Jodi Arias, the dangers of manipulation

Jodi Arias the manipulator?

Jodi Arias dream statement to the jury asking for life and not death sentence ~ Video

Jodi Arias video on dream statement to jury

Jodi Arias's Rose Colored Glasses ~ Doing Time

Convicted murders in Arizona face a challenge like no other prison in the United States. They face the ultimate test of survival and try to stay alive for the term sentenced or awaiting the execution date for the death warrant to be served when put on death row. Arias showed no level of rational or logical understanding of our prisons system when she addressed the jury on Tuesday. She was totally in another world that showed a dramatic disconnected viewpoint or expectation between reality and prison worlds.

She will experience one or the other but they are in actuality the same in this darkened environment where the public has no idea what goes on. She will never see “programs I can start and people that I can help and programs that I can participate in."

Her destiny after the trial, whether she gets put on death row or serve a life sentence has been set. Fate will demand she will be isolated and kept away from others for the rest of her life. She may manage to cope but it is likely she will contemplate suicide like so many others in Arizona prisons. Her changes are slim to survive this ordeal and it’s likely she will be dead before her sentence is completed.  Wearing ball and chain wherever she goes, she will experience mental and physical pain. She will be tortured by her own device and suffer at the hands of loneliness and despair. Those around her will taunt her to no end and drive her crazy. It’s just that kind of world she is going to and nothing can stop it.

She will leave her isolation cell for three or maybe four reasons. It depends how compliant she is with the officers that escort her. She will be stripped searched each time the cell door opens and either walked or put on a gurney to places she need to go with the exception of recreation, showers and maybe non-contact visits by attorney to work on her appeal.

Starting a book club will consist of a book club of one. If she recycles it will be her own recycle bin inside her cell but likely disposed of as contraband for she is not allowed much property while there. Reality will hit her sooner than never. Arias will have so much time to stare at the walls her mind will search for voices to talk to her when alone.

Cruel and unusual it may be to many but in Arizona prisons the standards are one hundred years old. There aren’t any accommodations for compassion or empathy. She will be housed in the same area where Marcia Powell died in the heat of the Arizona weather while kept in an outdoor enclosure that now has shade and water but nevertheless a cage.

It is likely Jodi Arias will realize that what she had done will never out do her sentence. Whether life without parole or a death sentence, Arias has already began the journey to the walking dead as she enters the Perryville prison completely unaware what is in store for her and how cruel it will be to her sanity, her health and her existence on earth.

Source: http://www.azfamily.com/news/The-truth-behind-Jodi-Arias-grand-plans-for-prison-208611471.html

Maximum Risks

Dear Rep. Campbell,

 

For the past several years there have been calls for the prison director’s resignation which has led to hundreds of suicides and a no confidence vote by the correctional officers’ union. It appears the director’s record of delivering sound medical / mental health services along with a booming institutional death rate is far from being acceptable according to national healthcare standards of care. Arizona ranks about sixth in the nation on suicides and nobody seems to be too concerned about this matter. In fact, Governor Brewer has praised the director several times saying she thought he was doing a very good job and impressed with his handling and understanding of the Arizona prison system. To this day, the director has only admitted superficial flaws exist and that he is working on reducing his conditions of confinement from maximum risk to changes that will lower those risks. So far, his plan is not working very well.

It is with some certainty he is reorganizing the healthcare services as he terminated one contractor and hired another in mid contract due to contractual deficiencies that delayed the delivery of medical care and sound healthcare practices inside prisons. However, he has failed to reduce the maximum risks that are currently impacting the current rate of deaths inside the prisons that are routinely written off as natural deaths, suicides or homicides.

The fact remains these numbers have not been reduced to any significant level and continue to exist while burdening the correctional officers with the laborious tasks of maintain a status quo with less resources and staffing than ever before inside the lockdown units. In this matter, these correctional officers are tasked to do the impossible as there is a shortage of staff at those critical positions that are legally and morally responsible for sound correctional practices.

It is highly recommended the Arizona legislature conduct an review of the whole system through independent impact statements related to staffing deployment plans of medical/mental health staff, custodial employees and other resources dedicated to handle treatment and programs of the high risk offenders susceptible to committing suicides or become victims in a violent assault or death by predatory gangs or individuals housed with the severely mentally ill in general population and lockdown units. Many of these offenders are unable to cope with this risk of being harmed on an open yard and are asking for protection in the lockdowns where the suicide rate is the highest.

This oversight and interview process should focus on conditions of confinement and the quality of care, training and communication with special needs offenders that are dying at an alarming rate weekly. It should also focus on leadership capabilities within the agency and the administrative oversight of medical, mental health and other specialized needs to ensure compliance with constitutional rights for fair treatment and quality services.

It is suspected that there are a variety of reasons for this deficiency, not because of people doing bad things but rather systems not in proper working in order to accomplish better delivery of services rendered by either the private medical contractor or custodial staff. There needs to be better accountability for the high number of deaths and putting his hands up and saying that is part of being incarcerated inside a penitentiary is not a suitable response. A plan needs to be devised to ensure the numbers are reduced and suicide intervention methods are active and working. I pray you will offer a solution to this problem as you have researched this matter as well.

