It's the way you approach you job that makes it rewarding of frustrating, says Corrections Officer Artis B. Shackleford. If you look for the negative, you'll find it. If you look for the positive, it's there, too.

An officer at the Brooks Correctional Facility near Muskegon since 1992, Shackleford credits his religious beliefs, the support and encouragement of his wife, and his willingness to work with both prisoners and staff to get the job done for the success he's earned.

"You have to be a team player to be a good officer," says Shackleford, who holds a degree in criminal justice from Grand Valley State University and who trains new employees to deal with mentally ill and suicidal prisoners.

On April 8 he was chosen Michigan's 1996 Corrections Officer of the Year and was also a finalist in the national officer of the year contest sponsored by the International Association of Corrections Officers.

Warden Joseph Abramajtys says Shackleford is "energetic, determined and dedicated" and that "his knowledge, maturity and experience make him a positive influence on new corrections officers."

Shackleford started as an officer at the Handlon Michigan Training Unit in 1989. He remembers form Warden Richard Handlon's words to him his first day of work: "He looked me in the eye, shook my hand, and told me: 'Son, you'll do well out there as long as you stay out of the games.' "

Staying out of prisoner games is an essential skill to survive as an officer, says Shackleford. "If you have personal needs that are not being met outside your job, if your life isn't balanced, you can fall prey to the manipulations of prisoners," he says.

Shackleford is active in his church, where he is a trustee, and spends time helping to recruit for the Department.

Recently he was able to return to his high school in Flint and talk to students about his job as an officer, something he says he truly loves. "I don't want any other job. I just like being an officer," he says. He plans on giving a presentation at his daughter's school soon.

Though Shackleford says there is potential danger on the job and has the experiences to prove it, he also says the job has given him many opportunities to grow, to learn about other people and to be open to new ideas and approaches.

"Working in a prison makes me appreciate my freedoms, my life, and it has given me insight into other people. I'm not willing to prejudge people," he says.

Working with people is what Shackleford say is the best part of his job. "Everyone has to work together to run a safe and secure prison," he says. "That includes prisoners. When they get mad at me for saying no to them or for punishing their behavior, I tell them that they have their responsibilities and I have mine and that they were not doing their jobs when they got in trouble."

He says he believes staff must share their experiences and work together to avoid problems. "Prisoners are sometimes like children playing their parents off each other. If there are inconsistencies between officers, the prisoners pick up on it and try to use it as leverage," says Shackleford.

Officers, too, must take that extra step to make the environment less stressful, he says. "If a group of prisoners is getting anxious about a volunteer group that's late coming in, I'll call down to the information desk and find out what's happening. If an officer responds to a group's concerns by saying, 'That's your problem,' it creates animosity," he says.

Patience. Consideration. Encouragement. That's what Shackleford says works with most prisoners. That and consistency.

And when things go wrong, team work is even more important, he says.

On a number of occasions, Shackleford has been in the middle of the fray. He has helped cut down a hanging, but not yet dead prisoner, and was able to encourage the man to chose not to try to kill himself again. He has jumped into the action when an inmate attacked a supervisor with a pencil sharpener attached to a board. He has helped prevent escapes and on one occasion, ran into an area under fire near the fence at MTU to assist staff and to stop a prisoner who was between the fences trying to escape. The prisoner, under directions from Shackleford and others, finally laid down and was recaptured.

Shackleford attributes some of his success with prisoners and others to his willingness to develop a network of resources at the prison, staff who can be called on to help, and to his willingness to make that extra effort.

"If I can help someone during the day - a new trainee, a fellow employee, a prisoner - I feel really good," he says.