Did I do the right thing?

[DAYWALKER]

Aloha ALL,

About two weeks ago, at 1500hrs., I was informed by my LT. that I would be running the Special Holding Unit alone. This is **** in it's finest. The Special Holding Unit consists of Psychos, Protective Custody's, New Arrivals, and problem Lock Down inmates. Yay.

I told him he had better get me some help, but we both knew that no one would come in to work the "**** Unit" on overtime. As he is trying to get me a partner, I had a headcount to clear.

Unit H: Lockdown inmates. As I am doing a body count, I hear, "Eh, Who you working wit' Blade?" I reply, "Me." Inmates ask, "Yeah, but who else?" I reply a bit louder,"ME!" Inmates: "Oh...okay brah! No worry, we got this!" They had a sound of disgust as I had no partner they could harrass. Bodies accounted for, even the ones on the floor.
Unit G: Lockdowns and Escape Risk: Same thing happens in Unit H. Only diff being there are more guys on the floor in here. Same question, same answer given. Even got the, "We got this brah, no worries!" from one of the escape risk inmates.
Unit F&K: "Howzit Blade! Who you stay working wit'?" You know how the rest goes. I open up the workline cells, 6 of them come out, and they are tripping in that I am running **** alone. Oh well.
UnitE: Same thing as H, only more bodies on the dayroom floor. (This means that there is no room for these guys, so they decide to just throw them on the floor.) One of the inmates housed on the floor I knew from about 4 years ago. A true nut case scrapper...anyway, same questions, same answer, only a more "bold", "Eh brah, I got your back Cuz!" from this nutcase. All of a sudden, a guy starts puking his brains out. ****.
Unit D: Protective Custody and Psychos: Er...all appears normal, thankfully no bodies on the floor here. Just some dudes zoning in their cells.
"Fishbowl": An old education room where they now house inmates on the floor. This is where they started the fire, and where we had a recent escape. Here I am all alone, about 20 inmates at the time in there. I give them a bathroom break, same questions, same answer...One of the inmates was a pretty good boxer in his days, tells me the same thing as the nutcase in E unit. Whatever. Splitting headache starts up.

All the time I am clearing count, my Temporarily Assigned Sgt. is drinking water watching me from inside the control station. Idiot. Count cleared, reported it to Control officer. Splitting headache gets worse.

The Psychiatrist comes in, wanting to see several inmates. I hook him up with one. Even he asks me who my partner is, and i said, "Me, myself, and I Doc!" He was tripping too, but is used to the BS about the place. Anyway, so he's talking to an inmate when I get an order to come into control. I tell the LT., "I can't right now, I have a civi on the floor." He again oreders me to come in control. I told the Doc, "You gonna be alright man? I am being ordered to leave you alone with that inmate." He just smiled and shook his head then said, "I'll be fine." I told the inmate he was talking to not to do nothing dumb. Now I am pissed off with a splitting headache, not good. :mad:

I go into control. LT starts telling me how he's trying to get me some help. I tell him, "Look LT. Shut down a black post for now, or have the rover assist me on the floor." LT says, "Oh, but if I do that, they'll go home." I said, "You know LT., if you had told Watch II to wait until they were properly relieved, we would not be having this problem." He doesn't answer. Headache is killing me. Inching towards workplace violence soon... :mad:

I go back on the floor and start my log book. On top of running **** Unit alone, I got some New Arrivals coming in from Kona, then I got some rehoused guys for having dirty piss tests. Dude in E Unit still barfing all over the place...

At approximately 1640, I tell the LT. "Hey, call out for two people. I am sick." He then says, "Oh no you don't! Don't you abandon your post!" I tell him, "Why? Watch II did? If you're gonna write me up, ya better do the same thing for Watch II! I tell you what, call me an ambulance." LT says, "Oh no, no, I will not call an ambulance for you, and don't you leave!" It was funny seeing the veins on his "fiveHead" bulge. I go see the Acting captain about this, as there is NO way he can hold back someone who is ill.

Temporarily Assigned captain, "Just run it lockdown style." I tell him, "Cap, how can I run lockdown style when there are about 20 bodies in the Fishbowl and more guys on the dayroom floors in H,G, and E units? I gotta let these guys out to shower and use the bathroom don't I?" No answer. I told him, "Cap, I am gonna call an ambulance soon. I feel sick." He says, "Er, well if you do you're paying for it." I reply, "Oh, okay, I'll just drive myself up then and hopefully I don't crash into a pole or an oncoming vehicle huh?!!!" He ignores me at that point. I go outside to take a few deep breaths...

