Tough job done well

I serve as a regular volunteer with Kairos Prison Ministry International. My efforts have brought me into contact with the prison staff of both the Pine Bluff Men’s Unit and the McPherson Women’s Correctional Facility in Newport. I also pay a monthly visit to the Ester Unit in Pine Bluff (not connected with Kairos). A week or two ago, I dropped my phone in the parking lot of the Pine Bluff Men’s Unit and did not realize it till I got home. I wrote the phone off as history … probably smashed under the tire of someone’s vehicle. However, the next evening, my wife got a phone call from a sergeant who told me that she found my phone and would leave it with the officer in the reception booth.

Who would take the time to go through the contacts to find a number to call? Much to my regret, I did not write the officer’s name down, but here’s to you, ma’am.

That act of kindness is the impetuous behind this letter, but not the entire inspiration. I need to say, and it needs to be known, that I have found the officers who serve the Department of Correction to be incredibly helpful, conscientious, polite, and controlled. Theirs is a tough job indeed, yet interactions with the residents are kept professional but not demeaning. This level of excellence extends into weekend visitation where I never cease to marvel at the compassion and patience with which the officers meet those coming to see loved ones. I mean, there is no need for customer service from a prison, right? But these men and women take service a notch higher and serve up a refreshing dose of humanity toward people who have no doubt suffered much.

So kudos to the entire staff at the Arkansas Department of Correction. Thank you for serving.

WAYNE WILSON

Little Rock