Hello, and welcome to the Prison Officer Podcast.  This podcast is a place to talk about the forgotten cops in this country’s jails, prisons, and correctional centers.  A place for me to try to make sense of a career spent working inside the fence with some of the greatest people that nobody sees or recognizes for the important job they do.

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Retirement Day.  For most of us, this is a once in a lifetime event.  The one day most of us inside spend our shifts dreaming about.  When we don’t have to walk past those grills.  When we don’t have to spend 8 hours trying not to notice the smell of urine.  Maybe we can even let our guard down just a little with those around us and enjoy a little less stress in our lives.

Well, October 24 was that day.  I am now a retiree from the Federal Bureau of Prisons.  After 21 years with the BOP and 8 years with the State of Missouri I walked out the front door for the last time.  I could have still gone a few more years, but as I have heard many retiree say before, “you know when it is time.”  

There were a couple of things that told me it was time, for one, 28 years of fighting inmates and running on concrete to body alarms had taken its toll on my body.  Mainly my knees.  I couldn’t respond as fast as I once could, and it bothered me a lot.  I used to be one of the first ones there.  I used to pass dozens of people in the corridors.  Now I was getting passed.  It sucks to get old.  Many people told me to not worry about it, I was not an officer anymore, I was a supervisor, I wasn’t expected to get there first.  But that is not who I am.  I could not get it out of my head that I might fail someone when they needed me.  I’m sure I’m not the only one to deal with that, but physical health was one of things that told me it was time to leave

I had a Lieutenant who once told me I would be one of those officers that had to be forced out the door when it came time for retirement.  I hated my job back then and shot right back that he “Better hope my 20 year mark didn’t come up in the middle of a shift, because I was leaving!” 

I did end up staying past my 20 year mark, but in that back of my head something was nagging at me.  Something was telling me that my wife Kathy and I deserved a few years of fun and good health before we hang it up for good.  Every year I stayed was another year that I would not be fishing, or at the beach, or cutting wood on the farm and enjoying the quietness and the solitude – something I think a lot of us crave after working in prison.

Finally, I just plain old didn’t like the current climate towards prison staff.  The whole defund the police movement is spilling over to corrections.  Recently, Nancy King, a 70-year-old woman with a history of mental health issues, began pounding on the front door of the county jail in Spokane, Wash., the jail’s lobby was locked for the night, but a guard opened the door to see what she needed.

She then walked inside and then started waving a knife around, and refused multiple orders to drop it. Moments later, the guard shot her.  I read many of the public comments from the news articles such as "But a 70-year-old woman who weighs 110 pounds probably isn't a threat to a corrections officer who knows how to handle prisoners," and  “Getting close enough to this homeless 70 year old ninja was super scary for this correction officer, so that's why he couldn't use his baton or pepper spray, he might have gotten a cut or something from that knife, ” These comments are indicative of how little the public understand our job and their lack of support towards our safety.  I didn’t see any comments that said “Thank God that officer got to go home to his family after being attacked by a knife-wielding mental health patient.”    

And not just the public, the attitude of management isn’t what it used to be either, my recent positions showed me very vividly, where the priorities of the government and upper management are and it wasn’t with the staff who do the hardest work in or prisons each day.  I saw an almost antagonistic attitude toward line staff.  Often talking about and treating them like they were the enemy.  A big part of this I blame on the unions that spend their time protecting the bad staff and trying to get something for nothing, instead of working to improve conditions for the true hard workers in our prisons.  Either way, that was not something I could be a part of.  So it was time to go, I felt it in my soul.

But, when it came time to face retirement.  To walk out the door, to give up my title and status, to give up part of who I was, it was hard.  I had worked in prison for more than 28 years, and I was good at it.  I wasn’t always good at it, but I had learned to be a pretty good correctional officer. 

If you have listened to Episode 2 of the Prison Officer Podcast, you know the story of how I started.  I applied as a cook at Missouri State Penitentiary, and was hired as a Correctional Officer in one of the roughest prisons in America.  I knew nothing of prison or inmates.  I also found out that I knew little about myself.  Prison taught me a lot about who I truly was and for good or for bad, shaped many of my world views.