While the legislative oversight committee is researching causes for the above mentioned concerns, it might also want to review standards of care and practices to concerns related to AIDS / HIV, Hepatitis, MRSA, Staph infections and other communicable disease concerns that poison the community upon the offender’s release. It should also review the care of the elderly and the medical costs associated with such incarceration care and review alternatives for those eligible for early release and non-violent offenders in crime committed and institutional adjustment history.

Closing Thoughts

Being a correctional officer is stressful all by itself. Making things more complicated than they already are makes it a tough job to do. Dealing with the negative impulses or impacts that surround them while on the job and giving them little peace of mind off the job. Thus they carry it with them 24 /7 without much relief or satisfaction resulting in early retirement, resignations or corruptive thinking. Corruption becomes a dirty word. It is everywhere you look whether you are inside of prison or outside. The politics related to these kind of corruptible behaviors trickles down from the top to the bottom and often results in working with assholes as supervisors or managers. It’s just the reality of the abusive environment but keeping it in the proper context is the most important decision you can make. It doesn’t have to be that way and you can change your own environment by not buying into the concept and staying on course to do your job.

Officers exposed to this negativity never feel comfortable and take up a defensive position that is often called paranoia. Every day is a challenge not to let the environment poison them. It doesn’t suit many hence the high turnover in this particular criminal justice field. It’s just a reality that prison work is not for everybody and some should think about getting out before it is too late and something bad happens to them. Those that can deal with negativity and stress will overcome these barriers and become good officers.

Learning the ropes at the Academy can be very frustrating. There are often two different messages told to you while learning the basics of corrections. There are instructors that tell you how to handle this job by the book and there are supervisors coming in to guest lecture and tell you to forget the book and do it another way. This mixed signal often created confusion and distorts the truth of how to really do your job as a correctional officer. The truth is when you graduate, the only skill you picked up at the Academy was to document and cover your ass [CYA] yourself as you will fear being criticized or ostracized for expressing or performing tasks contrary to expectations of supervisors and managers set on doing the job their way or the highway.

The moment you hit the line you find out that teamwork is just a word. The reality strikes you like a lock in a sock to the head and makes you realize that officers don’t stick together like it was preached at the Academy. Getting help is rare and being ridiculed is another way to crush your spirit as you focus on doing your job right but are hampered by those wanting you to do it their way. Some will say “get over it” and adjust your coping skills to get the job done.

Working with prisoners is a dangerous job and it must be recognized that this beat is one of the toughest in the criminal justice system. It would be better and safer if there were real team building concepts in place to ensure better staff safety and environmental concerns. Inmates would rather hurt themselves than strike out at a correctional officer but the same can’t be said of a fellow officer or supervisor taking care of business on a different level or motive.

 Because of this conflict, it is hard not to be disheartened as morale often strikes you down when there is no one there to pick you up. Don’t take this journey alone and find support with others that share you plight and remain positive in a most negative world.

Over the next few months you will experience two things for certain. You will begin to see if you are fit to work in such an environment and you will be witness to troubled occurrences where you will see or sense fellow officers bringing in contraband for the prisoners in those cases where they have been compromised by their behaviors or ethics. Watching cell phones, tobacco, drugs and other things come in will frustrate you and alienate you with some of the officers. You will need to find someone that works on your level and shares ethical and comparable performance levels that you take pride in and excel each time you do your job. It’s a survival tool you must engage in order to refrain from quitting.

Showing up for work will become harder as each day passes. You will work with individuals that abuse sick leave and show up for work under the influence of alcohol or not show up at all. You will also see the other side of some bad supervisors as they look the other way for their friends and stay away from the line where they could contribute and help but rather sit in their office and surf the internet as they chat or find columns that resemble Facebook or Twitter and do everything but work their eight as required. The good thing is not all supervisors are bad people and will help if you ask them.

You won’t feel safe and you will feel nobody will listen to your concerns as time whittles away your sleep and robs you of the energy needed to do a good job. Fatigue and complacency are your two worst enemies. This is exponentially complicated by stress and anxiety that won’t leave you alone. It leads you to finding cures in your own way and often results in abuse of alcohol, prescription drugs or other stimulants or downers not designed to keep your head clear for good decision making. You must always watched your back and the back of others because deep down inside you know some of your  coworkers were sleeping or playing on their cell phone or PlayStation smuggled in for personal entertainment.  The good news is that these misfits written about here are the minority and often put on “Shy” status meaning they are no longer part of the team and with time, they get fired for doing a poor job or breaking the law.

You will find pleasant redemption in the fact that approximately ten percent are lousy officers and assholes on the job but many of the ninety per cent are good and helpful correctional officers that will take the time to support your efforts while on shift and make the job easier. You just have to learn to keep things in perspective and apply your own morality and character to the environment to make it work for you.

The less you worry about those things you can’t change, the better you do your job and focus on those things that matter and keep you and others safe. Learning how to adapt, improvise and overcome will strengthen your character and make you an excellent correctional officer that in time will help others or mentor those in need for the same support you experienced when you came on board. Be Safe~