The San Diego Union-Tribune profiles State Correctional Officer Samuel Morales and describes his duties at the Donovan Correctional Facility.

“There are not many of us and there are too many of them,” says Morales, noting the recent boom in the inmate population. “My job is more challenging now.”

The profile speaks of the challenges faced by the Correctional Officers in today's state prison system beginning with a perception of a lack of respect from the general public.

"A lot of the staff feels that the public doesn't really want to know what goes on behind our walls,” said a 38-year-old guard at California Men's Colony in San Luis Obispo, who, like several others, requested anonymity so he could speak frankly about his work. “They think of us as the garbage men of the law enforcement community.”

I wonder how many of their critics would be as benevolent and forgiving as Correctional Officer Nick?

Nick was "gassed" at Pelican Bay. Gassing is when an inmate hurls feces, urine or blood – or a mix of the three – in a guard's face. Correctional Officer Nick took FIVE showers trying to get rid of the smell from the gassing and said about it, “When you are in a society with nothing but felons, those kinds of things are going to happen.”

Other challenges faced by the California Correctional Peace Officers include a defense of their pay and benefits from the usual quarters, overcrowded conditions in the prisons, staffing shortages, safety concerns in a system labeled the most dangerous in the nation and long hours worked as a result of staffing shortages.

The entire Union-Tribune article is here. It's a good perspective on a dangerous job taken for granted by the public at large. Worth the read.

Briefing is over. Stay safe out there!