In his search for a better job, he came across a New Jersey State Civil Service notice of a test being given for Correction Officer. He applied and was notified to go to Barringer Walker High School. Knowing there are no coincidences, she drove him to the school, remembering Baringer Walker Drum and Bugle Corps whom they had competed with in the 1960s. In spite of his dyslexia, he passed the test. He then easily passed the physcial and was called for an interview at Rahway State Prison with Mr. Miller, the personnel officer. He set Mr. Miller off almost immediately. During the interview, Mr. Miller said "You'll never be a Correction Officer. He told Mr. Miller that he (Mr. Miller) then would never be a Correction officer.
He was sent a letter stating that he was disqualified for not having a New Jersey Driver's License. She sent a letter to New Jersey Civil Service in Trenton, with a copy of the Exam notice which said "valid driver's license required", pointing out there was no mention of "state" and that he had a vaild New York State driver's license. He was hired. He became Correction Officer D'Amico at Rahway State Prison, a maximum security facility in Avenel, New Jersey on May 17, 1976.
He had no problem going to work at the prison. The building reminded him of his alma mater, Roosevelt High School, located across from Fordham University in the Bronx.
Initially, he was an "extra" and was assigned to a different post every day. He was also assigned different shifts each week.
Not long after he became Officer D'Amico, Mr. Miller became Lt. Miller. And Myrna Horner became the Personnel Officer. He met Myrna Horner as she was moving in, carrying boxes into the front house, and he offered to help. She accepted his assistance and they introduced themselves. He always called her Mrs. Horner.
As was his custom, he went to work learning everything he could about the duties and responsibilities of a Correction Officer. He discovered his primary duty was to protect the inmates. They were wards of the state as long as they were in custody.
Orientation
Some inmates liked him immediately because he called all inmates "Mr." and their last name. Regulations required him to address inmates by their assigned number. Knowing his own limitations, however, he didn't even consider this due to his dyslexia.
Whenever he had to report a license plate number, such as "123456", he usually relayed it as "123654", reading both ends to the middle. Doing the same with inmate numbers would just confuse everyone.
Inmates are routinely searched after every movement. The inmates came to prefer being searched by him and his line of those waiting to be search would be the longest. He sang while he was doing it.
Since he was different from most other officers, he was given "hints" by inmates.
For instance, after his first traumatic experience with the riot bell going off, he was advised to count to 5 before he took off when the bell rang.
All traffic in the prison went through the Center. During one of his first experiences with the riot bell ringing off, he and Officer Holliday, a well endowed woman officer, moving fast around corners from opposite directions, had a major collision. Papers flew everywhere and several minutes were spent gathering them all up. It was after this, that he was advised to count to 5.
When he started at the prison in Avenel, the riot bell rang a lot.
One time the riot bell rang, he was already going through the center. He stopped and began counting. The center keeper asked what he was doing. He told him and Lt. Hanks doubled over laughing, saying "That's my boy".
An inmate also told him where the law books were located. He studied them while waiting for the count to clear.
Almost from the beginning of his job as Correction Officer, he would "fall asleep" as he entered the New Jersey Turnpike after crossing the George Washington Bridge. He would drive with his eyes closed in the third lane, "his lane". Everyday, a State Trooper would follow him to and from Rahway State Priaon, going into the Prison to sign the log at the beginning and end of each tour. If he changed lanes on the way, the trooper following him would pass him to check out what was happening up ahead. The toll collectors became used to him being "asleep" when he exited the NJTP. One who worked Exit 18 was always happy to see him. After Officer D'Amico came through his booth, he would go to Atlantic City and win.
One day, at the end of the 3rd shift, another officer's car wouldn't start. Officer D'Amico offered him a ride to Queens. The drive was uneventful until they reached the toll booth at NJTP Exit 18. Officer D'Amico gave the toll taker the money but not the ticket. The toll collector could see the ticket but not reach it. She went around to the passenger side to knock on the window to get the slumbering passenger to give her the ticket. The other officer awoke with a start and handed the toll collector the ticket after calming down somewhat. Officer D'Amico was "asleep" as usual. The other officer was so upset that Officer D'Amico drove to his Bronx apartment to have his wife drive the man to Astoria. The officer never went back to Rahway, sending someone else to retrieve his car from the Prison parking lot.
After this incident, his wife knew it was time to move to New Jersey. She began going with him on his weekend day tours to look for a house. They went to the Berg Realty on Rt. 27 in Edison. and were shown several houses in Union County. However, every house of interest was suddenly unavailable. After this happened three or four times, the realtor was ready to quit the business. Before he did, however, he took them back to the office and let D'Amico look through all the listings.
After going through a couple of books, Mike pointed to a picture, saying "This is the one." They closed on the house in March of 1977 and moved to Rahway in April.
Almost immediately, the Rahway Police were waiting near the house to follow him to the Prison, trying to catch him breaking some rule.
One night, the Rahway cop followed him into the prison parking lot. Not only was the officer out of his jurisdiction, since the Prison was in Woodbridge Township, and Middlesex County, the cop was trespassing on state property, having no legitimate business, no "license and privilege" to be there.
The Rahway Police Officer pulled up behind Officer D'Amico in the parking lot, got out of the Rahway Patrol car, and started yelling that the shield in the back of D'Amico's car did not give him the right to go through a light. D'Amico hadn't gone through a red light, but ignored that fact and went to look at the back of his car. There was no shield, of course, which he told the Rahway officer, saying he wouldn't mess up his Cadillac by inserting a shield in the back window. The RSP sergeant who came out to handle the disturbance checked D'Amico's vehicle and then called the FOP representative who confirmed Officer D'Amico had paid his $10 FOP dues but had not paid $10 for a shield and so therefore, did not have one.