I go back into the Unit. Got some assistance to feed these guys in ****, and that was that. Only my friend from intake came to check on me once in awhile. I told my Sgt how F'd this was, and he goes, "Yeah, you should file a complaint with the Union. What they're doing is wrong." I looked at him and said, "Man, you know what's even worse? The fact that you are sitting in control watching me bust my @$$!" His reply, "Oh, uh, if you need help, I can call a rover..." Yeah, right. Never saw anyone again aside from my friend running Intake. Headache is killing me.

Anyway, I managed to run the **** Unit until 2300hrs, my whole shift. I stayed because had i left, someone else would have gotten F'd. I wonder though:

Did I do the right thing? :confused:

I should have left and took the write up for abandoning my post, then fought to have it removed later other CO's said. What the LT and Cap did was blatantly wrong, my safety was jeapordized BIG time, and now they can always say, "Well, how is it that chad ran this Unit alone?" the next time we are running short of staff. *ugh*.

I did report this to our Union though, to have them make sure that the Special holding Unit is never again run with one person. we'll see what happens. The LT was in violation of allowing WatchII to leave w/o being properly relieved, violated my right to seek medical assistance, placed my personal safety and a civilians personal safety at risk. Acting Captain is in violation of the same for backing up the LT's play. Idiots.

One thing nice about that night was the fact that a workline inmate told me, "Brah, you gotta work alone more often here." I asked, "Why?" He said, "Cuz, you never notice...not one yell, not one cell flood, no one kicked any door...no fights, no one broke anything. Unreal brah! I never seen anyone respect ONE CO like dis. Never." Honestly, I was so busy running ragged that I really had not noticed! The **** Unit sucks. Fights, floods, assaults, pounding...all night. Except for that night. well, there was that dude blowing chunks all night in E Unit. I thanked God for pulling me through...

I stayed because I didn't want anyone else to be in the situation I was in. Had I been mobbed, no one, and I mean NO ONE would have known for possibly hours. Fortunately, God gave me a "rep" there, so no one pushed it...
I dunno, this incident is just bugging me a bit, so I ask you all:

Did I do the right thing? I can still push this issue... :mad:

God bless, mahalo for reading...not a typical night in ****, but **** just the same... :cool:

PS: Next night with two staff running the floor, a few toilets were broken, F&K unit got flooded BIG time, to the extent of having the Fishbowl evacuated. THAT is typical ****...

[David Lowry]

Wow, long post but a great read.

I think you did the right thing Chad! You really were in a catch22. I wouldn't say that there should be a next time. I wouldn't want you to risk your life "again" because of stupid bosses.

I'm glad you came out unharmed, but I think that you did the right thing this time. Next time it may be different.

You're a tough sucka.

God Bless you bro.


David

[ghostrider]

Chad,
What you described is a tough call to make. If you had left, wouldn’t someone else have been in the same situation? It sounds like, (and I know this sounds lousy) your were the best person for such a bad situation, even with the headache. The Lord definantly had your back that night. I hope the illness is nothing serious.

I think, at this point in time, it is important to consider whether or not you did the right thing, but to also focus on what the right thing to do “next” is. Understand that I don’t fully comprehend the situation because I’m not living it but, it sounds like you need to do what’s you can to prevent something like this from happening again. Easy thing for me to say in the sheltered comfort of my living room. This is an area where my observations are inadequate.

I thank the Lord that he saw you through the evening safely, and pray that he gives you guidence.

God Bless,
David

[Michael Cook]

Just how much money do prison guards make? How locked into this job are you? sell your house, sell your car, sell your knives, file chaptar 11, take out a consolidation loan for your credit cards take out a student loan and get in school! Work three service industry/food service jobs if you need too but there must be an other option than working in a job that's obviously eroding your well being! This job is a cancer on you!

[rastus]

Chad, I think what you did was morally right since it sounds like you carry a lot of respect in ****, and someone else, solo, might have gotten rushed. But, for your own wellbeing, I ask that you -never- do this again; myself and many others really enjoy you being here.
Make some serious noise, the kind that doesn't go away, if it can prevent you or anyone else from ever being in that situation again.
Now, how's your head? Did you see a doctor? I hope it's nothing more then a stress thing.
Seriously, take care. God be with you,
---Tom

[vampyrewolf]

from my view on the outside, morally: you did what had to be done, with the knowledge that it could be done

physically: how they expect 1 person to handle that may inmates peacefully, never mind if they get wild, is beyond me.

personally I'd have told the LT to cover until he got in replacements, while I went home to take care of my headache since they were too cheap to do something as an employer. Paperwork can be cleared up when more of your co-workers hear what happened and the LT faces miles of red tape and paperwork for forcing one CO to cover ****.

