Rumali, Correctional Officer

The Service. For Canada.

Hi, I'm Rumali. I'm a Correctional Officer and I'm a part of the Emergency Response Team (ERT).

Working inside of the federal prison is different. I think it's different from other aspects as working as a police officer outside. You already kind of know who the bad guys are. So you are basically policing them inside the prison. We have certain routines, like in the morning there's institutional count and then they report to work and there's the meal lines and then there's the medication lines. Inmates love routine, so as long as the routine of the prison is kept, it goes pretty smooth unless there's obviously an incident.

Rumali

• Correctional Officer CX-1
• Member of the ERT (Emergency Response Team)
• Keeping the country safe

With ERT or with CX1 (Correctional Officer 1) in general for females, I think a lot of females hesitate, it is a challenging environment and it is a male-dominated environment, which is the norm for law enforcement in general. But I think as long as you're willing to just try and keep going, it's possible.

ERT, we would respond to inmates barricading themselves in the cell, typically for cell extractions and high-risk escorts. So that's what ERT is used for.

Being the only woman on this team, it's challenging because all the guys are always so competitive and then I'm a female, but I want to keep up with them and that's challenging for me and I enjoy that.

Everybody's so helpful, the teamwork and the camaraderie that comes with working in the correctional service environment in general as a regular CX1 and an ERT member, it's amazing. Because at the end of the day, we support each other, we have each other's back and with anything you know that you will have your officers backing you up.

My favorite part about being a Correctional Officer is at the end of the day, you do get to make a difference. People don't see that and sometimes don't think that's possible, but it is. With me, you can have one interaction a day with one inmate. You are able to make that interaction a positive one. They have programs, they have work, they have opportunities within the institution and I'm proud of that aspect and to be a part of that. So, it's nice to promote that and be like a guiding figure to help them when they do go back into the regular population.