By Ashley Quadros, Public Information Officer
Cracking balls into a field and rounding bases for the win has always brought joy to avid softball player Brianna Nicholson, a sixth generation Nevada County resident and mother of two, but as luck would have it, she discovered being a correctional officer at Wayne Brown Correctional Facility is also a home run.
She joined the Wayne Brown team five years ago after a family member suggested she might be a good fit for law enforcement. At the time, she was working as a crisis interventionist in a group home, helping children and teens with behavioral issues. With her vast experience helping people and deescalating situations, the transition came naturally for her.
“After I got the job, I fell in love with it,” she said. “It is an amazing position to be in. Your coworkers become family, and this is a great career to have. There’s room for advancement as well as other opportunities to do different jobs within the facility. You get to build your retirement, have great medical benefits, and at least for me, feel like you’re making a difference.”
Making a difference is a near daily occurrence for Officer Nicholson, who noted as part of her job, it’s critical to learn basic tendencies of incarcerated persons as the smallest of changes can play a role in the outcome of medical emergencies, officer and inmate safety, and other scenarios. As part of her job, she and other correctional officers perform hourly checks on each incarcerated person to ensure their safety and the ongoing safety and security of the facility at large. In one specific example, paying careful attention to behavior on a routine check saved a man’s life.
“We had an IP (incarcerated person) in ad-seg area, which means they live by themselves. I was doing checks with the nurse, and I noticed that there were feces on the ground, and that he was laying on the ground, which was very different from his normal behavior,” she explained, noting for other incarcerated persons, this could be normal behavior. “We entered the cell, and quickly realized he had fallen and hit his head, causing quite a bit of blood. I radioed for a medical emergency, and the nurse and I provided aid and EMS (emergency medical services).”
The man survived. Officer Nicholson’s ability to stay calm, respond and maintain situational awareness has been instrumental in multiple occurrences at Wayne Brown Correctional Facility, making her a standout among her peers. Through her tenure, she has become a jail training officer (someone responsible for training new correctional officer hires) and is a backup officer in charge. Her can-do attitude also put her in the running for County of Nevada’s 2023 “Above and Beyond Employee of the Year.”
While she didn’t take home the win this time, she remains committed to her job and found a way to blend her love of corrections with her love of softball. She formed her own softball team, heavily comprised of fellow correctional officer staff. In addition, when off work, she can be found coaching the varsity softball team at Nevada Union High School, serving as president of the Nevada County Girls Softball Association, playing in the local men’s fastpitch league, and cheering on her own children when they too get up to bat, just like her.
The Sheriff’s Office would like to thank Correctional Officer Nicholson for her commitment to Wayne Brown Correctional Facility, for helping incarcerated individuals take steps to improve their lives, and for inspiring kids and adults alike to always step up to the plate and swing.
#NationalCorrectionalOfficersWeek
