During your first 90 days, you’re learning how to put the basics together. You need to count correctly, manage your time, recognize attempts to cross professional boundaries, and understand how policy applies to actual situations.
You won’t learn all of that at once. Some lessons come from experienced officers. Others come from your own mistakes.
The goal is to become someone your shift can depend on while continuing to learn.
Learn what needs to happen first
One of the hardest things for a new officer to learn is time management.
You have responsibilities that must be completed within a certain time frame. If you fall behind, the rest of your shift becomes harder. Sometimes the unfinished work becomes someone else’s problem.
An officer can spend hours correcting inmate behavior or conducting cell searches and still overlook mail or scheduled movement between cells and the dayroom. They’ve been busy, but they haven’t kept track of everything that needed to happen.
At my facility, we refer to letting inmates move between their cells and the dayroom as “in and out,” or ingress and egress. Those routines are part of managing the day, alongside other responsibilities that compete for your attention.
Learn the schedule for your assigned post. Ask an experienced officer or your training officer which duties have firm deadlines and how they organize their work around them.
Think ahead to the next part of the shift
For example, mail may need to be distributed before inmates are secured in their cells for the night. Cell searches may be completed afterward, while still considering inmates who need to sleep before reporting to jobs in the morning.
That is an example from my experience, rather than a schedule that applies everywhere. Your facility’s requirements, search procedures, and immediate security needs determine how you organize your work.
The lesson is to think beyond whatever is directly in front of you. What needs to happen next? What will become harder if you put it off?
I learned this by watching experienced officers and making mistakes myself. When you fall behind, think about why. Ask how someone more experienced would have organized the same responsibilities.
Keep your private life private
Recognizing manipulation is another skill you begin developing early.
It does not always begin with an obvious request to break a rule. An inmate might offer a suggestion, compliment your work, or ask about your favorite football team.
It can be difficult to tell whether someone is simply making conversation or trying to establish a more personal connection. You may not be able to determine their intention from a single interaction.
You can, however, control your own boundaries.
My advice is to keep your private life private. You do not need to share personal information to communicate professionally or treat someone respectfully.
A response such as, “I don’t discuss my personal life at work,” sets a clear boundary. You can then return to the work-related conversation or your duties.
A friendly comment alone does not establish misconduct. If you are concerned about a pattern of behavior or an attempt to cross boundaries, ask your training officer or supervisor how to address and document it under your agency’s rules.
Learn to apply policy with judgment
New officers learn rules about what inmates can and cannot do. On the job, they also encounter people who misunderstand instructions or make ordinary mistakes.
Learning to recognize those situations is part of developing judgment.
For example, an inmate might step beyond a designated line in a hallway. Depending on the circumstances and applicable rules, an officer may be able to address the behavior with a clear instruction and a warning.
The officer still corrects the behavior. Where discretion is permitted, a formal disciplinary report may not be necessary for every minor mistake.
That does not mean creating your own rules or ignoring required action. It means learning what discretion your agency allows and asking for guidance when you are unsure.
Empathy and accountability can exist in the same interaction.
Understand when the situation is more serious
The seriousness of the behavior matters.
Threats, fights, assaults, weapons, and dangerous contraband are different from a minor mistake. They require the response and reporting established by your agency. Immediate safety needs take priority.
Repeated behavior matters too. An inmate who continues a violation after clear instructions and previous warnings presents a different situation from someone who makes an isolated mistake.
A disciplinary decision needs to be supported by the conduct, the circumstances, and the applicable rules. Frustration or personal dislike should not determine the response.
Early in your career, use your training officer and supervisors to help you understand these distinctions. Learning when you have discretion—and when you do not—is part of learning the job.
Learn from experienced officers and your own mistakes
Experienced officers can help you understand how the responsibilities of a shift fit together. Watch how they organize their work, maintain boundaries, and respond when the routine changes.
Ask questions at an appropriate time. If you do not understand why something was handled a certain way, ask for the reasoning.
Your own mistakes can also show you where you need to improve. Perhaps you underestimated how long a task would take or failed to prepare for a scheduled responsibility. Identify what happened and adjust your approach next time.
Follow reporting requirements when a mistake needs to be brought to someone’s attention. Learning from it includes being honest about it.
Become someone the shift can rely on
When I look at a new officer’s progress, I pay attention to the basics.
Are they coming to work reliably and ready to perform their duties? Can they work with other staff? Are they making inmates follow the rules?
Dependability includes following attendance and leave procedures when you are genuinely sick. Teamwork means being able to cooperate, accept guidance, and contribute to the shift.
Consistent rule enforcement means addressing behavior professionally, using the judgment and discretion your agency permits.
You may still have questions after 90 days. You should still be learning. What matters is whether you are putting that learning into practice and becoming more reliable in your work.
Learn the routine. Protect your boundaries. Ask for guidance. Follow through on your responsibilities.
This article shares personal experience and general career guidance. Duties, schedules, disciplinary requirements, and officer discretion vary by agency and facility. Follow your current policies, approved training, and supervisory direction.