[Dr. Snubnose]

Chad you did the right thing IMHO...you da man and they know it inside as well...be safe...Doc :D

[UK KEN]

......mate!

I sincerely hope that one day soon you will be able to walk away from ****! How many other of your colleagues would have reacted the way you did? From this and previous posts it looks as though your "command team" are taking advantage of not only your good nature but also your excellent reputation amongst the inmates.

No matter how fair you are in their treatment there will come a time when, if the opportunity arises, one of them will turn! I know I don't have to remind you my friend but please remember why these people are there. You should never have been put in the situation you were. In that environment with a severe head ache with no one on your 6 anything could have happened. I hope that union get this sorted out and the people responsible are disciplined :mad:

Take care Chad, Ken

[DAYWALKER]

Aloha ALL!

My oh my...what great replies! Please, do not worry about my headache. I have not experienced another like it since. Could have either been caused by the stress OR the stench of **** Unit.

I had heard it happened a few days before me, someone had to run **** Unit alone. BUT, he just stayed at the desk, logging in inmate activity. Inmates were doing #1's and #2's in the dayroom showers! I could not allow such treatment. I mean, yes, they are inmates, but then I'd have to work in an environment that wreaked of Pee and Doo... :mad:

I did not thread this to get "pats on the back", I just wondered if I should have left, and fought through it later through the grievance process with our Union. Damned if I did, damned that I didn't kinda thing I think.

I will however, persue the issue of Officer safety. Maybe even ask for a written apology from the LT and Acting captain for their lack of judgement. After all, me on 73 is not too safe. Heck, even the inmates could make some noise by saying they feared fopr their safety due to having only one staff run the Unit!

The Union gotta do something...I know the feeling of running housing units solo, but this particular unit deems extra attention and security. I think now as ghostrider and others pointed out is to think, "What CAN be done to prevent this from happening AGAIN."

Mahalo and God bless :cool:

Thanks for reading you guys :)

[BBRex]

Man, I have serious respect for someone who can pull that off. That said, I would make the union work for you on this one. I've never been a big union fan, and I'm down in Texas where unions don't have much sway, but complaints like that are what unions are for. You did what you had to do, but you know how dangerous that was. Push to make sure no one else has to do that. They might not get the same treatment from your charges.

[DAYWALKER]

Man, I have serious respect for someone who can pull that off. That said, I would make the union work for you on this one. I've never been a big union fan, and I'm down in Texas where unions don't have much sway, but complaints like that are what unions are for. You did what you had to do, but you know how dangerous that was. Push to make sure no one else has to do that. They might not get the same treatment from your charges.

Mahalo for reading BBRex, and thank you for your kind words.

Yup, I will make a follow up call regarding that particular day in **** Unit. In fact, when i got home that night, and even in the logbook, (which is a legal document BTW) I logged down the incident!

We got a guy in our Union fortunately who WAS a CO at our facility. I worked alongside this guy, so he knows "what's up". He said that when he ran **** Unit alone, there was only like, less than 20 inmates. when I told him I had 73, and he was pissed! :mad:

God bless :cool:

[The Deacon]

Yes Chad, you did the right thing. How much the union can do, and, perhaps more importantly, how much they will do, is another question. Know the "state worker" unions here in NY are fairly powerless for most things, but can occasionally can get some action - at the least, a written policy - on a workplace safety issue.

[DAYWALKER]

Yes Chad, you did the right thing. How much the union can do, and, perhaps more importantly, how much they will do, is another question. Know the "state worker" unions here in NY are fairly powerless for most things, but can occasionally can get some action - at the least, a written policy - on a workplace safety issue.

Hi Paul!

I hear ya on the "powerless" part. SO far though, we got two good guys who REALLY push issues for us. Winning them however, is something else...
Per our Bargaining Unit, the LT and TACOS (LMAO! Temporarily Assigned Chief of Security! aka Capt.) are in direct violation by failing to provide a safe working environment...
It ain't the first time either. :mad:

God bless and thanks for reading :cool:

[Simon G]

Chad,

I thank the Lord you came through safe. 360IJN bro.

