This isn't a book about prison.
It's a survival guide written in blood, sweat, and the truth nobody tells you in the academy.
On the other end of the pages, you'll understand what I learned the hard way: death is certain, growth is optional, and survival is a daily war with yourself.
"Once you open this book, you don’t just read it—you feel it."
The morning started gray, a slow drizzle that painted the yard in shades of steel. When it rains, the noise dies inside a prison. The walls seem to listen. You can smell the rust, the wet concrete, the faint sting of bleach carried through the vents.
Count time had just started. That’s when four thousand men vanish behind steel, doors slamming one after another until the whole place holds its breath.
I was on Search & Save, a team of officers tasked with responding to incidents across the yard, handling issues as they arise, maintaining control, and keeping operations tight. sitting in the office, radio hissing, rain tapping the window.
For a minute, it almost felt peaceful. Then the voice came through.
“Main Station, we’ve got an unresponsive inmate. Blood coming from under the bunk.”
The tone wasn’t panic—it was the kind of calm that makes your stomach tighten. We grabbed our gear and moved. Boots on wet pavement. The walk from calm to chaos is shorter than people think.
By the time we got to the unit, the aggressor was still standing in the cell. Two white boys had shared that cell. One of them was high out of his mind. Spice, K2, I don’t know. Something that takes the humanity right out of you.
He just stood there when we arrived. Didn’t move. Didn’t flinch. Didn’t say a word when we ordered him to step aside.
When he finally moved, we saw what was under the bunk.
Blood. Everywhere.
The victim had been beaten, strangled, tied up with every sheet, cord, and strap in the cell. Arms wrapped behind him so tight he didn’t even look human anymore. His body was stiff. Rigor mortis had already set in. His eyes swollen, his face pale in the front, purple in the back of his head where all the blood had settled.
I kept looking from the body to the inmate, back to the body, back to the inmate, like I was trying to make sense of something that didn’t make sense at all. We pulled him out. Laid him on the gurney. Wheeled him out of the unit while the other inmates pressed their faces to the glass to see what was happening.
No yelling, no chaos. Just silence and rain.
The prison swallowed it up like it always does.
Biohazard came. The cell got scrubbed clean.
Doors were closed. Operations moved on.
But me? I went home that night, kissed my wife, played with my kids, ate my dinner like always, and then I laid down and closed my eyes.
And there it was again: The body. The ropes. The blood on the floor.
Because some things don’t stay behind when you leave. That’s when I learned what survival really means in this job. It isn’t just about making it home alive. It’s about making it home the same person you came in as—holding onto the soft parts, the innocent parts, the pieces this place tries to strip away.
That was years ago, but it’s the only way to start this book. Because before you read another word, you need to understand something about this career: This shit will show you everything. The fights. The deaths. The compromises. The mistakes. The things you carry long after your shift ends.
Most people will see a dead body once or twice in their entire lives.
In prison, it’s Tuesday.
The "Save Yourself" Gift Set
Graduation / Retirement +
Most officers walk through those gates relying on instinct, prayer, and luck. This gift set was built so they don't have to.
There are things they never teach you in the academy. Things no supervisor will ever sit you down and explain. Dangerous truths that only reveal themselves in the worst moments — when it's too late to learn them.
That's why this exists.
What's Included:
Signed Copy — "How To Be A Correctional Officer and Not Get Killed"
This is not just a book. This is the conversation no one in your department is willing to have with you.
Written by someone who lived it — not studied it — this book pulls back the curtain on the unspoken rules, the silent dangers, and the psychological warfare that happens on the tier every single day. Every page was written with one purpose: to bring you home.
Autographed by the author. Personal. Intentional. Necessary.
Signed Study Guide — "The Tier Commandments"
Knowledge without application is just information.
The Tier Commandments takes everything from the book and sharpens it into commandments so critical that every officer should know them the way they know their own name. Real scenarios. Hard lessons. Field-tested wisdom.
