Nebraska: ‘VERY good day’ Facebook posting has penitentiary guards in hot water

[Heidi]

Posted: Thursday, February 25, 2010 3:00 pm

By PAUL HAMMEL World-Herald News Service

LINCOLN — A man who identified himself as a Nebraska State Penitentiary guard posted a Facebook comment this month expressing glee at roughing up a inmate.

“When you work in a prison a good day is getting to smash an inmates face into the ground ... for me today was a VERY good day,” stated the posting on the social-networking Facebook page of Caleb Bartels.

Two other men identified in state records as prison guards, Shawn Paulson and Derek Dickey, posted responses that appeared supportive, including this one from Dickey: “very satisfying isnt it!!!”

Now all three find themselves in hot water, with former State Sen. Ernie Chambers calling for their dismissal.

In a letter this week to Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning, Chambers said such “reprehensible misconduct” discussed so brazenly makes the three unfit to serve.

Read more

http://www.ketv.com/mostpopular/22675556/detail.html">Facebook Post Prompts Prison Probe: Guard Accused Of Joking About Abusing Inmates

[depakid]

1. I've come to appreciate Facebook as a way of outing idiots, jerks and people who lack discretion

It's especially satisfying when petty criminals and vandals brag about their exploits and get called in to account....

[Heidi]

13. "Hey, everbuddy! Watch THIS1!+!1! SERIESLY! Look at ME11!!!"

:D

[Heidi]

2. Facebook screenshot and Omaha World-Herald article:

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100225/NEWS97/702259829

[MineralMan]

3. Morons abound!

[TexasObserver]

4. You cannot imagine how unqualified most prison guards are.

They are uneducated people with few job choices. They have power over prisoners but no respect in the community. It's several rungs below mall cop on the pecking order of "security and law enforcement."

The difference between guards and inmates is one of degree. Imagine a really dumb person with backwoods prejudices and a chip on their shoulder. That's your typical prison guard in Texas.

[Heidi]

7. How does it pay?

I've lived in towns that actually recruited prisons as economic development, offering tax abatements and bargain-basement prices on land and utilities -- just for the jobs a prison would create. But how much do prison guards make? I honestly have no idea.

[TexasObserver]

12. I believe the entry level guards are at $10-12 an hour in Texas.

The uniforms are cheap. The benefits minimal. I visit a community north of Houston that has a large population of prison employees. You see them every day, in stores and restaurants, in uniform, coming or going to work. Occasionally, someone working at a local restaurant gets a job at the prison as a guard, and they're excited to get the "good" job. It pays more than working at restuarants.

Prisons have all manner of administrators and staffers who make far more than guards. Those are white collar jobs and bring home buyers and consumers to the community. Prisons are purchasers of goods and services, so they create demand for local businesses. Then there are the prisoner's familes who move into the area to be near their prisoner. For communities striving to keep jobs and demand for real estate, a prison looks pretty good.


On edit after a little online research:

It appears the average for correctional officers in Texas is around $30,000 a year, which would be about $15 an hour. Assumedly, there are more below that figure than above that average. I think my $10-12 an hour starting rate is pretty close for those prisons in rural areas north of Houston. It could be as high as $13 an hour, though, to start.

[gmoney]

15. well, you gotta create jobs at all levels, even for pinheads like these guys

Prisons will create construction jobs initially, guards and other staff, and bolster support services like restaurants, groceries, retail, housing, etc. when that state/federal money comes into the communities.

But communities have lots of unemployed who may not have the qualifications to work in some high-tech jobs, so they need to create blue collar jobs. And with prisons, when the economy is bad, business is even better, and it's unlikely that the thing will shut down and be offshored to Korea, unlike if the community courts a manufacturing company, or even a Wal-Mart, (who are famous for shuttering stores after a couple years, once they've driven all the locally owned retailers out of business).

[Obamanaut]

16. You just described my county in Florida. We did not have a state

prison, one of the few counties that did not.

There was a program afoot to get one, touting all the financial benefits of having 'our own prison.'

I wrote several letters to the editor of our local paper, and they were published, suggesting that the only people who would benefit from such a deal would be:

the person who owned the land the state bought for the prison;
the broker who arranged the sale;
the construction outfit that got the contract to build.

I pointed out the several nearby counties with prisons, noting that some only had a single flashing light in the middle of town, with two prisons within a 10 mile radius - I did not see where the financial boon was benefiting anyone.

Surprise! We have the prison.

[BigErnMcCracken]

5. Also be certain

That his facebook page included a bunch of photos of him close to shirtless, flexing in some way, displaying weapons, and also included among his friends every single middle-aged divorced woman with children that he could possibly add to his friends list.

Facebook is disgusting. Myspace is disgusting. I don't need to know that you just took a dump. Keep it to yourself.

[Heidi]

8. Welcome to DU, BigErn!

:hi:

[Jkid]

9. Agreed.

They're dumb enough to make this shit public. I always keep my facebook settings private to friends only. That saved me more than one times.

[BigErnMcCracken]

6. Also be certain...

[RadiationTherapy]

10. Like so many others, he is in it for the power trip.

I considered law enforcement before I ended up an enemy of the drug war. I wonder what other personalities might join law enforcement if part of the job wasn't hassling junkies and potheads for possession.

[Heidi]

11. And I wonder how having to work beside even one asshat like those in the OP

narrows the recruiting pool for LE and corrections? I know I'd prefer the company of inmates to the company of co-workers like the guy in the OP.

[RedCloud]

14. Cone on Obama, let 'em off the hook. Placate these fascists once again.

gee, maybe reverse logic will work? :shrug: