Colton CDCR shooting...

[Zedrek]

Well, every Los Angeles County Jail facility has them and we house around 20,000 inmates on a daily basis.

Instead of getting bonus pay for things like wearing a Sam Browne belt, something every street cop does, maybe the CDCR officers union should focus on things like locker rooms. Even if they put up portables in one of the parking lots.

I'm not entirely sure on this but I think I remember seeing something about their union arguing that if they were required to change into uniforms while at work they would have to be compensated for it. I doubt the state is going to spring for that.

[Zedrek]

No locker rooms? I'm calling BS on that one. You mean to tell me that out of all the state prisons, they don't provide locker rooms for the guards????

Call BS all you want but I have worked at three prisons and I have not seen locker rooms that would be big enough to accommodate all of the officers changing for their shifts. There are some lockers available near the gym in the administration building but it wasn't designed for that purpose.

[retired]

Please, let's keep it civil everyone. My point in my earlier post, was lockers or not, going to a pizza joint dressed in a partial uniform probably is not the wisest decision to make. Yes, my kids had a dad who was in le, but still, they could ID them as leos of some sort. A bad guy could also.

I have a lot of respect for those of you who work in the prisons and I have said before, you couldn't pay me enough money to work inside one of them. When I worked the jails, I'd say 99% of the inmates just wanted to fight their case and either go home or begin their time. They didn't want to pick up another case by attacking staff.

You COs are working with inmates who might be doing 50 years or multiple life sentences. They have no real incentive not to attack you and they get "juice" for doing so. I tip my hat to you for dealing with those people; I'm just recommending some need to get smart about their off duty behavior as it relates to their safety.

[Ron-Solo]

I'm not entirely sure on this but I think I remember seeing something about their union arguing that if they were required to change into uniforms while at work they would have to be compensated for it. I doubt the state is going to spring for that.

Possibly. LA County had a "doffing and donning" lawsuit a while back, but I don't think it went anywhere.

Having a secure place to change is an officer safety issue, not something tat you should get paid to do, in my opinion. Do these guys (not just COs) put their uniform on when they get up in the morning, wear it all day before going to work, or do the put on street clothes and later change at home. Either way, you take a few minutes to change. I know some guys who wanted to get paid to change clothes. Pretty silly, in my opinion.

[Smoothiesd]

No locker rooms? I'm calling BS on that one. You mean to tell me that out of all the state prisons, they don't provide locker rooms for the guards????

Been at one for 12 years and I have still have not found one, maybe I have missed it. We HAVE to get ready in the parking lot, there is NO place to get suited and booted inside.

[Harold1950]

Change rooms

Worked at 3 prisons myself and no change rooms available. If someone got gassed by an inmate and needed to shower they were usually taken to a medical area showered and given clean clothes (usually medical scrubs) to change into before being taken to outside hospital and treated/examined if needed or desired. I trained new CDCR cadets for 6 years at the academy and stressed to them not to advertise where they worked (wearing uniforms either complete, rolled down) and making stops on the way to work. But the lack of a place to change does not help the situation any. Administration is afraid of inmates getting in an area and taking uniforms. At one of the older prisons I worked at, the inmates worked in staff dry cleaning and things came up missing. Dry leaning was permanently closed down. But pretty often I'd see seasoned officers driving to work with that arm out the window and the patch on the sleeve hanging out the window. Might as well be a flashing light. Glad I'm out of it now and retired.

[desertexplore]

Tagged

[CaliTheKid]

It's all about what is most important to you. I am a reserve and sometimes do not have a locker assigned to me as a lot of stations or units barely have enough for the full timers. But I still find a place to change because driving home out of uniform is important to me. If you are creative there is always a place to change. A PIA, yes. But officer safety is job one.

And on the drive home, checking your rear view mirror, taking different routes, getting off the freeway and then back on, -- counter surveillance maneuvers should be automatic. And I never stop for gas. My tank is full before I head to work. Maybe it adds 5 or 10 minutes to your total drive time but you make sure you are not leading the goblins to your home and family.

[TrailerparkTrash]

Been at one for 12 years and I have still have not found one, maybe I have missed it. We HAVE to get ready in the parking lot, there is NO place to get suited and booted inside.

Well, then guess what???? YOU take care of yourself and change out at the trunk of your car, the prison lobby, the employee restroom, or the admin office. Anywhere you have to, just not at home. Don't use the excuse of not having a locker room to quickly don/doff a prison jump suit (uniform) and a simple pair of cargo shorts before and after work.

[Spyder]

When I played basketball in college, our warmup pants had buttons down the sides, so that we could rip them off in about a half a second just by yanking on them. Get a pair of those in some obnoxious color, and about 2 sizes too big. Put on your jumpsuit, put the breakaway pants over the top of them, and wear a big hawaiin shirt over your top half. Will take an extra 1 minute before you leave home, and an extra 15 seconds when you park, before heading in.
Then you can do this in the parking lot every day, before work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bheryo4xOpo

[Zedrek]

When I played basketball in college, our warmup pants had buttons down the sides, so that we could rip them off in about a half a second just by yanking on them. Get a pair of those in some obnoxious color, and about 2 sizes too big. Put on your jumpsuit, put the breakaway pants over the top of them, and wear a big hawaiin shirt over your top half. Will take an extra 1 minute before you leave home, and an extra 15 seconds when you park, before heading in.
Then you can do this in the parking lot every day, before work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bheryo4xOpo

I see this going badly in the ERO office.

[desertexplore]

What about putting sweat pants over the uniform pants?

[Zedrek]

What about putting sweat pants over the uniform pants?

I doubt anyone is going to go through the trouble of that. Plus the boots kind of give it away. If someone was really worried about it there are ways to change before and after their shifts but I don't think anyone thinks it is an issue in my area.

[cantcme]

Clean underwear is a must

[mag360]

They just get complacent. I laugh when a retired CO (inlaw) tells me he still hasnt filed the paperwork for his retirement ID so he can Ccw so he puts his gun unloaded under his seat with a mag in the glovebox. Cracks me up.