Bob Walsh
Stockton, CA
Male, 60
I worked for the California state system, starting as a Correctional Officer and retiring as a Lieutenant in 2005. I now write for the PacoVilla blog which is concerned with what could broadly be called The Correctional System.
Probably the same thing as tampering with evidence in any other law enforcement setting. Of all of the rules violation reports I have seen I have NEVER seen one for evidence tampering.
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Not really my area of expertise. I worked in prisons, with already convicted felons rather than jails, with misdemeanants. I BELIEVE that if you are in a position to post bail you can do an in-and-out. If they actually book you they would take your clothes but probably not your contact lenses, those are considered a medical appliance, like glasses. You would be transported with waist chains and leg irons in all probability though you would probably not appear in court shackled. However, sometimes the courts really frown on FTP as it is a violation of your promise to the court and even if you are in a position to pay immediately they might hold you to appear anyway. Like I said, not really my field.
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We did not use them when I was working. They are obviously temporary devices and not a long-term solution and it can be a problem getting the prisoner into them. Once that is accomplished they are very effective and if you need to move a non-compliant prisoner from point a to point b without hurting him or staff, they work. I think they are a very useful tool.
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The most noticable ones were within the profession. The academy lengthened from 3 weeks to 16 weeks. (It shrank back down to 14 after I retired). We started using papper spray and side-handle batons. Firearms polciies changed so there was fewer discharges of firearms at the institutions. Cell extractions are more controlled and less frequent. They are also video recorded now except in case of emergencies. Custody staff now have the right under the law to carry weapons off duty, before that was a department controlled thing. The entire medical operation is now run thru the federal courts. The overall level of violence in the system has lowered.
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Special Education Teacher
How come it often takes years to figure out that a kid is dyslexic?
Videogame Reviewer
Pick one: Nintendo Ice Hockey, NHL ‘94, or Blades of Steel?
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Are mechanics more likely to take advantage of female customers than males?
My only serious familiarity is with the California prison system. Obviously they have to feed the inmates. The prisons I am familiar with also operate a staff snack bar for the benefit and convenience of staff. Where I used to work (DVI Tracy) the staff snack bar shifted from inmate workers to a vendor operating under contract with non-inmate and non-civil service staff. Also at one time staff could purchase meal tickets which would allow them to eat meals in the inmate dining rooms. I do not know if that is still possible. I was the kitchen sergeant for some period of time and was required to eat the inmate meals and submit a written report. Also housing units where the inmates were fed in the housing units, such as Protective Custody and Administrative Segregation, had to have (or at least were supposed to have) a staff member sample the meal and turn in a report.
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When I first started, back in the stone age, there was a maximum start age. I think it was 35. That was dropped. I have heard a max start age may have again been reinstated, but I have no hard info on that. There is no mandatory retirement age and I have seen a few cops working well into their 60s and a few even into their 70s (which I think is pushing it quite a bit). Since the system now operates on a seniority bid system the old timers, who tend to be fairly senior, tend to bid into jobs that they like and that they can perform adequately.
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Gangs are an operational fact of life in prison. Simple membership in a gang is, as far as I know, no longer cause for placing a prisoner in segregation. The prison has to be able to demonstrate that the prisoner is engaging in some inappropriate activity on behalf of the gang in order to segregate that person from the general population. The fact that inmates are allowed to congregate at certain times and in certain places means that gangs are able to operate. It comes with the territory..
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