Supervising inmates like Robert Berdella and John Gotti, and others just as evil with names you will never hear.  I learned about what humans are capable of.  I have witnessed the true evil and looked it the eye.  It changes you.  No more blissful ignorance, you just took the “red pill” like Neo in The Matrix.

Prisons run on power and race and I learned many truths about racism.  Not all racist are white and all races have racist. And despite what Hollywood and the media tell you, prison gangs have little to do with race, it is always about money, drugs and power.  An Aryan Brotherhood member and Black Gangster Disciple will work hand in hand if they can get drugs into the jail or extort another inmate for money.  

But at the same time, I learned what I was capable of, I was strong, I was fair, I was able to take the high road when no one else was.  I learned I can get dirty if needed.  I learned that not all heroes wear capes.  Over the years, I worked with some truly amazing people who run to danger without a thought about themselves.  

I think corrections attracts some amazing people who are not given the chance to succeed in other professions because they do not necessarily fit the mold or have the education.  But given the resources and opportunity that Corrections provide, I have seen creativity, leadership, and skill that I would put up against any other profession.  Yes, we do attract the occasional “Percy” (that is a reference to the cruel officer in the movie Green Mile), but we usually weed them out – or the inmates do.  But overall, corrections sees a lot of people who excel daily and make a difference in the world – often very quietly.

Like many retirees have told me, after retirement, you never look back and wish you had stayed longer.  I do miss my friends.  I miss the comraderie of working inside.  But I am glad to be retired.  In just a couple of months, I already feel healthier, stronger, and a ton of stress has dropped off me.  

For those of you still working, dredging through weekly shifts of segregation somewhere, thinking you’ll never make it to that day, you will!  And you will be surprised by all the opportunities available to you.  There is a whole world outside of the fence that is looking for hard workers with communication skills.  The skills you develop inside are valuable.  Your leadership is something that makes you stand out above the crowd.  And yes you have developed leadership skill.  You cannot work in a jail or prison without learning to lead at some level whether it be peers or inmates.

If a good retirement is your goal, here are some tips from me to be ready for the day you walk out:

·         Invest – Whether it is your retirement plan, real estate, or silver dimes in a mason jar.  Don’t wait til the last minute.  You want to enjoy retirement and you are going to need money.

·         Pay off bills – The fewer bills you have in retirement, the more options you have to enjoy your hard earned retirement.

·         Build your resume everyday – Even if you plan to never work in prison again, a resume that highlights all the training and skills  you developed gives you options.  Get a list of all you training from Human Resources and keep your resume up to date…you never know when an opportunity will show itself.

·         Learn about your retirement options, tax changes, social security, and all the other things that change when you retire.  I failed to do a lot of this until I was ready to retire, thinking the agency would help with this when it was time.  Be ready for a couple of letters and a packet of brochures.  HR doesn’t call you anymore…

My personal goal now that I have retired, is to do my best with The Prison Officer Podcast and my writing, to bring forward the positive in corrections, to bring to light some of the problems specific to correctional officers and to highlight those silent heroes who diligently work to keep all of us safe.

In between, I plan to do a little fishing, hunting, traveling, and maybe just cut some firewood in the quiet solitude of the forest.

I also want to dedicate this episode to those officers who didn’t make it to retirement day.  I worked beside many who either never made it to retirement, or passed away shortly after.  There were a lot of staff who didn’t make it to enjoy what life was like after corrections.  If anyone deserves to retire, it’s the Prison Officers who work in hell everyday.

Well that’s it for today’s episode, if you enjoy these podcasts, the best way to support the Prison Officer Podcast is to share these episodes with your friends on social media.  And before you leave, let me invite you to visit www.theprisonofficer.com where you can find my suggestions for some of the best Correctional Leadership books.  I have created a section there to highlight some of my favorites, as well as many books suggested to me by some of my guests and mentors.  If you see a book you like, click the cover to order. Your purchase will support the Prison Officer Podcast.

If you haven’t already, check out the Prison Officer Podcast on Facebook and click that little follow button or leave us a message or better yet, leave us a review.  And if you are listening to us on Apple Podcasts, Google or Spotify, click the subscribe button.  Til next time…I’m Mike Cantrell.  Watch your back, and please take care of each other out there behind those walls.