FIVE CORRECTIONS officers from Council 2 joined colleagues in Columbus, Ohio in September to discuss issues that concern them, to check out new legislation and to learn how they could be more effective in their jobs.

The officers — three from Spokane County Jail Local 492 and two from Pierce County Jail Local 3752 —attended a 500-strong conference staged by AFSCME’s Corrections United, which represents more than 80,000 corrections professionals in AFSCME.

The three-day corrections conference was followed by a two-day meeting of the Corrections and Criminal Justice Coalition, which consists of members of unions, guilds and associations from all over the United States.

Spokane Staff Representative Mike Smith, who sits on the ACU and CCJC standing committees, said aspects of corrections work such as gang recognition, stress management, staffing shortages, and workplace safety and standards were discussed.

The group also conferred on how they could lobby the federal government for improvements in the law relating to their work and changes in the standards that are applied.

“It is useful for people to get out and interact and see what happens in other parts of the country and to learn what solutions they come up with,” Smith says.

“They get the opportunity to look at whether others have procedures and policies that are more effective or easier to use.”

The ACU Corrections conferences are held every two years.