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.

SubscribeGet emails when new questions are answered. Ask Me Anything!Show Bio +

Share:

Ask me anything!

Submit Your Question

454 Questions

Share:

Last Answer on February 10, 2022

Best Rated

It can also be a retired correctional officer and we don't got to meat up for the questions , i can just e-mail them to you but if you can't that's fine. Thank you.

Asked by Isabel.velazquezloza about 6 years ago

You can email me at             .  I hope you are not in a big hurry for a response, but I will do what I can. 

Is there much aggression in the prison system?

Asked by sofibour almost 6 years ago

Prisoners are by nature or by training and experience aggressive. Some of the staff are too. The two things sort of run together..

What should someone expect when applying to become a prison guard? I heard they have thorough background checks, they may also have lie detector tests.

Asked by Al over 5 years ago

I do not know of any agencies that do a poly any more. Doesn't mean there are not any. CA does a decent basic background check. Obviously they do a criminal records check and public record financial check. DMV. I believe they also mail out questionaires to people you indicate as references. I don't know if they do many personal contact interviews. Drug screen also of course. Psych eval.

Can someone sue a police department or a courthouse for false imprisonment?

Asked by They over 5 years ago

It is possible to sue almost anybody for almost anything. Winning is a lot harder. That being said people sue police departments all the time for False Arrest and are sometimes successful. Suing a judge or district attorney for malicious prosecution or outright illegal activity in obtaining a false conviction is almost impossible. Remember a "wrong" outcome does not mean that the officials involved necessarily did anything wrong.

If I want to be a CO in the state of California, would it matter if I was married to an inmate?

Asked by Michelle about 6 years ago

Officially, NO.  Unofficially, maybe.  IF he is heavily gang involved there will be some suspicion that you are a plant.  your background will be looked at more closely than it might be otherwise.  There is however no law nor civil service rule that prohibits hiring the family of current guests of the state as peace officers. 

I am starting a new career as a CO after many years of being in the Health Care field, my husband is a CO and is against me working as a CO and says we cannot work in the same prison. How true is this?

Asked by alvag80 over 6 years ago

In CA that is NOT true.  The problem arises if one of you promotes.  The other can not work in his/her direct chain of command.  You could still work at the same facility. As long as one is not supervising the other it is not a problem.

How jealous where inmates that you got to go home and have a happy life while they had to stay locked up?

Asked by Dude over 5 years ago

Typically not very. Most inmates are career criminals and know that getting locked up from time to time is the cost of doing business.