Behind the Risdon wire

FOR Michael Flanagan, an average work day can require him to be a schoolteacher, a car salesman and a mentor.

The 43-year-old has been supervisor of the medium security unit at Risdon Prison for the past four years, and has 14 years as a correctional officer under his belt.

Yesterday, the Tasmania Prison Service held its first Corrections Day to celebrate the work of staff, and give the public an insight into correctional work.

Mr Flanagan was looking for something more challenging after 10 years as a greenkeeper when he applied and — to his surprise — was accepted as a correctional officer at a time when the prison was gearing up to move into its current premises, replacing the old socalled Pink Palace.

“It was nothing like what I expected,” he said.

“The first experience you have in the jail is always going to be a little on the rough side — you’re made to know you’re new.

“The first time you step in they [the inmates] will give you a bit of a hard time, but it’s mostly tongue in cheek, nothing too serious — it’s just what they do. It’s like a school environment sometimes.”

The transition from the old facilities to the new, in 2006, brought in a whole new way of life at the prison.

“In the old jail, there was a yard a bit bigger than a basketball court with the cells around it,” Mr Flanagan said.

“We let the inmates out into the yard and officers did not step into the yard, so basically we locked them behind wire — they had their area to walk up and down and any interaction was between the wire. You had therapeutic stuff too, but not to the level we have now.”

Currently overseeing 190 inmates in medium security, Mr Flanagan has played an integral role in rolling out a smoking ban, setting up a family day for staff and writing classification reports on incoming inmates.

“I sell it to them like I’m a car sales guy — you want me to sell you to get you into mini- mum so you need to give me the good behaviour. If you don’t, I can’t sell you,” he said.

“You may have a car thief next to a multiple murderer — once they’re in jail and they’re sentenced, their crime doesn’t influence how we interact with them — it’s how they behave within the system.

“They can work their way into minimum.”

Every day brings a new challenge, he said.

“If you’ve got something to deal with that might not be on the savoury side, because after all it is a prison, if you’re forthright with them and have an open discussion with them, any potential levels of aggression are reduced because it’s just two people having a discussion,” he said.

“Obviously this job is not for everyone. [But] at the end of the day, they’re people.”

The first time you step in they [inmates] will give you a bit of a hard time, but it’s mostly tongue in cheek, nothing too serious Corrections supervisor MICHAEL FLANAGAN