Letter: Let prison guards help themselves
Ray Appleton (radio program) had guest on this morning (Sept. 18). He was starting an advocacy group to get the feds to supply stab resistant vests for the federal prison guards in Atwater and elsewhere.
I say no. Why should we supply them? Why don’t they buy their own? Christmas is coming. This would make a great gift from the family.
I go to work every day. I have to buy my own tools, hard hat, ladders, etc. Why can’t they? I know two prison guards that have retired at an average of $6000 a month, and they are not even 60. So I know they make good money.
They say that this is in response to a fight over a TV station. Some wanted a different station. A fight broke out and a guard was stabbed to death trying to break it up.
The guest said these prisoners are the badest of the bad.
Let’s give the guards the power to shoot out the TV set if that’s the case. Put these guys in a 6 x 6 cell and leave them there.
If they are over 6 feet they will have to sleep diagonal. Minimum meals. If they want more, let their family bring it. This way we will only have to worry about Big Macs being smuggled in instead of drugs.
If this were the circus and a guy wanted to be a lion tamer, would he go in that cage without a chair and a whip? Hell no! Bet if his boss didn’t buy him one he would get his own. When gas peaked this summer, the guards in Avenal wanted a fuel ration because it cost so much to drive to and from Fresno. Duh? Why didn’t they buy a home out there? When I was commuting to Fresno, we all drove our own cars on Monday morning. Then we car-pooled back Monday night. That way, if any of us got stuck working late we had our car to drive home in. Friday night, we all drove our cars back. Worked great. Gas wasn’t even a dollar then either.
We need to think about getting rid of our liabilities. The “correctional” system is not what I would call a success. It’s not correcting anything. If we just changed the job classification from “correctional officer” to “containment person,” and the warden to “containment supervisor,” we could probably get away with paying them half and having them work 30 years before being eligible for retirement. That would save us a bunch.
We also need to look at the Title “CEO” in government. Our fair manager is now a CEO. We have CEOs everywhere. We even had one at the Unified School District. He was hired and was slipped into the main job like it was greased. CEO in government is just a salary thing. If you topped out as a manager, what do you do? Your job is the same but you need a raise. Well what do you know? Now you are a CEO.
All candidates say, “We need smaller government” Well take it from an Old Fart … that ain’t going to happen.
Bill Hoffrage,
Madera
this is for bill federal c/o’s make alot less than state. Those retited c/o’s would’ve had to put in 30 plus years of service to retire at 6,000 a month . unfortunally the correction system is here to stay, oh and dont forget the rehabilatation. Times have changed most construction companies supply hard hats, latters, and uniforms if they make you were a specific uniform. as a state c/o im required to were a stab resistant vest as part of my uniform. Bill i take it you were a journyman framer or construction, so what your telling me is all they had to do was change your job title to hammer guy, or saw guy etc. to cut your pay in half, even though you were still doing the same job. i understand now they dont pay for your work, the pay for your job title. last time i heard they dont even call us correctional officers they call us prison guards. well when your sleeping safe at home with your family. you need to know there is a correctional officer, prison guard,/containment person behind those prison walls putting there lives on the line. so you and your family could stay safe. Oh and those two retired correctional officers you know, you should thank them they did it for 30 plus years. I say yes to the vests what ever it takes to keep those federal brother and sister correctional officers safe. so they can continue to keep you safe!
Thats like telling all the policemen to have to buy their own guns and batons, and vests. What a stupid comment. These guys risk their lives every day. Do you do that in construction? I should think not, you sit there and eat your lunch and not have to worry that the next time you open a gate you could get stabbed with something, or watch your co-worker get killed right next to you. There is a difference buddy between what you do and what they do, and I think they deserve alot more pay for doing it. Yell at the politicians that dont do something more to these idiots that are hardended criminals, dont yell at the guys that have to give these idiots their food and watch out for their rights.