Fifty-eight new corrections officers now on the job for WDOC

MADISON -- The Wisconsin Department of Corrections (DOC) has begun the new year with 58 new correctional officers and one correctional lieutenant.

The new officers graduated Dec. 21 in Madison after completing a seven week training program and are now working at institutions throughout the state.

“I have great appreciation and respect for the jobs correctional officers do day in and day out,” DOC Secretary Ed Wall told the new officers, their families and friends during the graduation ceremony at American Family headquarters. “You are a part of the heart of this department… being successful at achieving its mission and making sure offenders are given the tools they need to be law-abiding citizens once they are released.”

“I look forward to putting into practice what they taught me when I begin my career at Stanley Correctional Institution,” said graduate Forest Cantwell. Cantwell, a Stanley native, added that he is honored to be able to be part of public safety in his hometown.

The Correctional Officer Pre-service Training Program is a mandatory 280-hour, seven week, intensive training program completed by new DOC correctional officer employees. Through lecture, discussion, role-playing, competency based performance and academic examinations, the cadets develop the skills, knowledge and abilities to provide security, care, custody, control and rehabilitation of inmates at DOC’s 20 adult correctional institutions and 16 adult correctional centers.

Approximately 300 new correctional officers graduate from DOC’s pre-service training program each year. DOC is accepting applications for the class that begins June 3.

Graduate Marlon Paige, of Milwaukee, also was excited about what his new future holds. “This is what I’m supposed to be doing,” he said.

“DOC is kind of like top dog,” said Paige, who is now working at the Milwaukee Secure Detention Facility. “I wanted to go where the biggest challenge was and it seems like if you stay here, give 110 percent, there are rewards.”

Officer assignments around Wisconsin institutions include: Columbia Correctional Institution, 8; Dodge Correctional Institution, 4; Fox Lake Correctional Institution, 2;

Green Bay Correctional Institution, 2; Jackson Correctional Institution, 1; Kettle Moraine Correctional Institution, 2; Milwaukee Secure Detention Facility, 3; New Lisbon Correctional Institution, 1; Oakhill Correctional Institution, 4; Oshkosh Correctional Institution, 4; Racine Correctional Institution, 5; Redgranite Correctional Institution, 3; Racine Youthful Offender Correctional Institution, 2; Stanley Correctional Institution, 3; Taycheedah Correctional Institution, 5; Waupun Correctional Institution, 7; Wisconsin Resource Center, 1; and Wisconsin Secure Program Facility, 2.

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