Thank you for your kind words, Checkman, most in street LE prefer to forget we are even here. Actually, MOST people want to forget that, too. They forget "lock 'em up, and throw away the key", means someone has to house them, feed them, and make sure they never do "it" again.
Cato, I work for AZDOC, which means 90% of what we do is transparent, available for the general population, who we do serve and protect, by keeping the real mosters under lock and key.
http://www.azcorrections.gov/newindex.asp has tons of free info for you.
I would say major disturbances decrease generally, depending on what "theory" of corrections they use. See, prisons serve two funtions. One, they keep the bad ones away from you, and kepp them punished by the state for thier crimes. The second school of thought, and MUCH harder to quantify, is the school that brought the word "corrections" to prison life - the rehabilitation crowd.
Inmates are convicted criminals, serving a time imposed by the state, until they are freed. 96% of ALL inmates currenlty incarcerated today will get out, eventually. 96%. Thats a lot of guys, when you think how many are behind bars right now. We do out best to educate them, and show them what life COULD be like if they are compliant with rules and regulations, via a theory called The Parrellel Universe, get them thinking what they have to do outside to survive, legally. Sometimes, it even works. We do many things ordered by liberal judges, because we have to, and few of them do any good whatsoever. Big surprise.
Our relapse rate drops, and people go nuts, but most violent crimes are committed by the same few hardend felons. We can never reach them, and they are the reason I carry 24/7. The only thing they understand is pure, naked force. There is no reasoning with them, no appealing to thier better side, because there is none. The only argument they understand is a bullet.
There are the others, well, let me tell you the Worm theory.
There is the head of the worm, the ones who are getting it, programming right, doing what they can to change, and working hard to never, ever come back. There is the hind end, which we will never reach, the horrible ones, the ones who make the boogy man shake and quake.Then there is the middle, which is undetermined, and will follow the strongest leaders. We want to point and encourage the front, keep the hind end under control, while being civil about it, and try to influence the middle towards the front.
Did I mention I am also a Staff Instructor? Oops.
As for firearms, Glock 19, Remington 870, and AR15. Our TSU, (SWAT), has toys they don't talk about, so neither can I. But inside the walls, the fences, on the runs, our weapons are cans of OC, handcuffs, and our wits.
Fun job, really.