Officer D'Amico went in to lineup, as the Rahway cop was in good hands, with every gun at the Prison pointed at him.
Woodbridge Police Township responded to a call about a disturbance at the Prison and called for backup upon learning there was a Rahway City Officer there. The State Police also responded.
All the visitors went home by 3am.
He drove a number of vehicles to the Prison during the time he worked there. When he started at the Prison, they had a green Dodge Monaco. After they moved to Rahway, they purchase a brown Cadillac, their second cadillac, from Miller's on St. Georges Avenue. This was replaced with a Lincoln convertible that he got from another officer for $1000. It had electrical problems which made it incompatible with him, so they traded it in for another newer used Cadillac from a dealer on Route 22. Because this car needed some work before they took possession, they were given a "loaner" which he drove to work for a few days before showing up with his "new" Cadillac. Some officers thought he must be rich because he drove all these cars.
There were always investigations of corruption at the Prison. One involved the Credit Union. Others involved Inmate Funds. The Instution had set up a banking system for the inmates and there were allegations of mishandling of the money. It was even rumored that Officer D'Amico had taken the money of an inmate. When Officer D'Amico was accused, he asked how much was involved, pulled a wad of bills out of his pocket more than 20 times the amount saying he had no need to steal from anyone, and offered to replace the missing money which also contributed to his reputation as being well off.
However, he really wanted to drive a truck, He learned that the US Post Office sold vehicles to the public when they had no further use for them. He visitd the 34th Street Post Office in mid town Manhattan and found "Charlotte", a step in van, used to tow other NYC mail trucks went disabled. This was eventually replaced by "Rita", a 24 foot Ford straight truck. Rita was immediately ticketed for parking on the street at night so he left for work at 9pm until the utility company raised the guide wire so it could be parked on the driveway. And there was "Aunt Nellie", a 1986 Ford Econoline, cargo van, purchased for $3000 and kept until the 2000s.
One day, several athletic teams were eating in the inmate dining hall, outside of regular mealtimes, after several hours of practice. A short inmate and an officer "Tiny" were arguing. Since officers were forbiden to fraternize with inmates, this was the only way they could legally converse without getting into trouble. The two had grown up together and were good friends. However, another inmate thought Tiny was picking on the little guy. When the other inmate couldn't stand it anymore, he loudly objected, starting a fight. Officer D'Amico was just entering the inmate dining room as the riot bell went off. He turned to leave but the gate clanged shut behind him. He turned back just as an inmate was throwing a punch at him, quickly stepped aside and watched the inmate's fist hit the gate, breaking all the fingers in that hand.
There were 51 inmates, two officers and a Sergeant present when the riot started. Officer Hurd's hand was immediately cut and he spent the riot bleeding under a table. The Sergeant had been hit in the head and was semi-conscious. That left him and Tiny versus the inmates.
When it was over, 34 inmates were taken to the hospital and 17 to lockup.
He and Tiny were charged with "police brutality".
The inmates presented their case, which included 2 inmates suffering broken backs, as well as a number with assorted broken arms, legs and other bones. The Judge was favorably impresed in their favor. However, after hearing the rest of the circumstances, the Judge immediately dismissed all charges against the officers.
After this, whenever there was a hint of a riot, he and Tiny were dispatched to the area. There were no more riots during the 8 years he served at RahwayState Prison which would later become known as First Jeresy.
One of his early assignments was Rahway Camp, a minimum security facility outside the walls of the prison. He learned from overhearing conversations that some inmates assigned to Rahway Camp were leaving the Camp during the day, burglarizing homes in neighboring communities and using the proceeds to support their families. When he initially reported this, however, it was basically ignored.
He was also assigned to Marlboro Camp, a minimum security farm located next to a state psychiatric institution. The inmates at Ancora were know to go for walks at night so the instituion staff had the inmates remove their clothing each evening to discourage this, leaving them naked. The Ancora inmates went for walks anyway. The cows from Marlboro would intercept the Ancora inmates and bring them to Officer D'Amico who found clothes for them, gave them coffee, and notified Ancora to come and get their clients. This was another unpopular action and he was soon barred from Marlboro Camp.
One of his assignments was to escort nurses to prison hospital. Officer D'Amico was preferred by the nurses for this assignment because he was always a gentleman.
Another assignment was to accompany inmates to the prison hospital and to Rahway Hospital. One night, he was guarding a critically injured inmate at Rahway Hospital. There was a woman on the floor in great pain who wouldn't stop screaming. This was disturbing the semi-conscious inmate who had been severely beaten and was becoming agitated. Officer D'Amico told the nurse several times to take care of the screaming woman. The last time, the nurse said the woman had been given all the pain killer prescribed, the doctor was not responding, and there was nothing else to be done. Officer D'Amico pulled his gun and ordered the nurse to call the doctor and have more pain killer prescribed for the woman. The doctor prescribed more medication, the nurse administered it, and things quieted down. The Institution was asked to not send D'Amico to Rahway Hospital in the future, The undercover FBI agent fully recovered.
When he was hired as a Correction Officer, off a Civil Service List, there was also a special hiring program in effect for minorities and low income candidates. Officers hired under this special program were being fired just before their six month anniversary which ended the probation period and would make them eligible for a permanent position. Officer D'Amico had the days preceeding and including his six month anniversary off. When he returned to work the day after his anniversary date, he was written up and the verdict was his dismissal. However, he regretfully informed them that he was, in fact, Civil Service, and was already permanent. He began advising those officiers hired under this special program to take the Civil Service Exam and notify Personnel when they passed it so they would also become permanent on their six month anniversary of employment. This made him even more popular with certain people "trying to make an officer" of him.