CORRECTIONS
The more we know, the safer we are
BRIAN DAWE
In 1994, I was in my 12th year in corrections, and that was when I met and became friends with Tom Little, then the State Corrections Local 105 president. He and I remained friends until his untimely death two decades ago.
At the time we met, I was a co-founder and the vice president of the Massachusetts Correction Officers Federated Union. Tommy and Jay Glass, another New Jersey corrections officer, were attending a meeting of correctional officers from around the nation; most of the officers in attendance were also union officials. That meeting resulted in the formation of a coalition that later became the Corrections and Criminal Justice Coalition.
The idea was to establish a national network of correctional officers who could share intelligence and information. We wanted to seek and report on best practices so that all officers across the country had a resource they could turn to when they needed information. We also felt it important to establish a national voice for the profession.
In our business, the more we know, the safer we are. Every one of us behind those walls knows how badly outnumbered we are— at times by more than 100 to one— and we know that if the inmates decide we aren’ t going home that day, then we aren’ t going home. Being aware and informed is directly linked to our safety. Indeed, intel is the backbone of any correctional facility, for we control that population not with our might but with our minds.
Certainly, we must be ready and able to respond to the physical demands of the job, but overall the number of times we have to use physical force is directly related to the amount of intel we have. When we are properly prepared, trained, briefed and staffed, we can handle any population with minimal force.
Since that initial meeting 24 years ago this month, our mission has remained the same. Corrections changes every day, with every new administration, every election, every new warden. New rules, new policies, new legislation— the dynamics change daily. As the mood of the nation swings from punitive to rehabilitative and the political leadership starts to call for criminal justice reform, we expect even greater changes and challenges ahead. Jail and prison closings, county consolidations, a return to privatization( especially for immigrant detainees), moving nonviolent offenders into GPS and house-arrest scenarios, loosening of the drug laws, the Right to Work movement— all these things are happening right now, and all of them will impact us.
Today I am the executive director for the American Correctional Officer Intelligence Network( ACOIN). I previously served as the administrator for the Corrections and Criminal Justice Coalition. Following that, I worked for nine years as the executive director of Corrections USA and for seven years as the executive director of the American Correctional Officer( ACO).
Through all this time, I have always maintained a great relationship with my New Jersey brothers and sisters. One of my closest friends, Henry Ruiz, was the previous author of the articles in this space for the PBA. He and I worked together for more than 20 years on too many projects to mention. I can only hope to come close to the talent and dedication that he showed on these pages.
Now more than ever, we need a unified voice across the nation. We need to continue to share information, intelligence and research. As I write this, ACOIN is working in conjunction with Professor Roland Zullo, Ph. D., of the University of Michigan on a research project for the NJSPBA on the consolidation of county facilities. We will follow that up with a full-scale report on LEO consolidation efforts and their potential impacts statewide. We are also gathering intel for our brothers and sisters in Washington, D. C., who may be forced into working shifts involving 12 hours on and 12 hours off.
I think it appropriate here to also mention the 2018 Medal of Honor Awards Ceremony. I serve as a board member and treasurer for the National Medal of Honor Foundation, which has picked up where ACO left off and rejuvenated this important service that honors the men and women in our profession who have gone above and beyond their duty. I should mention that Lieutenant Ed Sullivan, a brother corrections officer from New Jersey, is the foundation’ s chairman. The foundation is a nonprofit public charity, so all donations are welcome and tax-deductible!
I’ ve been blessed to have held all the law enforcement positions I have. This career path has allowed me to travel to all 50 states and to meet thousands of our brothers and sisters from Alaska to Maine. Now I have been asked to write the corrections article for the New Jersey COPS magazine, a terrific honor. In the months to come, I hope to address some of the issues we all face in corrections. Ninety-five percent of what we do, and the problems we face, are universal to the profession, no matter what facility we work in.
If there is an issue you would like me to address, please email me at acoin1 @ aol. com, and I’ ll do my best to incorporate your interests. If you have a question about the Medal of Honor, please feel free to email MoHFoundation2018 @ gmail. com. d
Brian Dawe spent 16 years as a state correctional officer in Massachusetts, beginning on May 31, 1982. He is a co-founder of the Massachusetts Correction Officers Federated Union, administrator for the Corrections and Criminal Justice Coalition, and the executive director for Corrections USA and the American Correctional Officer. He is the originator and owner of the American Correctional Officer Intelligence Network.
20 NEW JERSEY COPS ■ MARCH 2018