Teenager Grows Up Fast Working at the County Jail
William Isenberg, 19, has his sights set on a law-enforcement career and says his job at the Charles County Detention Center may be a steppingstone to a sheriff's deputy post after he reaches the required age of 21.
(By Marvin Joseph -- The Washington Post)
TOOLBOX   Resize
 Save/Share +
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
|
Monday, May 12, 2008; Page B01
"Isenberg! How old are you?"
It's a question rookie correctional officer William Isenberg has heard many times from inmates at the Charles County Detention Center. He has a standard response.
"I'm old enough to work here," the 19-year-old says.
Although no one under 21 can be hired as a guard in Maryland's state prisons, county jails are permitted to hire correctional officers as young as 18. The more lax requirement makes it easier to meet hiring goals, but many corrections officials say young jailers require close supervision and sometimes lack the life experience necessary to manage manipulative inmates.
"I think all of us would rather have them be 21," said Pamela Dottellis, corrections director for Charles County. "It is a big adjustment when those doors slam and inmates are yelling at you or looking over at you."
Dozens of guards under 21 work in jails across Washington's Maryland suburbs and elsewhere in the state. Isenberg is among five such officers in Charles, said Capt. Morris Gant, who manages the 146 correctional officers there.
Aside from his crisp uniform, Isenberg hardly looks the part. He's an inch shy of six feet tall and weighs less than 160 pounds.
A little more than two years ago, he was a senior at Leonardtown High School in St. Mary's County. He enjoyed computers and video games. He was always interested in law enforcement, he said, and he saw a stint as a correctional officer as a good steppingstone to becoming a sheriff's deputy -- a job with a minimum age of 21. He also liked the money in corrections; he started out at about $37,000 a year.
Isenberg said he knows he does not have the life experience of his older colleagues. He knows inmates, who officials guess have an average age of 36 in Charles, might try to use his youth to their advantage. But he thinks it would be wrong to exclude 18-year-olds from corrections jobs based on age alone.
"Judge me as an individual, not by my age," he said.
After less than a year and a half on the job, Isenberg already has begun to notice changes in himself. He walks more slowly, constantly looking over his shoulder. At restaurants, he sits facing the door. He tries to keep everything in front of him.
"It's very important not to miss anything," Isenberg said of his work at the jail. "You are in a dangerous situation."
