[Jimbug]

THE FORGOTTEN COP
What would the average citizen say if it were proposed that Police Officers be assigned to
a neighborhood which was inhabited by no one but criminals and those Officers would be
unarmed, patrol on foot and be heavily out numbered? I wager that the overwhelming
public response would be that the Officers would have to be crazy to accept such an
assignment. However, this scenario is being played out in all areas of the country
We are Correctional Officers. Not Guards (who are people that watch school crossings).
We work at minimum, medium, and maximum-security correctional facilities. We are
empowered by the state to enforce its penal laws, rules, and regulations of the Department
of Correctional Services. In short we are Policemen. Our beat is totally inhabited by
convicted felons who, by definition, are people who tend to break laws, rules and
regulations. We are outnumbered by as many as 50 to 1 at various times of our workday
and contrary to popular belief, we work without a side arm. In short, our necks are on the
line every minute of every day.
A correctional facility is a very misunderstood environment. The average person has very
little knowledge of its workings. Society sends it’s criminals to Correctional Facilities and
as time passes, each criminal’s crime fades from our memory until the collective prison
population becomes hordes of bad people being warehoused away from decent society in a
place where they can cause no further harm. There is also the notion that prison inmates
cease to be a problem when they are incarcerated.
Correctional facilities are full of violence perpetrated by the prison population against the
prison population and facility staff. Felonies are committed daily but rarely reported.
They are called “unusual incidents” and rarely result in criminal prosecution. Discipline is
handled internally and, as a rule, the public is rarely informed of these crimes. In the
course of maintaining order in these facilities, many Officers have endured the humiliation
of having urine and feces thrown on them. Uncounted Correctional Officers have been
kicked, bitten, stabbed and slashed with home-made weapons, taken hostage, murdered
and even raped in the line of duty, all while being legally mandated to maintain their
professional composure and refraining from any retaliation which could be the basis for
dismissal from service.
In addition to these obvious dangers, Correctional Officers face hidden dangers in the form
of AIDS, Tuberculosis, Hepatitis B and C. Courts are now imposing longer sentences and
the prison population is increasing far beyond the systems designated capacity. As the
public demands more police on the street, governments everywhere are cutting police in
prison where violence reins supreme, jeopardizing all those working behind prison walls.
Although you will never see us on “911” or “Top Cops” we are Law Enforcement
Professionals. We are the “FORGOTTEN COP,” hidden from public view, walking a
dangerous beat, hoping someday to receive the respect and approval from the public who
“WE SILENTLT SERVE.”