Not On My Watch: A Beloved Prison Wardens 30 Year Fight For Justice In The Prison System - Hardcover

Hatrak, Bob; Hatrak, Joan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1940178673 ISBN 13: 9781940178677

Publisher: Villa Magna Publishing, 2024

Synopsis

Bob Hatrak: The "Scared Straight" Warden

In 1973, Bob Hatrak became the youngest warden of a maximum-security prison in America, Rahway State Prison in Trenton, New Jersey. Not on My Watch is an inspirational story of how one man with a visionary plan became one of the most notable and progressive prison reformers in American history.

A pitching phenom in high school, Bob lost his hand in a machine accident and almost lost his spirit-until his tight-knit Trenton community rallied to his side. After college, he thrived as a high school teacher and head basketball coach. He started a career in corrections in 1967, and six years later he assumed the warden's position at the violent, riot-torn Rahway State Prison. Treating prisoners with respect, he built an international reputation as a reformer.

Written by Bob and his wife, Joan, Not on My Watch is a personal, passionate, and eye-opening story, shedding light on one of the great reformation stories of the era. Fans of the documentary and subsequent TV series Scared Straight! will find this memoir equally revealing-and riveting.

Bob's story is personal - a reminder that as a society, we have a long way to travel on the path to justice, equality, and reform.

About this title

About the Author

Now retired, Bob Hatrak, the famed Rahway State Prison warden, had a rich work history. Out of college, he began working as a high school teacher and head basketball coach. He started a career in corrections in 1967 when he accepted the Director of Education position at the Trenton State Prison (New Jersey). In 1973, he was asked to assume the warden's position at the notorious, violent, and riot-torn Rahway State Prison. Serving there, he built a national and international reputation as a reformer. Under Bob's leadership, violence decreased dramatically and Rahway became a prisoner rehabilitation model featuring inmate Self-Rehab Enterprise Groups. He set up a 'Lifers' Group, which became famously known as "Scared Straight" and the Rahway State Prison Boxing Association, a Vocational Trades School, which helped inmates, including the legendary Light Heavyweight, James Scott, navigate professional boxing careers. In recognition for his contributions to boxing, Hatrak has been inducted into the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame. His approach to prison management helped Rahway go from its prior reputation of 'a notorious, violent, and riot-torn prison' to one that the American Justice Institute honored. Under Bob's watch, a national research project included Rahway Prison among the five most stable maximum-security prisons in America.Once he left Rahway, Bob led a corrections department in the Pacific Northwest, worked as a state department of corrections director and deputy director, and owned and operated a successful prison consulting business with his wife Joan. They did that for twenty-two years. Their client list included many state and county prisons, jails, and department corrections.Joan and Bob live in a senior retirement community in Portland, Oregon. They have two children and four grandchildren.

Edition details

• Publisher: Villa Magna Publishing
• Publication date: 2024
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1940178673
• ISBN 13: 9781940178677
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 286