Correctional Sergeant / Lieutenant

You run an entire shift at the facility and every single thing that happens on your watch is your problem. Sergeants supervise the floor officers and respond to every major incident. Lieutenants oversee multiple shifts and handle the administrative side — investigations, discipline, policy enforcement. You're the one who gets woken up at 2 AM when something goes wrong, and 'something goes wrong' is not a hypothetical in corrections.

Learn the skills

Courses and certifications to get you job-ready

What you'll actually do

• 01Run shift briefings and assign posts like a general deploying troops to a very depressing battlefield
• 02Respond first to every major incident — fights, medical emergencies, contraband finds
• 03Review use-of-force reports and conduct internal investigations
• 04Manage staffing levels when half the shift calls out on a holiday weekend
• 05Enforce facility policies that change every time a new warden reads a management book
• 06Handle inmate grievances that range from legitimate to spectacularly creative
• 07Attend meetings where you explain why overtime costs are up (because everyone keeps calling out)