting the high-security-risk inmates beyond the prison's razor-wire fence to a court appearance or to a hospital. Dealing with death-row inmates, lifers and violence-prone convicts, Young said, requires being on guard at all times. The ominous, two-story brick building is the end of the line for many of the 500 inmates. Armed officers in patrol vehicles constantly survey the perimeter. What is it about this life-threatening job and the mandatory overtime that has had Young returning day after day for 14 years? 'The retirement package,' he said. 'The overtime goes toward your pension.' After 20 years of service, correction officers can retire, and their annual pension amounts to half of the highest income earned during any three consecutive years of their tenure. Retirees also receive medical benefits. Young plans to leave New England and go into business for himself when he retires in 51/2 years. He'll also begin to lift the restrictions he has imposed to protect himself and his family when he is in public. An avid pool shooter, Young said he chooses not to frequent popular Connecticut social venues to minimize the risk of running into former inmates or their associates, who might use the encounter to seek retribution. A correction officer's interpersonal skills are critical to keeping himself and his fellow officers safe, said Correction Department Maj. Michael Lajoie, who oversees the correction officers at Northern. Inmates at Northern, some of whom are locked in their cells as many as 23 hours a day, have plenty of time to contemplate an escape, plan an attack or overpower an unarmed correction officer. '[Young] can intuitively read if something is wrong with an individual, recognizing a potentially volatile situation before it gets out of control,' Lajoie said. In addition to monitoring the prisoners, correction officers attend to inmates' personal needs, including dispensing medications and filling commissary orders and requests for personal hygiene items. Young said he avoids job-related stress by walking a 'chalk line.' By adhering to the institution's guidelines and honoring the inmates' civil rights, Young said, he is able to get a good night's sleep. Young began his career as a correction officer in January 1989 after working as a forklift operator at a retail distribution center for more than a decade after graduating from high school. He took the test to become a correction officer when he shadowed a buddy who had gone to apply. Young considered law enforcement exciting. He wanted to put his listening, thinking and reasoning skills to use as a correction officer or a policeman despite the risks they take. Young has not had his life threatened at the prison, but he knows it can happen any day. 'Every day, you come in here and expect to leave the way you came in, but things happen,' Young said. 'When the worst doesn't happen, you've had a good day.' |
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