Author revisits decade as juvenile detention counselor

It was more like being a correction officer. I was surprised at how the administration was more about the punitive side of directing these kids, as opposed to the rehabilitation side. That bothered me. But to make a paycheck, I just fell in line.”

Booker Geez

Erik Malcolm Bishop, who goes by the author name Booker Geez, is rereleasing his book “Locked Up and Put Away” about his decade as a counselor in a juvenile detention center. Here, he witnessed the stark reality of a broken system. 

Seven years after its original debut, he hopes the book will bring awareness to three new pieces of state legislation that aim to protect young people in the criminal legal system. 

Geez revealed most of the book took place at the Horizon Juvenile Center in the South Bronx. The state issued an audit earlier this year that cited employee misconduct, assault, sexual abuse, contraband and under-reporting these incidents. In 2023, two supervisors were federally charged with beating a 16-year-old resident. A year prior, at least 21 kids filed sex abuse lawsuits. 

Originally a fashion designer, the Riverdalian took a job at the detention center to provide a steady source of income for his kids amid a custody battle with his former wife. The emotional and physical toll ultimately became too great, and he resigned. 

“It was more like being a correction officer,” Geez told The Press. “I was surprised at how the administration was more about the punitive side of directing these kids, as opposed to the rehabilitation side. That bothered me. But to make a paycheck, I just fell in line.” 

As the years went by, Geez felt these methods were counterproductive for residents. Kids would be released, and end up back in the center months later. He describes it in the book as a “revolving door that prepares Black and Hispanic men for a life of incarceration.”

According to the NYC Mayor’s Office for Economic Opportunity, Black youth made up 65 percent of those admitted to detention centers — almost 11 times more than white youth — and Latino youth accounted for 27 percent, or three times more often. 

Geez had a steady upbringing in Riverdale, with no first-person experience of what kids in the center were dealing with. But he quickly caught onto dynamics, recognizing a familiar pattern — respect was determined by the number of crimes someone had committed. 

This is the mindset he tried the hardest to break while he was a counselor. 

“This country only has one use for you, and that’s to profit off of your love for street life,” Geez wrote. “Keep filling those beds and you will be paying for someone else’s vacations and luxury homes because you will never see that. While you send their kids to college, they’re sending you to correctional facilities.”

But, he felt the system was built to fail both kids and staff. Physical and mental risks were high, and counselors didn’t have the tools to manage them. Some of the residents had ADHD or bipolar disorder, and with a psychology department that wasn’t always there, counselors filled the role. They were underequipped. If something went wrong, counselors were blamed. 

Geez described starting to feel "institutionalized,” meaning he had become a part of a system that controlled his behavior. He would sometimes bend to rules inside, such as giving an “alpha” resident an extra snack so he would keep other kids in line, or turning a blind eye to violence.

“I’m a father,” Geez recalls thinking. “I wouldn’t want anybody to do this to my children. What am I doing?” 

Geez now works as a school monitor for kids with learning and developmental disabilities, as well as at a residential treatment program, and said it is fulfilling. 

Years later, Geez still keeps in touch with one of the kids he worked with at Horizon. John Brown, referred to as JB in the book, entered the juvenile system at just 14, and was in-and-out of prison for nearly 15 years, including a brief stint at Rikers Island. He became a dad to two girls in that time, Daisy and Kaylianys. 

Now 29, Brown secured his first ever job as a construction site worker, and is interested in becoming a mentor for at-risk youth — in part because of lessons he learned from Geez on the inside. 

The author described Brown as a “bully buster” who “hated watching weaker people get taken advantage of.” Brown grew up in Belmont — as the youngest of five brothers — where he learned to stay neutral, meaning he didn’t join any gang despite tense dynamics inside Horizon. 

“It was kind of like where I came from in the streets,” Brown said. “But more violent. It was more like having to fight, having to protect yourself, having to prove yourself … like wolves and sheep.” 

Brown saw Geez as an older-brother figure. He respected him as a counselor and made sure other residents didn’t give him too much trouble. The two connected over  football — even though Brown was a Giants fan and Geez and Jets fan — and what it meant to be a father of a daughter.

“I learned it ain’t over,” Brown said about his conversations with Geez. “Now, I gotta live for my kids. I gotta do it for my kids.”

It was also Geez who pushed Brown to learn how to read. The counselor would share stories about reading to his daughter, and Brown realized it was the kind of thing he’d like to do with his child. With help from a tutor, Brown was fully literate by the time he was 16. 

Something like the Youth Justice and Opportunities Act — one of three laws the Legal Aid Society is pushing — would’ve helped Brown, he said, as having a steady job now is what has been pushing him forward.

“That’s what’s keeping me out of trouble,” Brown said. “It feels good. It feels like I’m growing and making way better, rational decisions for myself.” 

The Youth Justice and Opportunities Act expands alternatives to incarceration by sealing the record of those 25 and under, allowing more opportunities for housing, education and employment. 

Another, the Youth Justice Innovation Fund, would direct $50 million towards community-based organizations that help keep young adults out of jail. And the Right2RemainSilent Act makes sure kids under 18 aren’t interrogated by police alone. 

Two are close to passing both Assembly and Senate, and one — the Youth Justice and Opportunities Act — is currently in committee. 

“Youth incarceration is just the route to permanent criminal life for these kids,” Geez said. “To effectively make these kids honest citizens of society, you need to focus on the trauma that they suffer.”