By Rick Halstead
Marin Independent Journal
SAN QUENTIN, Calif. — Later this month, Jeff Thomas Evans will retire from his job as a correctional officer at San Quentin State Prison after more than 29 years on the job. Evans, 51, spent 10 years of his career watching over the prison’s death-row inmates. He grew up in Petaluma where his father, George Evans, was a respected policeman. Evans, nicknamed “The Brick,” is 6 feet, 4 inches tall and weights 275 pounds. He’s single.
Q: How did you decide to become a correctional officer?
A: Well, my dad had a rule in our house: it was law enforcement or the military. We had no choice. Either we went into law enforcement like he was or we had the recruiters knocking on the door. He was an ex-Navy Seaman. We had choices but that was the choice he steered us toward. My dad was a lot like John Wayne. He ran a tight household. Living in the same town where your dad is a police officer is difficult.
Q: Did being an all-sports athlete in high school and college come in handy in your job?
A: My first day, I was called into Warden Sumner’s office and he asked me if I played football. I said yeah. He said, “Good, report to the lower yard at 3 p.m.” I was assigned to the prison guard team, which played other prisons. The prisons had this big rivalry. The guards called it the Pig Bowl. The wardens used to have little pools on it.
Q: Did you take to the job right away?
A: It was very difficult. I was young, right out of college, and I’m thrown in here with high-level inmates. It was very violent. It was a very, big eye-opener for me. Luckily, I hooked up with an old-timer and he took me under his wing and showed me the ropes. If it wasn’t for him, I’d have quit a long time ago.
Q: Have you ever been attacked by an inmate?
A: Several times inmates have attempted to spear me. One time it missed my head by inches. We had one sergeant that was speared, and it cost him his life. I’d worked with him the night before. When they make a spearing weapon, they’ll take newspapers or magazines, roll them up really tight, dip them in water, let them petrify overnight, then they rap sheets and string around them, and put some type of hard plastic or metal material at the end.
Q: What was the worst day you ever had?
A: I had one death-row inmate “gas” me; they call it “gassing.” He threw feces and urine right in my face. Some of these guys have hepatitis C and HIV. You have to take that home to your families. I had a relationship going on at that time. It was a bad day.
Q: What was working on death row like?
A: There were two things we never talked about on death row. It’s a code. We never talked about what they did, and we never talked about executions. I used to read the transcripts of what they did. I stopped doing that because it made it hard for me to interact with them every day.
Q: Has your job changed you?
A: You become more aware of your surroundings. You hear and listen and learn. You’re very cautious. You have your back on the wall and you’re very protective of things. You take that with you when you go out in your daily life.
Copyright 2009 Marin Independent Journal, a MediaNews Group publication