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IamDoritos12 karma

What was it?

IamDoritos5 karma

My father is nearing retirement at a maximum security facility in Alabama. He's been on the "death squad" for most of that time and he shares some of the sentiment you've expressed in other comments. He said he's strapped men down to the table that he knew and cared for, and even a couple he believes may have been innocent. My question to you is how big of a problem was the administration to you? My father constantly complains that the administration is the single most difficult part of his job as they usually take the side of the inmate as in my father's best friend was attacked with a shank and broke the inmates jaw and is now being prosecuted by the sate for assault, I'm just curious if this type of issue is widespread.

IamDoritos5 karma

A) I said some, not all. I consider it a basic human right to not be forced to stay in a cell, do you think that the inmates should just be allowed to roam free? No they shouldn't just be beat, but if they attack an officer the officer shouldn't be afraid to lose their job if they fight back.

B) I did not use any derogatory language nor did I insult you so let's not resort to name calling like children. Also you need to realize that someone else can have a opinion that completely contradicts your's and they are still a completely average human being, so just because you don't agree with someone refrain from belittling them. It will only serve to discredit yourself and turn others against your opinion.

C) the only people outnumbered in prisons (in my area) are the guards. At the prison my father works at there are approximately 20-30 guards on staff at any one time, including the ones in the towers and offices. There are well over 1000 inmates (IIRC it is over 1400). They are so understaffed that almost everyone works 24-40 hours of overtime every week.

D) the guards are often prosecuted for defending themselves. There have been several guards stabbed in the last few months, yet the inmates are slapped on the wrist, and the guards (if they struck the inmate) are charged with assault. The administration has almost turned on the guards, it is a common occurrence for the inmates to throw their feces on the officers and they do not receive any punishment whatsoever, and the guards are unable to retaliate.

E) lastly, you referenced someone in jail for possession of marijuana. I'm not referring to a low level offender, I'm talking about the murderers, rapists, gang-members, and drug dealers. I believe the restriction of rights depends on the crime and the criminals behavior in prison. If the prisoner wants to assault officers I believe the officers should be allowed to use whatever level of force is necessary to keep themselves safe.

Edit: my language was not as clear as it should have been, I don't believe that someone's human rights should be infringed upon (except for extreme cases) but they shouldn't be protected any more than an average person. If an average person was to throw their own fecal material on you and you were to punch them no cop would arrest you (unless you were to get carried away). The officers should be allowed to use physical force in appropriate situations, and only to an acceptable degree.

IamDoritos2 karma

Hold on, I see where our little discussion is stemming from and it was really a miss-communication on my part (sorry I was hungover earlier). Its not that I believe we should take away their human rights, just that we shouldn't give them many of the privileges and the preference over guards that they enjoy now.

I would like to point out that training can only do so much, and that the guards actually don't carry weapons often as any weapon an officer has could be turned on them.

The main ways they could fix this broken prison system would be to improve the pay which would improve job performance, increase surveillance (i.e. cameras pointing in every single location) to prevent abuse of power, and get the administration to think a little bit, that inmate hit a guard and the guard hit back=ok. that inmate slapped the guard and the guard beat him into a coma even though the inmate gave up after the initial hit=not ok.

In all seriousness, most people don't understand how shitty the pay is. My father is damn near topped out and he isn't even making 19 an hour. That is for people who have to deal with extremely dangerous individuals every day, these people are under tons of mental and physical stress and have to be well trained and mentally equipped, yet they make a salary that could be matched very easily at other places of employment. don't get me wrong, 19/h isn't an unlivable wage, but for the shit they have to put up with its pathetic. that's why so many guards simply don't give a shit about that job, if they do manage to get caught and fired they will lose a large source of stress and can just go find another job.

IamDoritos0 karma

That's what I hate about it, I believe that when you commit a crime and are sentenced to jail over it you should lose much of your "human rights." Hell a murderer had just stabbed another officer in the forehead and tried to stab my father's friend (let's call him R) when R punched him one time and broke his jaw and KO'd the guy. Now R is medically retired because he's suffering flashbacks from his time in central America as a marine that came about due to the incident. To top that off R has officially been "arrested" and is going through legal proceedings because he used excessive force