2018 NJSPBA
Mini-Convention
The breakout point
Corrections officers get perspective from national expert
n BY AMBER RAMUNDO
At the conclusion of the first day, corrections officers gath-
ered in a breakout room with American Correctional Officer
Intelligence Network (ACOIN) Executive Director Brian Dawe
to address the issues that only those who work behind bars
can understand.
“It’s overdue in our profession that we have this voice, this
unity and this strength regardless of where we come from,”
urged Dawe, who has made it his mission to safeguard cor-
rections agencies by spreading information through ACOIN.
Dawe worked in the Department of Corrections in Massa-
chusetts for 16 years, but he made it clear that he knows ex-
actly what New Jersey corrections officers are up against, with
the onset of political justice reform that threatens to close
and consolidate facilities without considering the impact that
such action will have corrections officers.
Citing a consolidation study compiled in Michigan, Dawe
spoke directly to the counties in New Jersey that have already
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NEW JERSEY COPS
■ MARCH 2018
been affected by the problem, including Gloucester, Burling-
ton and Salem counties.
“Once consolidation takes place, everybody walks away
and doesn’t pay attention to the aftermath,” Dawe recog-
nized. “You’ve got to get ahead of this jail consolidation. We
can either sit here and see us lose another jail, or we can guide
the conversation.”
The room was packed with corrections officers who listened
to Dawe examine issues that they felt impact their working
conditions and well-being.
“That fight-or-flight that we have to deal with every single
day we’re behind those walls, that’s what kills us,” he warned.
“Our biggest problem is that we can’t admit it, because they’ll
take our jobs.”
Dawe detailed how important it is for corrections officers
across the country to stand together now more than ever to
raise their voice as one.
“I’ll take you to Juneau, Alaska, throw you in a joint and
you’re going to do the same job you did in Morris County,” he
explained. “We have universal problems, and they have uni-
versal solutions when we have strength and a voice.”
Educating members and communicating about the effects
of criminal justice reform in correctional facilities is where
it begins. Dawe called upon all PBA members present at the
discussion to demand their seats at the legislative table and
stand unified across the nation to see positive change.
“We’re here to tell them what it’s really like behind the
walls,” he stressed. “We need to participate in these conver-
sations and let them know what our view of criminal justice
reform is.” d