For three decades, Correctional Officer Keith Davis walked the gun rails and halls of San Quentin State Prison. Now on the eve of his retirement, he says the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation still has work to do.
Davis, 57, said that in all the time he has been a correctional officer at San Quentin, it has only been in the last few years that the CDCR made strides toward creating better conditions for inmates.
“San Quentin is the flagship of CDCR, but there’s still much work to be done in the area of providing education and viable trades, so that those leaving prison will be better prepared to stay free of criminal activity,” Davis said.
CDCR needs to be more inmate-asset driven instead of punishment by incarceration driven, said Davis. This he thinks can only be done through education that is innovative, like the computer coding class at San Quentin.
“On this issue San Quentin did a great job. We are producing men who will be able to code when they parole. Now that is how it should be. Give these men a viable trade, and they won’t recidivate,” said Davis.
Davis said he learned from inmates by listening to them and by watching how lengthy prison terms shape those behind bars.
“I got the chance to see what time does to men who spend, 10, 20, even 30 years or more behind bars. I’ve witnessed the psychological deterioration of those I thought would make it through this experience, juxtaposed against others who were weak when they arrived at San Quentin but became stronger.
“Lengthy incarceration is a waste of human potential and tax money. It puts people in a time vacuum where life has ceased and doesn’t move forward or backward, it just exists,” said Davis.
Davis said the dynamics of incarceration are built on people and that no one can sit in an office and determine how to relate to people in prison. That’s why he thinks CDCR is in the shape it’s in currently.
“Being at this prison has taught me a great deal about the human condition, why people make the choices that shape their lives and those lives around them,” Davis said. “This is why a man or woman making decisions from behind a desk and not on prison grounds will hurt the department, as it already has.”
Davis said he would also use his retirement to continue to fight for justice for his son who was murdered Dec. 28, 2012.
“There are still no arrests but three of the four shooters are dead. I guess it was the life they chose to lead,” said Davis. “I know where the fourth one is. Some reliable people have told me where he’s at, but it’s not my job to take the law into my own hands. My job is let this matter unfold as it will.”
After all these years, Davis said those who can help him gain closure still refuse to come forward. The man who did this has committed similar crimes in Texas.
“The person that killed my son arranged robberies and then later kills his partners,” And he’s done this in California too. This is a pattern for him,” said Davis.
Davis said his son was killed because he looked like another young man. The perpetrator knew Davis’ son was not the person he wanted, but he used a weapon that sprayed bullets at the area where his son was sitting with his friends.
“Yeah, my son was trapped on the porch area. There was no way for him to get away from that, absolutely no way at all,” said Davis.
“Certain people, who’ve professed love for my son, know who killed my son, so how can you profess love for my son and on a daily basis you let his killer stay free?” asked Davis. “It’s really simple; he shot my son so he’ll probably do it to those protecting him sooner or later.”
Davis said while the pain of losing his son is one that he feels every day, he is moving forward and will miss several of his colleagues at San Quentin.
“I’ve met and made some good friends over the years. And I’ve learned that what makes a good correctional officer is a large dose of common sense, the ability to apply that common sense, and the willingness to see inmates as human beings, not something that’s less than human. Now a bad correctional officer is one who uses his or her position to belittle an inmate. One thing I know is anyone can make a mistake and come to prison, and that’s a fact,” he said.
