ShareThisTuesday, November 21, 2006
If you've had your TV on lately, you know that the prison guards union is at it again.
The California Correctional Peace Officers Association is using its formidable political war chest to run ominous television ads to put pressure on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to do a repeat of the giveaway 2001-2006 prison guard contract.
In that last go-round, the union got a five-year deal (rather than the usual two-year contract) with excellent salary increases and enhanced retirement benefits, plus new limits on management control of sick leave, overtime and post assignments. The CCPOA boasts on its Web site that this was "without a doubt...the best contract ever signed by CCPOA." But you won't see that in the new media campaign.
Instead, the ads portray guards as victims. As in the union's previous media campaigns, the new ads feature pictures of Officer Suzi Jones shortly after she was beaten by an inmate at the New Folsom maximum security prison, video footage of riots and the line that "nine officers a day are being assaulted" in California prisons.
That "nine a day" figure appears to be drawn from state reports that include everything from spitting to throwing unidentified liquid to biting to scratching to punching to kicking to head-butting to attacks with weapons. There is no analysis of how many of these incidents are really serious assaults, but a 2001 examination of the Texas prison system by the Texas Office of the State Auditor may offer some perspective. Based on workers' compensation data, that study found that prison staff are hurt more often in slips, trips or falls than in an assault.
The contrast between the CCPOA image and that of other law enforcement organizations is striking. Working as a state trooper, police officer or sheriff's deputy is dangerous and can even mean death on the job, as these other law enforcement organizations accurately note. But these organizations portray their jobs as offering individuals with a high school diploma a lifetime of challenges and excellent compensation. The CCPOA portrays a guard's work life as one of unending suffering and victimization.
9 A Day
"include everything from spitting to throwing unidentified liquid to biting to scratching to punching to kicking to head-butting to attacks with weapons."
Looks pretty serious to me. When was the last time one of these things happened to you?