Charles Walston is in his 16th year with the department , starting out as a food service assistant until 1985 when correctional officers’ pay was upgraded, and he switched. When he heard about the unarmed self-defense course being started in OSDT, Walston had already been studying karate and jujitsu.

"Offenders only change if they want to," Walston said. "I didn’t feel I was making much of a difference as a correctional officer, but I feel I am making one here." Walston said the new trainees are all cooperative, all positive, and that they want to be there in training. "This is a stress-free job," Walston said.

He has also been in the Army Reserves for the past 14 years and served in Desert Storm.