If you witnessed inmates abused by guards.

ronchelednik · Jan 21, 2015

You seem to be worried about a hypothetical issues. It's a non issue. You follow Law. It should not be a dilemma at all.

13grad71 · Jan 22, 2015

I would report it. Abuse is abuse. In my short correctional experience, 98% of C.O. are professional but of course there are always the occasional prick or those that go out of their way to be a-holes. But I would never hesitate to report it. Why cover up and be criminally charged for someone else' misdeed.

Red Kryptonite · Jan 22, 2015

You must report abuse. However you also need to realize that every time guards "beat up" an inmate is not abuse. Inmates start fights, threaten guards and other inmates, and fight with guards when they check cells for contraband. Unfortunately sometimes physical violence is unavoidable.

avahnel, ASN, RN · Jan 23, 2015

There is a difference between abuse, and techniques used by skilled professionals to subdue a violent inmate. You can tell the difference when you are in that environment. I see people but in restraint chairs that do not want to go into them...is it violent? Yes. I wish there were a big sign in our intake department that said "Your behavior will dictate how you are treated in our facility." Our COs are wonderful, and do not use unwarranted force.

reptilesavvy · Jan 24, 2015

Reading too many articles on LA County Jail inmates abuse by COs made me a bit of paranoid!

Of course I would report abuse if I witness. I wanted to say was, how would you deal with the possible retaliation by reported CO?

DawnJ · Jan 25, 2015

They shouldn't be able to retaliate if the facility is well run. Just like if a nurse is threatened by an inmate, the nurse is insulated from that person. That inmate comes back in and into his/her unit, that nurse is re-assigned. If I reported I was uncomfortable or felt unsafe in any unit for any reason, I'd be reassigned. Of course, you can't be a marshmallow, it has to be a legitimate reason or else you might not be cut out for Corrections.

CryssieD · Mar 1, 2015

"Abuse" is a loaded term--and remember, inmates' perceptions of abuse may not actually match up with the legal standard; inmates think they are being abused when we take them off their whopping street doses of Oxycontin and Xanax for "chronic leg pain" caused by a soft-tissue gunshot wound. Besides, many facilities require use of cameras in all units, as well as direct recording of any potentially violent interventions, like a cell extraction of an unwilling offender. If you witness any abuse, you probably have video evidence of it somewhere; but no matter what, you report up the chain of command exactly what you saw and leave it to the brass to decide whether that constitutes abuse or not. Actual abuse is probably rarer than you think--most prison guards are very professional.