Supervisors, how do you get along with yours

[TX_CO]

The Adminsitration at my facility is awesome, from the Sr. Warden all the way down they support the line officers without question when you are right. My supervisors now are some of the best I have ever worked with.

So how do you get along with yours?

[SHU]

j

Most of them at my jail are worthless despickable POS. We have a couple of decent ones but most I trust less than the I/Ms.

[Tx_Bossman]

there are only two types of people who don't like their supervisors. the first one is the one that doesn't do his/her job and the supervisor is always on them, the second one is the one that thinks or knows they can do a better job as a supervisor, but never goes up for the position.

[TXCO1]

My shift has great supervisors. I am blessed I guess. We have supervisors that would go to bat for you every single time. Their knowledge and experience are not only helpful, but often amusing. They make coming to the enviroment we work in fun and exciting. I hope to be half the supervisor they are when I go up for rank. They are helping me get prepared for the boards. I still have about a year before I can go for Sgt. If you do your job and a little more most supervisors will be thinking highly of you. In Texas it is a revolving door in turnover, so show some potential and you will go far.

[Von Nanega]

Most of the LTs at my joint are all right. But to be sure, it is always a mixed bag. If the LT has a silly idea, I look him (or her) in the eye, and say "alright boss" and go do it the right way. I been doing this too long to argue with fools, or even get mad at them.

[hankrearden2000]

When I worked for the Oklahoma DOC I felt pretty much the same way as you guys from Texas do. It's refreshing to see that it's good in some places.

Then I went to the feds where reason only applies sometimes. Where supervisors and managers don't feel the need to follow their own written policies nor require staff & inmates to follow the policies that they create. Of course, policies are created mainly by people who are far removed and out of touch with the prisons. And all of the good supervisors from the past who would stand up to administrators when something was wrong have either retired, been fired, or busted back to non-supervisory positions.

In the BOP, if you don't have union protection, you don't dare challenge administrators or speak out regardless of how wrong the situation is. Supervisors don't have union protection, so the good ones don't last very long or are never developed in the first place. Most people who have the ability to see down the road a little bit farther than the end of their noses can see the writing on the wall and know better than to put themselves in the position of being supervisors.

Today's BOP supervisors are for the most part a pretty gullible and unfortunate group. The decent ones have been succored in to the positions at a young age before learning what it was they were getting into. As a group, BOP supervisors are unprepared for the jobs they do and rarely have the support they need to do the job. Many try to compensate for their lack of knowledge and maturity by launching personal vendettas against staff whom they don't like for one reason or another.

For instance, on a Saturday evening in early March at Leavenworth we had an attempted suicide in SHU. After the evening meal was fed the shift lieutenant settled into his office to do the paperwork for the suicide attempt at about 1830 hrs. About then an officer in a unit catches a thug with several balloons of Marijuana and takes him and the dope to the lieutenant's office. Upon arrival the lieutenant proceeds to chew out the officer in the presence of the inmate and another officer for timing his bust with all of the paperwork the lieutenant had to do for the suicide attempt for the purpose of piling more paperwork on the lieutenant.

A half-hour later an officer in another housing unit finds two shanks in the possession of two inmates. He hauls the thugs and the shanks to the lieutenant's office while the lieutenant was still working on the suicide packet and the detention order for the Marijuana lockup. The lieutenant berates the officer in the presence of the two inmates and accuses him of joining in a conspiracy with the Marijuana-bust-officer to pile more paperwork on him.

About a half-hour later the officer who found the shanks on the inmates finds two more in a common area. This time the officer wasn't interested in being chewed out for doing his job and takes a union steward with him to the lieutenant's office. Now the lieutenant merely tries to stare down the officer but he does keep his stupid comments to himself.

About a half-hour later a third housing unit officer finds an inmate with a big bag of tobacco. He takes the tobacco, the thug, and the union steward with him because he's certain that he has an asschewing coming for piling more work on the poor lieutenant too. He gets the cold stare but is spared the stupid comments.

I was in the lieutenant's office that night at about 2300 hours, which is an hour before the end of the lieutenant’s shift and mine. He was enjoying a cup of coffee after having finished all of his paperwork--with an hour to spare!

This particular lieutenant is not even one of the young ones. He has almost 19years in the BOP and has been a supervisor for about 12 or 13 years in 4 different prisons.

Such is the state of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, but the pay is great!

[TX_CO]

I like both of my shift Lt's. and I have been thinking of going back up for Sgt. since we have good administration now.

I quit working for the S.O. and went back to TDCJ because even though I made more at county I hate politics, b.s. and spineless prosecutors, since I no longer work for elected officials with an agenda all is good.

[SHU]

thanks

Thank you hank for explaining to these people the upside down world we work in. I could offer many similar examples but I'll sum it up with just one. We use to have a Lt at my joint I'll call joe. Joe was a first rate guy. Always looking out for staff and would back a officer up 100%. Well, they ran joe off because he did not like to stick his nose up his supervisors rear end. We just got a replacement for joe last week. I'll call his replacement moe. Moe came from a joint far away. He does not have a kind word to say. When asked about his past and his short time on the job moe replied, "I'm here for myself, I want to promote". I think Moe is going to do well in the bop.

[TXCO1]

I understand the woes some of you are having with your supervisors. In my previous life I had to deal with those types. Keep in mind that the crap they give us cannot even compare to the crap given to them from above.

[hankrearden2000]

Excellent point, and exactly why no one with any sense wants to be one.

[LT. G-pie]

the administration above me is weak so far as the warden not wanting to do anything in fear of being sued, the capt myself and the other lt often get frustrated for the fact of any improvements we try to impliment gets shot down, with the same excuse well it hasen't happend yet. I was going to ask the forum a similar question like is your dept like the one I work for.

[Mr. CO]

the administration above me is weak so far as the warden not wanting to do anything in fear of being sued, the capt myself and the other lt often get frustrated for the fact of any improvements we try to impliment gets shot down, with the same excuse well it hasen't happend yet. I was going to ask the forum a similar question like is your dept like the one I work for.

Why do things have to happen before something is changed. Why not change it now, and reduce the chances it will happen. My facility is the same way.

[cclawdog]

Hmmmm..... How do I get along with my Stupidvisors? Hide. Really though I can't complain too much on the Sgts. The Lt's on my shift are all right too. But Some of the other Lt's are on this power trip especially when they get to be watch commander. Talk about micro managers! Its funny when things don't run as smooth for them than if they just let us do our jobs. The upper brass leaves alot to be desired for. One of the DOC's long time Cpts just retired and our Divisional Superintendant actually threatened disciplinary actiion for those that called off the night of his retirement party. The shift was very short handed that night as were a few other divisions that he had worked. That's how immensly popular he was with us CO's. The last of the Old Breed. I am actually sorry I never met the guy.

[onceamarine]

I get alone with my supervisors, after all they are supervisors, you can learn from them, if not your job will be that much harder.

[20YearsinBOP]

I get alone with my supervisors, after all they are supervisors, you can learn from them, if not your job will be that much harder.

Where and why do you get alone with your supervisors? I try to have other people with me when I am around mine.