Interview with Mel, a Female Corrections Officer

I met Mel on Myspace. Mel is female prison guard. She sent me a message after viewing my anti-death penalty page. She stated she was not trying confront me, but she did have legitimate questions to ask me.

"What about what these criminals did to their victims? What about what they did to the families of the people they took out of this world? What do you say to that? No, executing someone will not bring their victim back, but that isn't the point. The point is that there is a consequence for every action we choose to make. When you commit murder--by which I mean taking a purely innocent life for selfish innocent purposes and criminal enterprises--you act with the knowledge that there will someday be a consequence, whether in this life or the next."

Thats when I decided she would be the perfect person to interview to show the "other side " of the story. Since most of my interviews and stories are aimed at the Anti point of view, this one will be the Pro side.

Mel, could you tell us a little about your self/life?

I'm a musician, martial artist, writer, and small-time political activist in Arizona (for the cause of justice reform). My dad was in the navy throughout my childhood, so we moved around a lot; I consider San Diego, Phoenix, and Houston all to be my hometowns.

I understand your a corrections officer, how long have you been doing this, and what got you interested in this kind of work?

I've been a corrections officer for about three years total. I got interested after my cousins who are detention officers for the Maricopa County Sherriff's Office told me about their jobs; they'd been doing it for nearly 20 years when I moved here, and they seemed to like it. I've worked for the Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections, DOC, and a private corrections company.

What is the hardest thing about being a corrections officer?

The constant negativity. There is next to nothing positive about this job. Some people are suited to deal with that kind of thing; others aren't. It's very difficult to leave work inside the fence, because you see things all the time that are very disturbing.