Michael F. Easley
Governor

Theodis Beck
Secretary

North Carolina Department of Correction

Veteran officer shares knowledge with new recruits

McCAIN

As a mentor in the department’s Correctional Officer Mentor program, Dominquez has worked with several new officers during their first few weeks on the job, teaching policy and procedures and showing them how to handle the prison’s various duty posts.

His latest charge is Officer Karl Daniels, who likes having someone to show him the ropes. "Working with one person consistently, helps show good habits and better ways to do things," said Daniels. "I’ve got a long way to go, and Officer Dominguez sure helps."

The department started its mentoring program two years ago as a way to improve experiences for new officers in their first weeks on the job, and to reduce the high attrition rate of first-year officers.

"You would work with one person one day, then the next day there was a different person with a totally different style," said Dominguez. "This gives the new officer a sense of consistency."

A new officer will normally spend two weeks shadowing his or her mentor before being assigned to work a duty post alone. In the following weeks, the mentor will drop in occasionally to observe their student on the job, and answer any questions they may have.

In addition to his mentoring duties, Dominguez serves on one of the department’s five drug interdiction teams. The teams travel between prisons, conducting periodic unannounced searches of employees, visitors and vehicles entering prison property. The interdictions help stop the flow of illegal drugs and contraband from the outside world into the prisons.

But Dominguez’ greatest satisfaction comes from teaching the new officers who may someday fill his shoes. "I hope we’ll end up with well trained, professional officers who will make this their career," he said.

Governor Michael Easley has proclaimed May 5-11 Correctional Officers’ Week in recognition of more than 10,000 correctional officers who help protect the public safety by supervising inmates in North Carolina’s 76 state prisons.

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