May 5, 2026 · 53 min · 20 segments
Brian Coghlan is laid back, an asset he was able to use in his workplace. As a prison officer, he quickly learnt that being seen as a good guy around bad people was the key to life behind bars. For…
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John SilvesterHost
But, um, y-you were saying it, it becomes very, very difficult to try and manage people because the authority of prison officers is eroded.
Well, it's, it, yeah, just especially over the last few years, it's just becoming ridiculous.
You obviously-- You can't assault prisoners, and, uh, that's a take, and none of us really want to, and, you know, it's, you know, I'm not a, a heavy or a hard guy or anything like that.
But, um, you used to be able to ask prisoners to move cells, and they'd move cells.
You'd ask prisoners to bunk in together, and they'd-- and you'd say, "Listen, it's only for a short while.
Then it got to a stage where we're instructed we're not allowed to touch them, like literally not even hand on the back, move through there.
Um, we weren't allowed to, to do anything nearly without, uh, without being touched first or being assaulted.
So we had staff getting shit bombed, you know, with people just walking up and tipping a whole bucket of shit over them, basically.
Um, that happened a few times and-You know, we just felt like you can't do anything, you know, because in the thing you could read when something was going to happen and you'd literally stand up, get between them, push one into a cell and say, you move over there, you go over there.
It made corrections become very, very hard because when you complain to your boss or the bosses were that sick of being told off by Corrections Victoria for, they'd say, leave him there, leave him there.
Now they've only got about two or 300 in there and they haven't got the room, but now everyone's got to be separated from each other and it's just-
But, um, y-you were saying it, it becomes very, very difficult to try and manage people because the authority of prison officers is eroded.
Well, it's, it, yeah, just especially over the last few years, it's just becoming ridiculous.
You obviously-- You can't assault prisoners, and, uh, that's a take, and none of us really want to, and, you know, it's, you know, I'm not a, a heavy or a hard guy or anything like that.
But, um, you used to be able to ask prisoners to move cells, and they'd move cells.
You'd ask prisoners to bunk in together, and they'd-- and you'd say, "Listen, it's only for a short while.
Then it got to a stage where we're instructed we're not allowed to touch them, like literally not even hand on the back, move through there.
Um, we weren't allowed to, to do anything nearly without, uh, without being touched first or being assaulted.
So we had staff getting shit bombed, you know, with people just walking up and tipping a whole bucket of shit over them, basically.
Um, that happened a few times and-You know, we just felt like you can't do anything, you know, because in the thing you could read when something was going to happen and you'd literally stand up, get between them, push one into a cell and say, you move over there, you go over there.
It made corrections become very, very hard because when you complain to your boss or the bosses were that sick of being told off by Corrections Victoria for, they'd say, leave him there, leave him there.
Now they've only got about two or 300 in there and they haven't got the room, but now everyone's got to be separated from each other and it's just-
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