Without a doubt you did the right thing. To many CO's forget the word and meaning of DUTY. To the best of your ability and beyond the call of that duty, you measured up and then some. Well done!

Your rep and your attitude got you through. Prisoners know where the line is and where and with whom they can cross it. You showed that even though you were alone, you would do the job. They still got showered and other entitlements, despite your situation.

Leave a civi on the landing alone!!! The Lt needs writing up! And this Sgt watched through the bubble whilst drinking water!! :mad: He should have had his fat @$$ on the floor! :mad: His first responsibility is to HIS staff! Is he also the one from the "stairwell"? Give him my email, should he ever want to find out how to do the Sgt's job properly and where hi responsibility lies.

The union is not made of solely CO's?!! How can they possibly represent you with any authority?

Bro, I could pull the whole situation to bits as far as management is concerned, they let you down and risked your personal safety and the security of the establishment, but this is not what this reply is about.

You stay safe Chad, and just because you have run this unit alone once, don't let them think that you will do it again. But yes, you were right and you performed exceptionally.

360 IJN.

Simon.

PS. Take the exam!

[Rob]

Hi Chad!

Concerning your colleagues I think you did the right thing. Not wanting one of them in the same situation is a nice gesture. Would I have been in your situation, I maybe would have left if I felt sick - just out of protest and for my own security :rolleyes:

What training did your superiors have to do? Were they also "simple" CO's one time and just climbed up the ranks or how did they get their job? From your posts you get the impression that they are more or less not qualified for their position and I wonder why.

Cheers, Rob

[DAYWALKER]

The union is not made of solely CO's?!! How can they possibly represent you with any authority?



360 IJN.

Simon.

Hey Bro!

LOL, no, it is not. That is why things never get solved, as these folks have NO clue whatsoever the things that we are dealing with daily. Fortunately, like I said, a fellow staff member was able to quit his job as a CO to become our Union Rep.

Thanks for reding and for your kind words bro. My apologies for elevating that blood pressure! Not good for the Midichlorians! :p

God bless and yes, 360IJN always :cool:

[DAYWALKER]

Hi Chad!

Concerning your colleagues I think you did the right thing. Not wanting one of them in the same situation is a nice gesture. Would I have been in your situation, I maybe would have left if I felt sick - just out of protest and for my own security :rolleyes:

What training did your superiors have to do? Were they also "simple" CO's one time and just climbed up the ranks or how did they get their job? From your posts you get the impression that they are more or less not qualified for their position and I wonder why.

Cheers, Rob

Hi Rob!

Thanks for reading. I didn't realize how LONG this thread is! :o Anyway, for my own safety yes, I should have left. BUT, like I mentioned, I did not want some other CO to get thrown into the situation I was left in to deal with.

Yes, these "Stripers and Butterbars" were once regular COIII's, like me. The thing they forget is what letters PRECEDE their rank, no matter if they are Sgt., LT., COS., ...It's CO! The history of the LT and TACO ( :D ) are not too great. They could not handle the floor when they were CO III's...which is why they're so useless now as supervisors. I do not like to bad mouth nobody, but what they did was just wrong. Period. When rank is achieved, they forget what their primary duty is: The safety and care of ALL in their housing unit...ESPECIALLY their staff! When it gets down and dirty, they forget REAL FAST where they came from. :mad:

God bless :cool:

[butch]

first of all glad you made it ok

Just how much money do prison guards make? How locked into this job are you? there must be an other option than working in a job that's obviously eroding your well being! This job is a cancer on you!

Most people that work jobs like this don't do it for the money and the ones that do it just for the money never do the job as well as the people that care

[silverback]

I have no idea about how your job works, but it seems that morally you did right. The inmates were supervised and could leave their cells to shower, for the bathroom and see the shrink - basic decent treatment they should be happy about. (and probably respect you for)
About the headache, though ... bad timing, makes it look like an excuse to get out of there. Don't know what I would have done.

But now you occupy the moral high ground where it's almost impossible to attack you when you file a complaint and try to make sure this doesn't happen again. If it counts for anything where you work, use this leverage, but in a calm manner. This is, of course, advice given from an outsider's perspective. Glad you managed so well. :)

[Ed Meinel]

Are you sure your name isn't Daniel?

"My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the [inmates'] mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before Him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt."