Thursday, December 8, 2011
Rock likes his treats
Having some fun with my puppy this morning. He's a real bastard sometimes when it comes to doing his tricks.
The Forgotten Cop
What would the average citizen say if it were proposed that police officer 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 outnumbered? I wager that the overwhelming public response would be that the officers would have to be crazy to accept such an assignment. However, as you read this, such a scenario is being played out in all areas of the country.
I am a New York State correction officer, not a guard, who is a person that catches school crossings. I work in a maximum security correctional facility. I am empowered by the State of New York to enforce its penal laws and the rules and regulations of the Department of Correctional Services. In short, I am a policeman. my beat is totally inhabited by convicted felons, who, by definition, are people who tend to break laws, rules and regulations. I am outnumbered by as much as 20, 30 and even 40 to 1 at various times during my workday, and contrary to popular belief, I work without a sidearm. in short, my neck is on the line every minute of every day.
A correctional facility is a very misunderstood environment. The average person has little knowledge of its workings. Society sends its criminals to correctional facilities and as time passes, each criminal's crime fades from our memory until the collective prison population becomes a vision of 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 each other and the facility staff. Felonies are committed daily but they are called "unusual incidents" are rarely results in public prosecution. Discipline is handled internally and, as a rule, the public is never informed of these crimes. In the course of maintaining order in these facilities, many officers have endured the humiliation of being spit upon and having urine and feces thrown at them. Uncounted correction officers have been punched and kicked, bitten, stabbed and slashed with homemade weapons, taken hostage and even murdered in the line of duty, all the 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, corrections officers face hidden dangers in the form of AIDS, tuberculosis, hepatitis B and hepatitis C. Courts are now imposing longer sentences and the prison population is increasing far beyond the system's designed capacity. As the Public demands more police on the street, governments everywhere are cuffing police in prisons where violence reigns supreme, jeopardizing all those still working behind prison walls.
Although you will never see me on "RESCUE 911" or "TOP COPS" I am a law enforcement professional. I am THE FORGOTTEN COP, hidden from public view, doing dangerous thankless duty on the world's most dangerous beat, hoping someday to received the respect of and approval from the public whom I silently serve.
Written by: Donald E. Premo, Jr.
New York State Correction Officer
Coxsackie Correctional Facility
I am a New York State correction officer, not a guard, who is a person that catches school crossings. I work in a maximum security correctional facility. I am empowered by the State of New York to enforce its penal laws and the rules and regulations of the Department of Correctional Services. In short, I am a policeman. my beat is totally inhabited by convicted felons, who, by definition, are people who tend to break laws, rules and regulations. I am outnumbered by as much as 20, 30 and even 40 to 1 at various times during my workday, and contrary to popular belief, I work without a sidearm. in short, my neck is on the line every minute of every day.
A correctional facility is a very misunderstood environment. The average person has little knowledge of its workings. Society sends its criminals to correctional facilities and as time passes, each criminal's crime fades from our memory until the collective prison population becomes a vision of 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 each other and the facility staff. Felonies are committed daily but they are called "unusual incidents" are rarely results in public prosecution. Discipline is handled internally and, as a rule, the public is never informed of these crimes. In the course of maintaining order in these facilities, many officers have endured the humiliation of being spit upon and having urine and feces thrown at them. Uncounted correction officers have been punched and kicked, bitten, stabbed and slashed with homemade weapons, taken hostage and even murdered in the line of duty, all the 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, corrections officers face hidden dangers in the form of AIDS, tuberculosis, hepatitis B and hepatitis C. Courts are now imposing longer sentences and the prison population is increasing far beyond the system's designed capacity. As the Public demands more police on the street, governments everywhere are cuffing police in prisons where violence reigns supreme, jeopardizing all those still working behind prison walls.
Although you will never see me on "RESCUE 911" or "TOP COPS" I am a law enforcement professional. I am THE FORGOTTEN COP, hidden from public view, doing dangerous thankless duty on the world's most dangerous beat, hoping someday to received the respect of and approval from the public whom I silently serve.
Written by: Donald E. Premo, Jr.
New York State Correction Officer
Coxsackie Correctional Facility
Dodge Dip Duck Dive and Dodge
Let me first start out by saying being a part of the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization is awesome. I love the time I spend with my little brother. We've been matched for three years now. We do all sorts of fun stuff at the school. In the winter, I take him outside and we go sledding. If it's too cold we stay inside and play basketball or whatever sport he's engrossed in at that time. Sometimes I play the mean role and make him do some homework with me before we do the fun stuff. Most of the time, though, it's just nice to hang out with him and goof around.
Yesterday, while hanging out with him after school we played dodgeball with some of his friends. I hadn't played in quite awhile, but my dodge, dip, duck, dive and dodge skills were still top notch.
I'm pretty proud to say that in three games I was only out three times. However, I'm not too proud to say I got burned by a third grade little girl.
There I was in the back minding my own business picking up a ball when I was blasted in the leg by another ball. I turned to see who had hit me. Standing there all four feet tall was this girl.
She blurted out, "Oh yeah! You got burned by a little girl! Yeah, I got you OUT!"
As I walked off to the side she continued to taunt me with, "You're not very good at this game. You got burned by a little girl like me."
It was pretty funny, and the teacher that was supervising the other kids was getting a good laugh at her tirade. Once somebody caught a ball I was allowed to go back into the game. From then on, I made it a point to walk right up to the middle line with a ball and stare directly at her. I will not hesitate to use my skills as a formidable dodgeball player to intimidate a 9-year-old girl. She deserved it. I didn't throw a ball at her the rest of the game. It was just to give the impression I would, but then at the last second I would throw it at the stronger boys on the other team.
Some of those kids can really whip those dodgeballs. I can see how Vince Vaughn would lose to a Girl Scout troop.
Needless to say, my little brother's team won every game.
The odd part about visiting my little brother is that all his friends want to hang out with us.
I don't know if that's good or bad. What I can tell you is that it means there are plenty of kids out there who want to participate in the program. If you have an hour a week, I would suggest you look into the program. It feels really good to volunteer.
Give back.
Yesterday, while hanging out with him after school we played dodgeball with some of his friends. I hadn't played in quite awhile, but my dodge, dip, duck, dive and dodge skills were still top notch.
I'm pretty proud to say that in three games I was only out three times. However, I'm not too proud to say I got burned by a third grade little girl.
There I was in the back minding my own business picking up a ball when I was blasted in the leg by another ball. I turned to see who had hit me. Standing there all four feet tall was this girl.
She blurted out, "Oh yeah! You got burned by a little girl! Yeah, I got you OUT!"
As I walked off to the side she continued to taunt me with, "You're not very good at this game. You got burned by a little girl like me."
It was pretty funny, and the teacher that was supervising the other kids was getting a good laugh at her tirade. Once somebody caught a ball I was allowed to go back into the game. From then on, I made it a point to walk right up to the middle line with a ball and stare directly at her. I will not hesitate to use my skills as a formidable dodgeball player to intimidate a 9-year-old girl. She deserved it. I didn't throw a ball at her the rest of the game. It was just to give the impression I would, but then at the last second I would throw it at the stronger boys on the other team.
Some of those kids can really whip those dodgeballs. I can see how Vince Vaughn would lose to a Girl Scout troop.
Needless to say, my little brother's team won every game.
The odd part about visiting my little brother is that all his friends want to hang out with us.
I don't know if that's good or bad. What I can tell you is that it means there are plenty of kids out there who want to participate in the program. If you have an hour a week, I would suggest you look into the program. It feels really good to volunteer.
Give back.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)