DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) - Stefanie Burnett wanted to be a police officer at one time.
But while she was an intern, she had to go to a train accident, after which, she said, “I determined that I would not be able to handle the gore.”
So, she said, “I chose corrections and fell in love.”
Laquisha Morgan chose corrections as a career to follow in the footsteps of her brother, James Houston, a parole and probation officer with the Iowa Department of Corrections.
“He was my role model growing up, and I wanted to make him proud of me,” Morgan told the Quad-City Times .
Both women took jobs at the Scott County Jail; Burnett 18 years ago and Morgan nine years ago.
Last month, both were promoted, Burnett to captain and Morgan to sergeant.
At the time, jail staff and command were not thinking of the social implications of the promotions, but it dawned on everyone a few days after the event.
Burnett is the first female captain to lead the Scott County Jail.
Morgan is the first African-American woman to be a sergeant in the jail.
“When we do promotions, we do not consider race or gender, but we do like to keep with my philosophy of promoting those that demonstrate that they are competent, humble and kind-hearted,” Scott County Sheriff Tim Lane said. “These two individuals both demonstrate that.”
“Stefanie is an experienced command-level officer who is one of the few people in the state that is a certified jail manager,” he said. “She is very well respected by others for her knowledge of our jail and her leadership abilities and her willingness to work hard.
“Laquisha is an experienced training officer who has trained many of our jail employees,” he said. “This is an important function that tends to show how good someone can perform as a leader. She is a very positive person who has a good rapport with inmates and staff.”
Burnett earned her degree in criminal justice from Sauk Valley Community College. Morgan earned her degree in criminal justice from Kaplan University.
There are many stories of success for which they are proud, more success stories than the public might hear about. And there are stories of sadness.
“The toughest part about this job is seeing the mentally ill,” Burnett said. “We’re seeing the mentally handicapped come into our facility, whether it’s autism or mental retardation or the diseases that affect their brain.”
“We also see those who are addicted to drugs, people with a lot of potential that is going to waste,” she said.
The mentally ill are not jailed for their mental illness. It’s the crimes that mental illness likely causes them to commit, both women said.
“You still have to treat this place as a jail environment and keep it safe,” Morgan said. “Knowing that they shouldn’t be here, that this is not the place for them, we try to give them the attention and care they need to the best of our ability.”
What also makes it tough is being a female jailer over male inmates who may not have a well-developed sense of equality.
“When they get in here, they soon learn they have to answer to a female, and that’s hard for some of them,” Morgan said. “The males may not respect females outside of here, but when they get in here, they have to answer to females.”
Morgan also has to put up with the racism from some inmates. Through it all, she keeps her composure.
“You have to be a special kind of person to do this job,” Morgan said. “You can’t be just anybody because you’ve got to have a certain type of skin to get through it. You’ve got to have a thick skin, and you have to be able to talk to people.”
Both women are very observant of their surroundings, as are the rest of the corrections officers.
And there are those inmates they keep a close eye on.
“You know who you have to be careful of,” Burnett said. “There are the mentally ill, of course, but there are some people in here who are very dangerous on top of their mental illness.”
Some just talk, she said, “and you walk away and ignore it. They don’t even know what they’re saying.”
As for female inmates, Morgan said that there are women who are mentally ill and are dangerous, “as well as those who think, ’Oh you think you’re better than me,’ and that kind of thing.”
Still, Morgan said, “The females run a bit smoother. Many are mothers outside of here, and they are nurturers by nature.”
It is that nurturing aspect of being a female corrections officer that can go a long way, Burnett said.
“I can go into a housing unit and have a way to talk to the male inmates and they respect me,” she said. “Even those who have trouble getting along with females, there’s that female mother figure, in a sense, that works, especially with the younger ones.”
Naturally, Morgan said, “you can’t be too nurturing because of the environment. It’s a balance.”
“That’s a fact,” Burnett said. “If you’re too kind, they’ll take advantage of it. They’ll manipulate you in a heartbeat.”
There are 67 programs offered through the Scott County Jail to help inmates kick drug and alcohol habits, learn parenting skills, earn a GED or learn job skills, just to name a few.
“We really work at trying to reduce the rates of recidivism,” Burnett said. “We do have those who don’t come back. They used our programs, and that’s our hope with our programs. There are many jails in Iowa that don’t offer what we have.”
Morgan said there are many people, when they come to the end of their jail stay, “say, ’Thank you, Miss Morgan, for what you guys have done for me. I was able to kick the habit.”
“There are women who while in here connect with their babies for the first time,” Morgan said. “They come in here right after giving birth and don’t know their babies. They would have never built those relationships with their children without coming in here.
“The men, too. We have family team meetings that allow them to connect with their children, and we’re helping in that area. These are many of the ones who don’t come back, and I’m proud of that.
“It’s hard to say this, but sometimes, it’s better for them to be in here than out on the streets. Sometimes, we see them once and never again. Others it takes a few times. Success comes with steps.
“We’re trying to put something into them rather than lock them up and throw away the keys. Our job is to hold people for court. It’s not our job to treat them as though they’ve been found guilty. And even if they have been found guilty, we try to help them as best we can.”
Burnett also is a Prison Rape Elimination Act facilitator. There are men and women who have been raped who have never gotten the help they have needed, she said.
Grown men, who never told anyone about being raped, have opened up, Burnett said.
“We offer them help through Safe Path,” she said. “They get the counseling they need for the first time. We have grown men and young men and women who are getting the help they’ve never received until now, and it will probably help their drug and alcohol addiction.”
“We treat everyone in here like a human being,” Morgan said. “We try to understand and empathize with what they’ve endured in their life.
“Not everyone in here is a bad person.”
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Information from: Quad-City Times, https://www.qctimes.com
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