Interview with Corrections Officer T
Listen to interview here:
Officer T’s Story
Looking at this picture it would be difficult for most people to determine if he’s a Corrections Officer or a Convict? Well Officer T is a Corrections Officer and has been gracious enough to share insights into how he interacts with inmates and families in the prisons and jails that he’s worked in. He’s been in the law enforcement field for over 12 years and has been in situations with hundreds of inmates at a time.
The best part of his job is being able to serve the community. We spoke about the tools that he has available to use and how he deals with our loved ones in prison. He said that Corrections Officers are trained to de-escalate situations and that has worked well for him in his career. He rarely has had to use any type of force in his 12 years in law enforcement.
Officer T also commented on being an African-American man which has made it difficult for him to see so many African-Americans incarcerated. He spoke about his personal time outside of work and being profiled because of what he was wearing and his race. Profiling can happen to anyone of any race, however in his experience as an African-American man, he could comment on it first-hand.
Our hope is that as people listen to this interview and read other stories that their eyes will be opened and they will see that people are not always as they appear. Just because someone has a loved one in prison doesn’t mean that they should be sentenced, too, by other peoples’ judgment. We are brought up with certain stereotypes that we are not even conscious of. If you saw an African-American man walking down the street in jeans, t-shirt, and a baseball cap worn backwards, would you think he was a Corrections Officer or a Convict?
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