Correctional Officer

Correctional Officer

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.

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Last Answer on February 10, 2022

Best Rated

If I can follow up on my previous question as to whether cognitive therapy would help inmates, I am curious why you don't think it would help them?

Asked by Neal Bracken over 10 years ago

If I remember correctly Cognitive Therapy theory has been around since the 1960s.  The idea is that behavior, feelings and thoughts are linked (which I expect is correct for most people) and that patients can move forward to overcome challenges and meet goals by changing emotional responses, lame-ass thinking and bad behavior.  It is my belief that the overwhelming number of criminals have made conscious, deliberate choices to be criminals.  They were not thrust into the position by circumstances beyond their control.  I believe that they WANT to be criminals and will, for the most part, continue to be criminals until they are too old, too sick or too dead to continue.  For most criminals this has been a successful mechanism, reinforced by the criminal justice system and the med-psych profession.  Assuming a person's goal is be continue to be a moderately successful burglar-rapist-robber-murderer, I am unsure that we should help them overcome obstacles to reaching their goal.

Do you have inmates take their shoes off when you make them go through the jail body scanner?

Asked by Quinn20 about 11 years ago

My experience is in a PRISON, not a JAIL.  There is a difference.  In prison, the answer is YES, when we ran them through the METAL DETECTOR (not body scanner) they had to take their shoes off.. 

i hear you can buy stocks as a correctional officer. is it hard to do? and do you really make good money buying stocks?

Asked by jason about 11 years ago

Of course a Correctional Officer can buy stocks.  Why wouldn't they be able to?  If you buy low and sell high you can make money.  If you do it the other way around you lose money.  That is how it works.  Investment strategy really isn't my field of expertise.

What kind of physical test do i need to do when becoming a corrections officer

Asked by Tracy over 10 years ago

Good question.  I don't have a good answer any more.  You need to meet the height-weight ratio.  There is no minimum height requirement, there may be a maximum one but I don't think so.  You need to have decent hearing and reasonable (but not perfect) vision without corrective lenses.  (You can't wear glasses under a gas mask and you need to be able to function while wearing one.)  I don't believe there is a color vision test.  I think there is a physical agility test, but I don't know what it is.  Sorry I couldn't be more help.

Thanks for reply! So is it better to make the rent payments, or would they just keep asking for more and/or not respect me? Rent payment goes into their commissary I assume? Just curious, no plans to go to prison.... :-)

Asked by Alex about 11 years ago

That would depend a lot on circumstances. 

My husband was sentence to 24 months in prison , he's been very good never a problem. After serving 14 months ,court order , u.s Marshal's will be transporting him back to our home state. Why? Is this bad or good?

Asked by Nena over 10 years ago

Sorry, not by end of the business.  My GUESS is that it is a good thing and they are preparing to release him, maybe into some sort of a pre-release program, near his address of record.  That is, however, only an educated guess.  I have almost zero experience with the federal system which is apparently what you are dealing with.

How effective do you feel probation/parole is? why or why not?

Asked by cody over 10 years ago

It depends.  Assuming the former bad guy is genuinely trying to go along with the program AND the people who are supervising and helping him are genuinely interested in doing their job, it can be very effective.  It has both a carrot and a stick.  Under the current economic conditions (poor job prospects) the carrot is sometimes lacking.  With the current prison and jail crowding the stick is sometimes underutilized.  I guess my final answer is that in theory it is fine, in actual practice, especially in California and especially of late, it is lacking.