Coronavirus Makes a Tough Job Even Tougher

With the coronavirus running rampant throughout the country, many jobs are affected by its existence and the actions it has caused the government to take.  One field in which there have been many changes have been within corrections, where an already hard job has become tougher due to COVID-19. 

The expectations for a job within a prison have always been high, making it a very difficult field to work within.  With it being an extremely high-stress job there are bound to be difficulties, all of which have only been multiplied by the coronavirus.  Firstly, in most prisons throughout New York, frisking an inmate is now prohibited.  This may seem like a logical idea at first, but upon further investigation, it becomes clear why this has been having a very negative impact on the already rather dark environment within a prison.  The inability to frisk inmates allows them to more easily carry weapons, as they no longer have to go to extreme lengths to hide these weapons from officers.  This has led to an increase in fights, which is not only dangerous for the inmates involved in these fights, but also the officers that are tasked with breaking these fights up.  

Not only has coronavirus led to a more dangerous work environment, but it has also made a potentially more dangerous environment outside of prisons.  With the close quarters inside a prison and the fact that sanitizers are banned in most prisons, the spread of the virus is near impossible.  This has led to many prisons releasing prisoners to try and slow down the spread of the virus.  This can, for very obvious reasons, be a bad idea.  While many of the inmates released were not incarcerated for violent crimes, it may create a mindset of irresponsibility within those released after not serving their full sentence.  This opens these inmates up to a greater chance of repeat offenses, which can very easily make the world outside of prisons more dangerous.  Not only is the release of inmates dangerous for this reason, but also because of their potential exposure to the virus.  Since the incubation period for COVID-19 is so high, it is not outside of the realm of possibilities for an inmate to contract the virus and then be released before showing symptoms.  This could lead to an increase in the virus outside of prisons, potentially making the choice to break quarantine even more risky and dangerous.  

Of course, with the pandemic slowly beginning to fade out and some states beginning to end their quarantines, hopefully, prisons begin to become a safer environment for both the officers and inmates inside of them.  There’s no doubt things will go back to normal, but only time will tell how long that will take.