Friday the 13th turned out to be correctional officer Rita Jones’ lucky day.
On Dec. 13, Jones retired from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation after more than 30 years of service.
Jones, 61, began working in San Quentin on Aug. 2, 1982, and still remembers her first day. “My first day I remember walking on the yard and thinking I can’t work here, but I stuck to it, and I did it,” she said.
Jones may not be big in stature, but she is big on respect. Her advice to new officers, “You have to give respect to get respect.” She also advised her colleagues to keep their word, be themselves, and don’t treat every inmate the same, because they’re not.
When Jones started working at San Quentin, “The convicts were different. They were very hard and mean,” she said. She remembers a lot of name calling back then.
Today, she says, it is different. “The relationships between inmates and officers are a lot better now.”
Jones attributes some of the change she has witnessed at San Quentin to the level of inmate security designation that the prison houses. When Jones came to work the prison was a Level IV, maximum-security prison, but now the prison is a Level II, medium security prison.
There were not very many female guards when Jones came to work at San Quentin, and African American female officers were even rarer. She remembers watching one of her contemporaries, Sgt. Addy Kitchen go through the ranks, which had a big influence on her.
At the end of the day, Jones decided not to pursue promotions. “I enjoy working the tiers in the buildings, and I couldn’t do that if I promoted.”
Over the years Jones acknowledges that San Quentin has changed her, but not for the worse. “San Quentin brought both the good and the bad out of me. Now I talk differently to my sons, because the prison rubbed off on me.”
Jones says she will miss the officers, inmates, and just coming to work. She says she knows this is going to be a big change in her life and, “It feels like I’m discharging parole.”
Jones has decided that she is through with working and has made extensive plans to travel. She says she plans on going to Paris and taking a cruise in the Caribbean. She says these are just a few of the things she never got to do while working at San Quentin.
Jones also says there are things she has to do around the house.
Jones is very proud of her association with San Quentin and says, “San Quentin is full of number ones.” She is referring to officer seniority ranks in the state. At the time of her retirement Jones was ranked number one female officer in the state; officer Childress, number one male officer in the state; Sgt. Kenny Bell, number one sergeant in the state; and Lt. Graham, number one lieutenant in the state.
Jones says she is also proud of the fact that she is the only female officer to work 30 years.
Over her long career as an officer at San Quentin, Jones may be most proud of, as how she puts it, “I earned my respect!”
