Assignment:
You work in a major metropolitan city jail as a corrections officer (CO). Your unit just got a new commander who came in from the headquarters administrative prison bureau, and this is his first assignment commanding actual COs in the field working in the cell block. Right away, you note that he is abrupt and demanding.
During a health and welfare sweep for contraband in a wing of the cell block, an ethnic male who is rumored to have been supplying inmates with controlled substances is found to have a small amount of marijuana concealed in his bunk. The new supervisor is trying to show how tough he is and is directing the CO team to only pick up all of the males that match the approximate age and ethnicity of this inmate and shake them down. All attempts by the members of the CO unit to get the supervisor to reconsider are met with an extreme violent reaction in which he starts screaming and relating that he knows this is a disloyal group and that he will see to it that the team is punished for disobeying an order. Then he starts yelling about not being able to commit to a campaign without good troops. The team became concerned about the new commander. They got together and came to you, as the senior member, asking what to do.
Please answer the following questions:
- What is the likely mental state of the new commander?
- How could orders from this new commander to the unit cause issues with the corrections officers and their relationship in the inmate population?
- Do you feel that this commander should be allowed to resume this position as your commander after he sees a trained mental health professional?