Corrections Officer Jobs | Correctional Careers | Correctional Officer Jobs
Correctional Officer Jobs - What is the Job of a Bailiff? What do Correction Officers Do?
Correctional officers are also known as detention officers, and their work can include observing individuals who have been arrested and were convicted or are awaiting trial for a crime. Correctional officers process about 12,000,000 people a year, with 700,000 Americans in jail at any one time.
In state and Federal prisons, there are currently 1.5 million criminals who are incarcerated at any random point in time. Correction officers are responsible for maintaining security in the prison and holding inmates accountable for disturbances in assaults. While detention officers have no responsibilities outside the prison, it can be difficult for a correctional officer to maintain a sense of order within a prison institution.
In order to make sure that inmates behave themselves, correctional officers must supervise the inmates and discipline them if necessary. Correctional officer jobs can include conducting searches for drugs or setting fights between inmates. Detention officers and prison guards also have the job of inspecting facilities and checking cells on a routine basis, as well as prison bars in order to make sure that no one can escape or that prisoners are not planning breakouts.
Reporting inmate behavior to the prison warden is another role of a correction officer, and their daily log will contain such information as security breaches, rule violations, fighting, and disturbances. In order to keep inmates in line, correctional officers must show no bias in discipline, and they often work unarmed.
The reason that these officers are unarmed, is because the risk of prison inmates stealing the gun and holding hostages is too high, so correction officers are equipped with communication devices to summon armed personnel if necessary. Correctional officers will usually be responsible for a cellblock, which can contain as many as fifty or hundred inmates.
In supermax prisons, corrections officers will use closed captioned television in order to track prisoners, and inmates are kept confined for most of the day and usually only leave their cells for showers and exercise time. Corrections officers may have to restrain prisoners using chains in order to transport them to various locations.
Bailiffs are court officers who are responsible for maintaining order in the courtroom. A bailiff job can involve assisting judges and deliver documents, in addition to offering security for the courtroom.
Working Conditions for Correctional Officer Jobs - How is the Working Environment for Correction Officers Employment?
Working in a correctional officer job is not glamorous, and prisons are frequently overcrowded, noisy, and not well temperature controlled. Correctional officers are injured frequently as a result of the confrontations with prisoners, and they may work outside or inside.
Most correctional officers will work a 40 hour workweek, and their working schedule can include holidays, and all hours of the night or day.
Department of Corrections Education - How to Become a Correctional Officer - How to Receive Your Education from Correction Officer Training
A high school degree is needed in order to perform the role of a corrections officer, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons requires a bachelor’s degree in addition to other courses providing counseling on how to deal with inmates.
The training that the Federal, State, and local governments provide to detention officers are set according to guidelines by the American Correctional Association and the American Jail Association. When these training sessions are finished, on the job training will usually be conducted. Other correction officer training courses can include firearms proficiency and self defense techniques.
Federal corrections officers must take 200 hours of formal training within the first year that they are employed by the Federal prison system. They will also need special training from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons training facility in Georgia.
Some correction officers are specialists who deal with hostage situations and riots.
Corrections Officer Jobs - How to Become Certified in Correction Officer Training
Other skills that correctional officers should have include good health, as well as a high standard of physical fitness and superior eyesight and hearing. Department of correction officers need all of these skills in order to cope with the day to day life of working in the prison system.
Corrections officers cannot have a felony conviction and are typically screened for drugs and must pass a written examination. As correction officers advance, they will move up to the role of correctional sergeant, responsible for supervising multiple cell blocks, and a detention officer can eventually reach the lofty position of warden, running their own prison.
Outlook for Correctional Officer Jobs - What is the Future of Correction Officer Training?
Over the next decade, correctional officer jobs are expected to grow by about 16%, due to increased mandatory guidelines such as the three strikes law, causing higher rates of incarceration.
Federal sentencing guidelines are also voluntary, allowing judges further jurisdiction to impose less strict prison sentences. Most correctional officer job growth will arise from private prisons.
Since most people do not want to enter the workplace as a correctional officer, there are thousands of job openings every year, and it is not difficult for anyone wishing to pursue this career to obtain employment.
Corrections Officer Salary Pay Scale - How Much Do Correctional Officer Jobs Earn?
In 2006, correctional officers jobs earn a median annual salary of $35,760, with those in the Federal prison system having the highest earnings at $47,750.
Managers of correctional officers had a median annual salary of $52,580, while those in state government earn slightly less, and those in local government are slightly more.
Courtroom bailiff jobs had a median annual salary of $34,210 of the same time period, and according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the starting salary for corrections officers in the Federal prison system was $28,862 in 2007.
Since corrections officers receive employment in civil service, they are usually eligible to retire after 25 years of service.