My fishing buddy just happened to be the County Sheriff. One day after a fishing I told him I was no longer happy doing telecommunication work and was thinking of changing careers. He asked if I had any ideas on what I wanted to do, I laughed and said maybe I should try being a deputy sheriff. He laughed and said he knew someone that might be able to help! I then told him I had thought about it a few times and had always admired my uncle who was a lawman. He got serious and said that if I really wanted to he would start me off as a jailer. I was thrilled and soon found myself in his office filling out the paperwork and met my new boss the sergeant of the jail, and the captain of the sheriff's office.
My new sergeant was a retired master gunnery sergeant of the United States Marine Corps. He was the very image of a US Marine, lean, mean and green! Outwardly he was a hard man, after I got to know him I was pleased to find he did have a kind and gentle side not often showed to the public. He threw me right into the thick of it, and I soon found myself behind the bars with criminals! Our jail was a small county jail in a rural area that had a capacity of around 30 inmates. There are no guns allowed past what is called the 'sally port', the place where police cars can drive into a secure area within the jail to drop off prisoners. We didn't have tasers, stun guns, mace or any weapons in the jail. We only carried hand cuffs and leg irons when moving inmates outside the jail or to secure a unruly inmate. This at first concerned me greatly, to say the least!
Soon I was taught how to take finger prints and how to 'book in' a new inmate. this was kind of fun at first because an experienced deputy was always there helping me. We did most of this on a computer and put hard copies with a updated picture in a secure file cabinet room. I also took a new picture for their file and wrote a brief report on anything they said pertaining to the alleged crime that was the cause for the arrest. Some of the things they did still haunt me, the way they felt justified in doing horrible things to the victims and the lack of remorse was disturbing! Looking at the pictures taken during the long arrest records of some of these people was a study in drug and alcohol abuse, the way it changed the faces was enough to make a anti-drug commercial.
One of the better things I got to do was take non-violent minor offense inmates out to pick up trash along the highway and help clean yards of elderly and disabled citizens. This was a daily job that had its own schedule and the work detail changed often.
More to came.......
My new sergeant was a retired master gunnery sergeant of the United States Marine Corps. He was the very image of a US Marine, lean, mean and green! Outwardly he was a hard man, after I got to know him I was pleased to find he did have a kind and gentle side not often showed to the public. He threw me right into the thick of it, and I soon found myself behind the bars with criminals! Our jail was a small county jail in a rural area that had a capacity of around 30 inmates. There are no guns allowed past what is called the 'sally port', the place where police cars can drive into a secure area within the jail to drop off prisoners. We didn't have tasers, stun guns, mace or any weapons in the jail. We only carried hand cuffs and leg irons when moving inmates outside the jail or to secure a unruly inmate. This at first concerned me greatly, to say the least!
Soon I was taught how to take finger prints and how to 'book in' a new inmate. this was kind of fun at first because an experienced deputy was always there helping me. We did most of this on a computer and put hard copies with a updated picture in a secure file cabinet room. I also took a new picture for their file and wrote a brief report on anything they said pertaining to the alleged crime that was the cause for the arrest. Some of the things they did still haunt me, the way they felt justified in doing horrible things to the victims and the lack of remorse was disturbing! Looking at the pictures taken during the long arrest records of some of these people was a study in drug and alcohol abuse, the way it changed the faces was enough to make a anti-drug commercial.
One of the better things I got to do was take non-violent minor offense inmates out to pick up trash along the highway and help clean yards of elderly and disabled citizens. This was a daily job that had its own schedule and the work detail changed often.
More to came.......
