Armed Only with a Knife
It was only last year that Correctional Officers in Canada won the right to wear stab/slash resistant vests. Up until this recent ruling, Officers were punished for wearing vests because they, along with handcuffs, were deemed "intimidating" and "didn't foster a trusting relationship with Offenders", even though we find homemade puncture and slashing weapons on a regular basis inside our prisons. The following photographs are harsh and graphic, taken of a Peace Officer in the U.S. who was assaulted by someone armed "only with a knife". This is the reality Officers, both Police and Correctional, face in their jobs...
posted by Ed Meers @ 2/24/2006 11:30:00 p.m.
6 Comments:
At 9:58 a.m. ,
Ed Meers said...
Just a final note: though Federal Canadian Correctional Officers will be permitted to wear vests, they are up for tender through the Federal Government and, therefore, Officers are unlikely to recieve them before 2008 - and that's an optimistic estimate.
At 5:49 p.m. ,
Anonymous said...
Well, the vests are due after I retire, if I live so long. Again I am happy for the armed support we have on the range, but I would rather feel able to walk down the range without a vest. I'm not a "social worker", but cannot feel safe when I carry the protection. The designers of the systems we use to interact with inmates would rather have us believe we don't need to work together nor be as alert for these risks. This months Readers Digest (or todays Journal?) had an article from a study that shows people who earn median and low incomes trust other people less than those with incomes over $100,000. Isn't the answer to pay the managers $40,000 and the guards, police, nurses and teachers over $100,000? Time to remember how many teachers, especially U.S. of EH, get stabbed and shot by students. Nurses also treated by drunk/stoned patients with projectile knives as well as vomit. Just out there to others who are at risk, if besides the masks, should doctors and nurses wear body armour? nodroganon
At 7:33 a.m. ,
Ed Meers said...
Stephanie, I agree that the thinking is warped, but it is indicative of what we call being "typically Canadian" which, most of the time is a good thing. People are just idealistic (as per my previous entry). I guess the folks in their ivory towers decided that if we treat inmates like offenders - i.e. love and be giving/trusting then you will get a lot further ahead then by being cruel and punishing. I agree with this sentiment to a degree, but I think that we need to keep focused on who we are dealing with. We need a strict system that stresses accountability, rewards progress and punishes (with fairness) the negative. When I work in a max, all we should focus on is getting an inmate to the point where we can start offering programmes at a Medium security facility - we shouldn't be realeasing them straight to the street (but that's our legal system).
Nodroganon the Gord, so true about the others out there who are subjected to what you described - I think working cash at a 7 Eleven is just as bad, if not worse then where we work at the Max. One can't help but wonder if one day we will all be walking around like modern Knights.
Agree totally on the trust & income analysis.
At 8:45 a.m. ,
Firedawg said...
I couldn't believe that when I got this e-mail and it said graphic I actually closed 1 eye when I opened it up. Have you received any e-mails regarding a video game that is all about killing peace officers?
Hey are you allowed to buy your own vest?
At 9:40 a.m. ,
Ed Meers said...
Officers in the past have been sent home without pay for wearing their own vest. Now that we have been approved to wear them, I still think we are not permitted to buy our own as they are still not on the scale of issue and there is only one specific style that we will be permitted to use.
At 7:43 p.m. ,
Anonymous said...
Crips, and you wonder why I hate this job. Reason #100 why I am looking for new work. Hey you think the union might want to use this in an add campagin.
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