This is the code that keeps officers alive.
Exclusive Collector's Bookmark
A small object that carries a massive reminder. Every time it's placed between the pages it speaks — "Every shift could be your last."
This is not decoration. This is a daily ritual.
Custom Embroidered Patch
Limited. Symbolic. Earned. The K badge patch represents the mindset of an officer who chose to be prepared. Who chose knowledge over ignorance.
Wear it. Frame it. Pass it down. It means something.
Personalized Appreciation Letter
In a career where gratitude is rare and recognition is even rarer — this letter says what the job never will. Signed personally by Kensir, some officers will read this and feel seen for the first time in years.
20% Off Discount Code
Your invitation to go deeper. More resources. More tools. Built specifically for the men and women of corrections.
The "Save Yourself" Custom Gift Box
Before a single item is touched — the box itself sends a message. A cinematic moonlit prison watchtower scene printed across every panel. An officer reaching down, lowering the book into the hands of someone who needs it. And written across the moon — Save Yourself.
When this box arrives — people notice.
The Wristband — Gray Outside. Red Inside.
Gray on the outside — the calm, controlled face we show the world on that tier. Red on the inside — the fire that never leaves us.
The calm and the fire we carry.
This Gift Set Was Built For One Reason.
Corrections is one of the most dangerous and most underprepared professions in the world. Officers walk into environments every day that most people couldn't survive for an hour.
They deserve more than a plaque and a handshake.
Whether this is for a graduate stepping into the unknown for the first time — or a retiring officer who gave decades to a system that rarely said thank you — this gift set delivers what no card or ceremony ever could.
You are seen. You are valued. You are prepared.
It was an honor to read this book and to be acknowledged both as a specialized professional in this line of work, and as someone who has seen the darkest of what humanity has to offer. Kensir has done what has been sorely needed in our profession, and that is uncovering the difficulties and nightmares that are deposited in our minds from the first day we step onto the yard, the things we don't want to or know how to talk about. He has eloquently revealed the honest truth of what we deal with, the struggles we face, and most importantly the necessary battle we fight every day with ourselves to hold on to our humanity, our peace, our families, ourselves. I have had the honor of serving with Kensir in a place most people should never have to see, and this wonderful work of his has reminded me that we choose the lens through which we view the world, and we are not alone in our uphill climb toward peace. Thank you to my friend, my brother. You have done the under-represented a great service.
This book is the best. Simple as that.
Refreshing, my buddy Stewart out at NDOC sent me here!
Great layout brother.
The details, I know this is one for the books!
Can’t wait to get my hands on this book!
This book is nothing less than amazing and it is a MUST HAVE! Especially if you’re in this field of work you’d definitely wanna pick up all knowledge This book has to give.
Love bro. Amazing work my guy, we are all hyped about it!
Metro Corrections!
Looking forward to reading more from you, this instantly grabbed my attention and left me wanting to real more. Keep up the great work brotha
Really impressed by the creativity and passion behind this memoir. It’s refreshing, a novel that genuinely supports unique first hand storytelling. Wishing you continued success and growth as you inspire more readers!
"...death is certain, growth is optional, and survival is a daily war with yourself." Such a profound invitation unto what I'm convinced will be a page turner! It is said, the enemy specifically targets men (the mind of men to be precise) to destroy their purpose and power; which in turn leaves the ENTIRE household unprotected and the legacy of the family in disruption. The strength in this excerpt conveys thoughts of a war won - daily. Thank you for not only fighting a battle unknown to many; but for opening your heart to purpose and sharing a first hand personal narrative that is selflessly bound to save countless others! Thank you for surviving. THANK YOU for not leaving yourself behind!!! I am looking forward the account of readers being enlightened, encouraged, rescued/saved from this daily war. This, dear Sir, is the sacred ethos meant by no man left behind.
Wow. The details draw you in and puts you at the scene. Very captivating!!