Sometimes they need anger management

Sometimes THEY Need Anger Management Frederick Mason USP Tucson #55487-056 PO Box 24550 Tucson, AZ 85734 More times than not, what you hear from prison is negative- and often one-sided. And to be honest, for the most part, it's true. Let's not fool ourselves; prison is a negative and often violent place. This definitely isn't Disneyland, nor is it your local church. But the reason why I write essays is to shed light that prisons aren't always as dark as society believes. Guys, there ARE good people in prisons; a lot of guys are good people that made a mistake, no different than most people. One officer told me, "the only difference between you guys (inmates) and us (officers) is that we weren't caught," He told me this to show sympathy, understanding that we all make mistakes. So I try to share my view of prison, to share that there are 2 sides to what you've been exposed to The BOP (Bureau Of Prisons) shows how we're the negative and violent ones. Yes, this can be true- but BOP needs to also look at themselves as being equally negative and violent. Sometimes THEY need Anger 'Management. Case in point: Today, this morning (August 12th, 2016) I go to the laundry to get my clothes washed. But the Laundry Officer never shows up; in the real world, somebody that doesn't show up gets FIRED, yet BOP's standards for their own are apparently far lower than the sky-high bar they set for us. In any case, I can't get my clothes washed, so I leave. As I'm headed back to the dorm, the "deuces" are hit. This is an expression in our prison when some emergency has happened- usually a fight. When this happens, every officer and staff member in the prison must come RUNNING to the place of the altercation- in this case, a fight. From my vantage point, I see down the walkway officers breaking up a fight. Once there's such an emergency, every inmate on the yard must IMMEDIATELY stop movement, and get down on the ground- an act of submission, until the crisis is resolved. So I move immediately to the side of the building, and knelt down. Officers and staff rush by, running to the spot where the guys in the fight are subdued by a dogpile of officers. I've got no problem with this; when a fight happens, there must be an immediate counter, and all inmates must not interfere in any way, shape or form. The piling on- I could argue, but I won't. It's procedural and necessary. This is all in the name of security, which I clearly understand, though there's a lot of hypocrisy in that... another essays is needed for that. So, while we're all sitting or knelt down, the matter is resolved. Two guys (inmates) are taken and walked back towards the SHU (Special Housing Unit). Those were the two that were fighting. So... situation seems resolved. Yet, as some of the officers walked back, apparently one of the Lieutenants hadn't come off his adrenaline rush, or still high off testosterone. These are the officers that feel like they're God, and can do whatever they want to inmates. As he's coming by, he yells, "If you don't sit on you butts, I will have you SHOT!" REALLY? You're threatening to SHOOT anyone who's not sitting down? Most guys were either sitting^ down or kneeling, but this adrenaline-hyped lieutenant demanded absolute compliance. As he walked by one inmate, who was clearly kneeling, he shouted at him, "Sit DOWN!" So he quickly did. An elderly man, over 8 0 years old, was standing on his cane. The same lieutenant yelled at him to sit. I was kneeling by the building, and he had not seen or addressed me. Yet, I felt angry at his directives. While I cannot argue the edict to sit, I will argue the delivery, and threat to SHOOT an inmate. You don't threaten any inmate in this situation, after resolvement of the issue with the potential of being shot... Aren't we seeing too much of abusive officers on television? Make no mistake, there ARE officers like that in prison, officers that can't control their anger. That's the difference in being professional, and abusive. a I do not argue the necessity of order and compliance, in fact I support it. But those two characteristics can't be justly administered by officers who can't control their anger. These are the ones that really need Anger Management, because if not, these are the very same officers that will beat inmates- or shoot them, simply because they believe they're above the law and have an equally horrid opinion of inmates. These are the officers that think they are God, but are far from it. They need Anger Management just as much as many inmates; difference is, at least inmates will acknowledge that they do.