Proclamation 5649—National Correctional Officers Week, 1987

No group of Americans has a more difficult or less publicly visible job than the brave men and women who work in our correctional facilities. Correctional officers who work in jails and prisons are currently responsible for the safety, containment, and control of more than 600,000 prisoners. Correctional officers must protect inmates from violence from fellow prisoners, while encouraging them to develop skills and attitudes that can help them become productive members of society after their release.

The general public should fully appreciate correctional officials' capable handling of the physical and emotional demands made upon them daily. Their profession requires careful and constant vigilance, and the threat of violence is always present. At the same time, these dedicated employees try to improve the living conditions of those who are being confined.

It is appropriate that we honor the correctional officers in all our institutions, at all levels of government, for their invaluable contributions to our society.

The Congress, by Public Law 99-611, has designated the week beginning May 3, 1987, as "National Correctional Officers Week" and authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of this event.

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the week beginning May 3, 1987, as National Correctional Officers Week. I call upon all Americans to observe this week with appropriate activities and ceremonies.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this fourth day of May, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eightyseven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and eleventh.

RONALD REAGAN