Working for the Lee County Sheriff’s Office is both a rewarding and dangerous job to have. With each day of work, anything is possible, that can be life changing. Currently, I am a member of the Corrections Bureau’s Correctional Emergency Response Team. One day, our team received a call from the Hendry County Sheriff’s Office requesting assistance within the county jail. There was suspension that there was a gun within the facility and their jail staff were not equipped to handle an emergency of this magnitude. Our team, consisting of twenty-four members suited up with all emergency equipment available and responded to the scene.
Once on scene, a game plan was formulated. We divided up into four teams and each team was assigned an area for searching. Each area that was to be searched, currently was housing nearly fifty inmates. Parts of the game plan consisted of the handling of all inmates, conducting pat down searches, and searching the entire housing areas. Direct orders were given by our command staff, that if an inmate attempted to harm anyone or becomes unruly, we were to use whatever force was necessary to handle the situation most effectively.
When the plan was ready to be executed, all teams lined up and breached each housing at the same time. This allowed for a surprise affect. Each housing area and all inmates were searched for the suspected gun. Many inmates became unruly and did not want to comply with our orders. The only force that was needed to handle the situation was pepper spray. Through the course of the operation, nearly 160 inmates were pepper sprayed, while producing no injuries to any officers, staff, or inmates. The search produced negative results and it was later discovered that the supposed gun that was seen, was only a tattoo of a gun on a waste line of an inmate.
In the end, the scene was secured, and all our team was able to go home to their families that evening without any injuries or issues. Corrections and the patrol divisions are both a dangerous and rewarding because each day an officer can save a life, take a life, or have their life taken.
Jeremy's blog 