Correctional Officer

Correctional Officer

Bob Walsh

Stockton, CA

Male, 60

I worked for the California state system, starting as a Correctional Officer and retiring as a Lieutenant in 2005. I now write for the PacoVilla blog which is concerned with what could broadly be called The Correctional System.

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Last Answer on February 10, 2022

Best Rated

How long can you get for having a tattoo gun under your bed

Asked by terra almost 13 years ago

Sorry, but I don't remember for sure.  Possession of the tattoo gun is different than tattooing.  I THINK the gun is 30 days.  Since the law has changed now and putting tattoos on someone without a health certificiate is a crime now in California that would carry a much heavier penalty. 

What's the fascination for female guards to sleep with male inmates? Seems to happen a lot. (I assume they get fired for that...?)

Asked by Gordo about 13 years ago

Some girls like bad boys. Sometimes it is just the forbidden fruit. Also inmates are, as a group, very good at sensing flaws and targeting people with them. In most states sex between inmates and staff is considered rape because the staff have power over inmates. They are normally fired if they don't quit first, and they are often prosecuted.

Is male-on-male prison sex as prevalent as film and TV would have us believe? Is it purely a power thing or do inmates actually turn gay while in jail?

Asked by Curious over 13 years ago

it happens, but prison rape is not the every-day occurance hollywood would make it appear to be. i have seen prisoners who are straight on the street and are gay inside, but that is not particularly common either. prisoners are very much like other people and they come in almost infinite variations.

Now that you're retired, do you miss the job at all?

Asked by Jack Sr. over 13 years ago

I miss some of the people. Not so much the job. The job is not what it was when I retired.

I know you said the staff don't read the letters, but what sort of things in the letters are the most helpful, welcome, etc for the inmates, and what subjects should be avoided?

Asked by Mary W about 13 years ago

Money is most helpful and welcome. Complaints about how rough things are at home without them, or how stupid they are to end up in prison, are probably the least helpful.

Do female prisoners organize themselves into gangs and racial groups like the men do?

Asked by Kid Quik about 13 years ago

Never worked at a female prison. I have been told the women have cliques, but they are not nearly as racially based as the men's.

How do conjugal visits work? Where do they happen and do prisoners get as many of them as they want?

Asked by DJ over 13 years ago

Prisoner have to be in the correct custody classification, not be a lifer or a condemned prisoner, and be disciplinary free. There are limited spaces for conjugal visits and the scheduling is tight. When I left a prisoner might reasonably expect 3 or 4 such visits in any 12 month period. The visitors must pay for the food, which is bought by staff at local stores. Visitors are no longer allowed to bring food in, too much stuff was getting smuggled that way. There must be a legitimate family relationship, California does not recognize common-law marriages, girlfriends do not get conjugal visits.