The Truth About Working in Arizona Prisons | Steven Tedaldi

Locked In with Ian Bick

Ian Bick

Society & Culture

4.8 • 743 Ratings

🗓️ 3 July 2025

⏱️ 114 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Steven Tedaldi left New York to become a correctional officer in Arizona—and quickly learned that training doesn't prepare you for the real thing. In this interview, Steven shares what it’s really like working inside Arizona’s prisons, how he gained respect from inmates, and the unspoken politics that run behind the scenes. From CO training to earning your place on the tier, this is a raw look inside the world of modern corrections from someone who lived it. #CorrectionsOfficer #ArizonaPrisons #PrisonPolitics #LifeBehindBars #CorrectionalOfficerLife #COTraining #InsidePrison #lockedinpodcast Thank you to RIDGE for sponsoring today's episode: Upgrade your wallet today! Get 10% Off @Ridge with code LOCKEDIN at https://www.Ridge.com/LOCKEDIN #Ridgepod #sponsored Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick: https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en https://ianbick.com/ Presented by Tyson 2.0 & Wooooo Energy: https://tyson20.com/ https://woooooenergy.com/ Buy Merch: https://convictclothing.net/collections/convict-clothing-x-ian-bick Timestamps: 00:00:00 Navigating Prison Politics and Respect 00:07:10 Growing Up with Diverse Influences 00:14:50 Understanding Life in a "Seriously Mentally Ill" Yard 00:21:47 Challenges of Working in the Correctional System 00:28:45 Transition from Nightlife to Law Enforcement 00:35:58 Moving to Phoenix: A Bold Decision 00:42:48 Understanding Inmate Management and Consistency 00:50:09 Transition to Working in Arizona and Prison Environment 00:57:40 Challenges of Prison Reform 01:06:01 Challenges of Parenting from Prison 01:11:41 The Impact of Institutionalization 01:19:03 The Reality of State Prison Life 01:25:14 Ingenious Prison Fishing Methods 01:31:45 The Dynamics Between Guards and Inmates 01:38:34 Prison Terminology and Communication 01:45:26 Navigating the Nightlife and Prison System Powered by: Just Media House : https://www.justmediahouse.com/ Creative direction, design, assets, support by FWRD: https://www.fwrd.co Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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1:05.1	Captain and unidentified chip approaching. Over.
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1:26.4	Go to LinkedIn.com slash lead to claim your offer. Terms and conditions apply. If you have, let's just say two white guys, me and you were both in there, are both inmates, and we're under the politics of the whites, there's going to be repercussions for our actions. So if we just try to do things on our own, try to make money on our own, we'll get, what, DEP'd. So usually DEPD is if you do
1:45.2	something wrong, your race has to deal with it. So you got DEP, you got discipline.
1:48.7	Stephen Tidaldi left New York to become a correctional officer in Arizona where the real lessons
1:54.3	began after training ended. In this episode, he breaks down prison politics, how he earned respect
2:00.1	on the job, and what working
2:01.7	inside Arizona's correctional system is really like.
2:09.6	Stephen, welcome to Lockton, man. Thanks for coming all the way from the West Coast, and
2:13.9	thanks for being a fan on the show. Hey, man. I'm glad to be here. Thank you for having me.
2:17.4	Yeah. And, you know, everyone loves the prison guard stories, a correctional officer stories.
2:22.4	And you certainly look the part, too. You remind me of a lot of COs in prison.
2:27.3	Yeah. I never in my life wanted to be working in the prison system.
	...

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