Correctional Officer
Becoming a Correctional Officer
Men and women performing the job duties of a correctional officer can work for area police departments, court houses, or prisons. The main job is to ensure prisoners maintain proper behavior. Workers employed as a correctional officer will spend time both in court rooms and prisons supervising or transporting prisoners during their trials and then while serving their prison sentence. Correctional officer job duties require a certain level of fitness and a definite strength in keeping control of a situation that may go badly.
The job of a correctional officer can be dangerous, especially in maximum security prisons. Prisoners frequently attempt to injure those in the job of a correctional officer during escape attempts, disagreements, and fights, and the success rate for serious injuries is pretty high. A correctional officer does hold steady eight-hour days usually working rotating shifts so that correctional officers are on duty all of the time, usually on each cell block or level of the prison. A correctional officer also helps transport prisoners from temporary holding cells or the court house to the assigned prison.
A correctional officer must be at least eighteen years of age, twenty-one in some states, and have a high school diploma. All correctional officers have to pass a thorough background check and prove they are capable of holding a steady job. Drug testing is mandatory, so workers must be willing to take random drug screening tests. Most employers will not hire a correctional officer if he or she has a history of job hopping. Prisons need solid, dependable workers who can stand the stresses of the job. Before the first year of employment ends, employees must successfully complete a 200 hour training course implemented by the federal government that covers weapon use, hostage negotiating, self defense, disarming prisoners, and other safety measures.
