‘Guys, get your guns out!’ – An autobiographical account of a US community corrections training academy

Abstract

This article addresses community corrections (CC) training from the perspective of a former practitioner. Though CC training has received modest consideration, academies’ roles in reinforcing occupational cultures are nearly absent from the literature. This article addresses this gap with an autobiographical account of an academy experience and shows that not only did the profession appear to attract candidates with public safety orientations, but also that the academy reinforced those orientations through a disproportionate focus on use of force and officer safety. The article considers challenges policymakers and managers face when attempting to implement reform in public safety cultures.