AFSCME to Hollywood: Let's Be Fair to COs!

Corrections officers get no respect— at least, not from Hollywood.

Fictional portrayals of COs in movies such as the Shawshank Redemption, and in television shows like the Nov. 25, 1998, episode of Law & Order, make it difficult for members of the profession to get the respect they expect and deserve from society.

Take that Law & Order episode, for example. It tells the story of a corrupt New York CO accused of dealing drugs inside the prison and raping female inmates. Though he is dead throughout the show — a murder victim — he is nevertheless the heavy.

Here’s some of the dialogue, uttered by another CO accused of extortion, witness tampering and child molestation: “You’ve got no idea what goes on in that place,” he tells a prosecutor. “Half the COs got girlfriends. ... There’s more sex in there than a whorehouse.”

What’s an honest CO to do?

AFSCME is currently working to bring some balance to the portrayal of COs in movies and the small screen.

How? First, by asking the film commissions in all of the states where ACU represents COs to list AFSCME locals as available corrections consultants in the states’ film production guides. As consultants, AFSCME members would be available to set up visits to correctional facilities, to discuss proper uniforms and to advise producers and script writers.

Second, AFSCME is contacting the writers’, producers’ and directors’ guilds in Hollywood, letting them know that when they are considering a script involving a CO or facility, they ought to seek out AFSCME’s expertise.

Third, as a result of AFSCME’s efforts, the Association of Film Commissioners International — the official association of government film contacts worldwide — has invited an AFSCME spokesperson to speak at their annual convention next year.

It’s a tactic that has worked for others.

“Police officers have found ways to shape public perceptions of their work, such as through DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) programs in schools and community policing programs,” said Christopher E. Smith, a professor and author at the Michigan State University School of Criminal Justice.

Smith, who teaches a course on the law of corrections, said positive efforts to educate the public about corrections professionals “will have more benefits than complaining [and] attacks on the entertainment industry. The best solution would probably be to encourage Hollywood to develop movies and television shows from the COs’ perspective.”

The reason that Hollywood treats COs so poorly in films is simple, Smith said. “Hollywood is concerned with entertainment — and profit — not with capturing accurately the complexity of people, institutions and social problems. As a result, there is a tendency for movies and television shows to deal in stereotypes.”

“Historically, the movies I’ve seen usually [portray COs] in a negative manner because we are seen and not heard,” says Sgt. Reginald Bavers of the City of Atlanta Department of Corrections and vice president of AFSCME Local 1644, which represents 400 COs.

“They really don't understand the totality of the type of work we do,” he adds. “We’re there to do a job. We’re not there to brutalize anyone.”