Safety is Offensive!

I've gotta stop reading Tongue Tied. Every time I find a story like this, it brings me closer to dying of a combined heart attack and aneurysm. Look at this:

Corrections Canada won't let guards at maximum security prisons...

There are prisons in Canada? GASP! But I thought only America had Bad People™!

...wear stab-proof vests because it sends a confrontational "signal" to prisoners.

I can't believe this is real. What sick logic dictates that it's more important to make prisoners feel safe than prison guards? THEY'RE IN A F**KING MAXIMUM SECURITY PRISON!

"If you have that kind of presence symbolized by (a stab-proof vest), you're sending a signal to the prisoner that you consider him to be a dangerous person," said Tim Krause.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHH!!!!!!! HOW STUPID DO YOU HAVE TO BE?!!!

Does this guy realize the slippery slope his justification leads to? It follows from his original argument that you can't have prisons at all, because putting someone in prison suggests that they're dangerous.

I will AGAIN stress my belief that critical thinking should be a requirement in all schools, but since this is Canada, I'll let it go for now.

"It interferes with what we call 'dynamic security.' We want staff to talk to prisoners, to see how they're doing."

"You have to respect their precious FEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELINGS!!!!!"

This is what frickin' feel-good, self-esteem, morally relativistic bullsh*t policies do to people. PRISONERS. NEED. TO. BE. PUNISHED. "Dynamic security" should include ACTUAL F**KIN' SECURITY!!!!

Last month, Sun Media reported a guard at the Edmonton Institution was threatened with disciplinary action several times by prison brass for wearing a self-purchased stab-proof vest on the job.

They threatened him? B-b-b-b-b-b-but that sends a "confrontational signal" that they consider him to be a dangerous person! How could they do that to him? Do they care more about the prisoners' feelings than his? I'm getting visions of the Monty Python "Church Police" sketch:

"It's a fair cop, but society is to blame!"

"Right! We'll arrest them instead!"

Unbelievable.

The guard, who asked not to be named, said he intends to keep wearing the Kevlar vest.

"Yes, I'm violating the rules. But management is stepping on my right to defend myself," he said.

"Defend yourself? From what? The prisoners have learned their lesson! Look at these big, scary bars they're behind! Don't you trust them?"

Kevin Grabowsky, of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers, said the notion that inmates might be "offended" is a "complete crock."

And the winner of the "Most Intelligent Man In Canada Award" for March 2004 is...

Kevin Grabowsky!!!! Congratulations, Kevin! You win...well, the knowledge that you live in a country full of buffoons.

...Sorry.

Posted by CD on March 19, 2004 05:51 PM
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