The Door: My Twenty-Six Years Working inside Canada's Prisons

For Canadian corrections offi cer Vern Thibedeau, it all began at “Disney World”—or at least the penitentiary that ironically carried that nickname.

Within ten months, he is seriously injured. One year later he has a pistol aimed at his head during an incident in which two officers and a civilian are shot. Four years later, an inmate murders a correctional offi cer, who is Vern’s friend, and a food steward.

Over the course of a career spanning twenty six years, Vern was assigned to fi ve d...