Detention Officer

Jackson Parish Correctional Center•Jonesboro, LA

1d•Onsite

About The Position

The Detention Officer role involves supervising non-citizens in various capacities within the facility, ensuring security, and responding to incidents. This includes overseeing living areas, recreational activities, visitation, and movement control. The officer will also perform specialized duties such as mailroom operations, medical security, and perimeter security. A key aspect of the role is ensuring the well-being of non-citizens by providing prompt assistance in cases of injury, illness, or emotional distress. The position requires meticulous record-keeping, including preparing reports and maintaining daily logs, as well as initiating disciplinary reports. Officers are responsible for conducting searches for contraband and promoting facility cleanliness, reporting maintenance needs. Membership in special response teams is also a possibility. Successful completion of required training and background screening is mandatory.

Requirements

Must be representative of worthwhile qualities to which a non-citizen can identify.
Must be emotionally stable, understanding, and philosophically attuned to the objective of the facility.
Language skills and reasoning ability are crucial to success in this position.
Interacts daily with non-citizens and staff members while providing security for the facility.
High school diploma or equivalent.
Experience in correctional setting is highly desirable.
Long periods of continuous standing and walking per shift.
Frequent periods of sitting per shift.
Repetitive climbing of stairs to reach the assigned areas and working at heights.
Occasional kneeling, squatting, and bending to perform “pat” or “strip” searches.
Frequent grasping, reaching, pushing, pulling, bending, twisting.
Occasional responding to altercations and occasional restraining and securing assaultive offenders.
Ability to respond rapidly to potential security and/or medical codes/issues.
Frequent transferrers and transporting non-citizens by walking or riding in various vehicles such as vans, buses, and other forms of transportation.
Continuous periods of operating/driving company vehicles to pick up and transport non-citizens per shift.
Remaining awake and alert while on duty per shift.
Occasional lifting and carrying up to 50-100 lbs.
Ability to occasionally withstand direct or indirect exposure to OC spray.
Ability to hear and understand verbal communication.

Responsibilities

Supervises non-citizens in living areas and recreational activities.
Supervises non-citizens and visitors in visitation areas.
Serves as control center officer, coordinates and monitors non-citizen movements, conducts counts, and provides emergency response.
Serves as mailroom, field tower, medical security, perimeter security, and/or gate officer as required.
Provides security in treatment activities and supervises labor crews in the kitchen and other specialized areas.
Ensures prompt and appropriate assistance to non-citizens in the event of injury, illness, and emotional trauma.
Prepares reports and maintains daily logs as required.
Initiates disciplinary reports.
Conduct shakedown for contraband materials, either individually or as part of a specialized team.
Promotes facility cleanliness and reports need for maintenance and/or repairs.
Serves as a member of special teams to respond.
Successful completion of training courses and on-the-job training as required by facility training standards.
Performs a variety of marginal duties not listed, to be determined and assigned as needed.
Successful completion of TOPS training and background screening where applicable.