The Value of Recognition
For correctional officers, recognition is rarely a motivating factor in performing one’s duties or acting to ensure the safety of an institution.
Recognition is this month’s value in the Michigan Corrections Organization – Move Forward Campaign. Throughout the campaign, we’ll introduce a shared value of our membership, accompanied by a unique poster, every month until Labor Day 2018. Click poster at left to see it larger.
Across the state, you will find officers at every facility routinely administering lifesaving care, risking their own personal safety to protect others and acting to better the MDOC and enhance the work environment for all.
These actions, which often go unnoticed, must not be taken for granted in a profession that demands so much from its employees.
In Michigan, the “Correctional Officer of the Year” is the highest recognition an officer can receive, yet it is rarely sought out or promoted due to personal humility and strong feelings of simply doing ones duty.
This selflessness is also reflected on a national level. A simple internet search would return very little in terms of awards and recognition for corrections officers yet many distinctions are bestowed upon others within the law enforcement community.
As union brothers and sisters, it is up to us to recognize the achievements of our colleagues and praise the quick thinking and heroic actions of our co-workers. As an organization, MCO is taking definitive action to lift these qualities up and honor those who have earned the distinction at their facility of “Corrections Officer of the Year.”
For the first time ever, MCO will be issuing (separate from the MDOC) custom awards, created and designed to recognize the outstanding men and women who have proven, through their actions, to be of the utmost integrity and character.
Facility award winners will receive a customized wooden box, engraved with the MCO logo. The inside of the box will commemorate the award winner’s name, year and facility and include a custom coin created to honor this exceptional achievement.
The statewide officer of the year will receive a superior cast resin upright that sits exceptionally on a black painted wood base and is referenced on the RECOGNITION poster displayed at your facility. Next to the male/female officer is a jade glass piece to recognize the awardee’s name and facility. Distinctively placed in front of the Male/Female officer is a cast resin piece that admirably displays the MCO logo.
Awards will be presented at the facility by MCO Chapter officials and we encourage all members to participate. Like all corrections officers, these award recipients do a difficult job protecting the people of the state of Michigan and deserve our thanks.