On October 20, 2016 in Dannemora, New York, within the confines of Clinton Correctional Facility, an African American inmate, Leonard Strickland, is left for dead after a confrontation with several correctional officers. Collapsed on the floor, the officers ignore inmate Strickland’s clear medical distress and drag his unconscious body across the prison floor. Consequently, Strickland dies from a blow to the head received during the altercation.

A compassionless act; this is not the first nor most recent story of negligence on the part of correctional officers, as mistreatment and brutality within prison walls has proven to be widespread across the United States. Correlating with background, it becomes evident that the qualification requirements for state correctional officers must be more intensive and selective, as these crimes within institutions cannot continue to be ignored. This inability to ensure the safety and basic human rights of another individual is not only consequential but inhumane.

Without the completion of higher level education in a field such as psychology, sociology, or criminal justice (and any other social science field for that matter), it is reasonable to assume that a majority of individuals will not possess the knowledge needed to most efficiently work with people in a high stress environment such as a prison. That is not to say that a high school education is useless or even that you have to have a college degree to be successful, but rather, prison is very unlike most other places you may have seen or experienced.

Picture this; you get to work where you have to go through a metal detector and 2 security gates just to clock in, not to mention you're greeted by armed officers in the watch towers surrounding the barbed wire enclosure you just entered. Once you get your assignment for the day, you enter your block where you're left to oversee 150+ inmates as they go about their day behind bars. They are all in there for different crimes, some are friendly while others threaten you when you walk by. Hour upon hour you sit in isolation with these men and women who have been locked away from society as you wait to go home. Spending your days in a place like that (willingly) requires not only people skills, but an understanding of what it means to empathize and connect with others when that connection seems nearly impossible.

As of today, the general requirements for obtaining a job in a state institution are that you must be, “at least 18…, possess a high school diploma or GED, have no previous felony convictions, be a United States citizen, [and] possess a valid driver’s license". Qualifications that eliminate few, because there is little to no curb appeal (unless you're someone like me) to working in a prison, oftentimes the system will allow people with no real experience or understanding of prison to become the policemen of the inside, because if not them then who is left?

With these minimal requirements, the likelihood that most officers will really care about the prison population or the field as a whole is low. Increasing the effect of lesser education and a lack of overall empathy, the distribution of power within correctional facilities exists completely isolated from that which exists in the “outside world”. Functioning as its own society, fully equipped with a store, gym, library, school, and housing, because of the nature of the population, prisons must be kept up and running by a completely separated administration. Consequentially, the responsibility of taking care of the “citizens”, in this case the inmates, falls to the correctional officers.

With an obscured view of their responsibilities, and a title that naturally elicits power, oftentimes officers exhibit dominance over the inmate population, as they are no longer seen as equals within an institutional setting. In combination with its current acknowledgement of well paid entry-level position, the job of correctional officer can attract those who have no real interest in the betterment or well being of incarcerated individuals. Leading to a situation of criminal versus officer, when one lacks empathy such as many officers may, the likelihood that conflict will ensue rises drastically. Without improved screening of candidates for officer positions, the internal tension will continue to grow to a breaking point within this innately oppressive institution.

The magnitude of violence within correctional facilities must be stopped, as it has continued on without extreme consequences for too long. Once the qualification requirements are increased, the population which makes up the correctional officer force will begin in this entry-level position with more experience and understanding of the new world they are working within. I believe that a correctional officer must be passionate about the work they are doing, and without requiring continued education, there is no clear way to detect such passion. In a high-stress environment such as this, it is essential that these individuals understand their duties, and perform in a manner that is morally just and conducive to rehabilitation, as that should be the primary mission of the system.