Through his experience responding to a line-of-duty death, Briones helps new corrections officers understand the responsibility, risk and purpose behind the profession.
Corrections work is one of the most important and least visible parts of public safety.
Inside jails and correctional facilities, corrections officers are responsible for maintaining safety, responding to emergencies, supporting people in crisis and making decisions that can affect staff, incarcerated individuals and the broader community.
Chief Jose Briones, chief jail administrator with the Island County Sheriff’s Office, brings that reality into the classroom when he speaks with recruits at the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission’s Corrections Officers Academy.
A respected leader in the corrections profession, Briones has also received the prestigious Distinguished Public Service Award, recognizing his commitment to public safety, service and the corrections field.
Briones shares lessons from one of the most difficult experiences of his career: the 2011 line-of-duty death of Correctional Officer Jayme Biendl at Monroe Correctional Complex. Briones was working that evening and was part of the response and recovery.
Years later, he uses that experience to help new corrections officers understand why training, policy, procedure, leadership and professional culture matter.
“This profession is definitely a calling, and it’s not for everybody,” Briones said.
Why Chief Briones speaks to corrections recruits
Briones said his conversation with recruits started with emergency response, but grew into something larger.
“I come down and I discuss with the class a critical incident that happened when I worked with the Department of Corrections back in 2011,” Briones said. “That’s the Jayme Biendl line-of-duty death.”
The goal is not to relive the tragedy. It is to help recruits understand the importance of the profession they are entering and the impact of the choices they will make.
Briones said he talks with recruits about agency culture and how daily decisions can lead to positive or negative outcomes.
“People don’t realize the importance of the work that we do and that policies and procedures, how they’re really meant to keep people safe,” Briones said. “When people start to drift away from established best practices and policy and procedure, this is how an event like this can happen, because it was a very preventable incident.”
For new corrections officers, that message is direct: policy is not just paperwork. Procedure is not just a checklist. Both are designed to protect lives.
Understanding the reality of a corrections career
Corrections officers serve in complex environments where safety, communication and judgment are essential.
Briones said some recruits may not fully understand the risks of the job when they first enter the academy.
“People may think that because they’re not out on the streets and maybe somebody is not going to shoot at them or try and run them over, that they maybe don’t realize the hazards that come with dealing with a population of people that are behaviorally confined with extreme density in a location,” Briones said.
Corrections officers work with people who may be unstable, in crisis, seriously mentally ill or have significant criminal histories. Officers must be prepared to recognize changes in behavior, de-escalate conflict, respond to emergencies and maintain safe environments.
“Until they hear a story like this, I don’t think that they truly understand, OK, that could be me if I’m not careful,” Briones said. “I need to make the right choices, and I need to be a professional.”
Corrections officers do more than many people realize
Briones said corrections work is often misunderstood because it happens outside public view.
“We are not a forward-facing entity like the police and a fire department or a hospital,” Briones said. “People go to jail and people don’t know what happens there.”
The work has also changed significantly over time. Today, corrections officers often serve people with complex behavioral health needs, substance use disorders and other challenges.
“We serve a population that’s high risk, high need,” Briones said. “We deal with people that typically have co-occurring disorders of mental health issues and chemical dependency.”
That means corrections officers carry many responsibilities at once.
“They’re not just a guard. They’re not just a jailer,” Briones said. “They’re a social worker. They’re a medical provider. They provide all the care and need that individual needs because we have them in total confinement.”
For Briones, that is why corrections training matters. Officers must be prepared to keep people safe, including people in custody, fellow staff members and themselves.
Training, leadership and the goal of going home safely
The 2011 line-of-duty death changed how Briones thinks about training, leadership and culture.
“Of all the different experiences I’ve had in this career, that incident was my hardest experience to manage in my life,” Briones said. “A line-of-duty death, and not just a line-of-duty death, but with a peer.”
He said the experience reinforced the importance of preventing what can be prevented.
“For me, if it’s preventable, we should be managing it,” Briones said. “Leadership is a big part of that. But also the culture that these new recruits bring is important.”
At WSCJTC, the Corrections Officers Academy prepares recruits for the responsibility of serving in jails and correctional facilities across Washington. Through classroom instruction, scenario-based training and conversations with experienced professionals, recruits learn the standards, skills and judgment required to serve safely and professionally.
For Briones, the message to new corrections officers is simple and lasting.
“We want everybody to go home safely,” Briones said. “We want to provide safe environments for the people that we serve, for those incarcerated individuals. But we want our staff to go home safe.”
That goal reflects the purpose behind corrections training: preparing public safety professionals to serve with accountability, sound judgment and care.
Corrections work may not always be visible to the public, but its impact is felt across Washington communities every day.