Are you looking for a challenging career? Do you want to protect innocent people, and work with convicted offenders and suspects who have been placed under arrest? Then you may want to consider a career as a correctional officer.
Correctional officers are employed in a variety of institutional settings. Employers include state and federal correctional institutions such as prisons, prison camps, and youth correctional facilities; city and county jails or in other institutions run by local governments; and the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service. Employers may be either government agencies, or private companies that run detention facilities under government contract.
What are the duties of a correctional officer? Generally, correctional officers maintain order within the institution and enforce rules and regulations. They oversee the activities of inmates, and prevent disturbances, assaults, and escapes. The job may require hands-on activities such as searching inmates and their living quarters, enforcing discipline, and settling disputes between inmates. Correctional officers escort inmates during transfers, court appearances and visits, and inspect the inmates’ cells and mail for prohibited items.
Training is extremely important. Correctional officers must be well-trained in order to both perform their duties and preserve the constitutional rights of inmates. The Federal Bureau of Prisons requires entry-level correctional officers to have at least a bachelor’s degree, while state and local agencies typically require at least a high school diploma or GED. While most institutions provide training for new hires, applicants who have prior experience or specialized training at a college may have the edge. EducationForCareers.com provides access to many career schools that offer programs relevant to criminal justice and corrections careers.
How about advancement? The United States corrections system is a significant employer. Every year 12 million people are processed through local jails, and there are approximately 700,000 offenders held in jails at any given time. State and federal prisons house 1.5 million offenders at any given time. In order to oversee the incarcerated population, about 500,000 corrections officers were employed in 2006. Entry-level officers may advance to the position of correctional sergeant, and supervise correctional officers. There are additional supervisory and administrative positions all the way up to warden. Related jobs include probation officer, parole officer, and correctional treatment specialist.
As in every field, advancement can be competitive. The U.S. government says that promotion prospects may be enhanced by attending college.* That’s something to think about.
Job growth is expected to be faster than average. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, career opportunities for correctional officers are expected to be excellent during the current decade from 2006 through 2016. It is anticipated that 82,000 new correctional jobs will be added during this decade.*
Think you have what it takes to become a correctional officer? A career college may be a good place to find out… and with a right training, you might have the competitive edge when you go to that crucial job interview.
*Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2008-09 Edition, Correctional Officers, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos156.htm (visited February 21, 2008).
