The Man We Call "C.O."

By Kinley McGinn, Claire Dearing, & Brianna Brodie

“What's my name” was stated and constantly repeated by our guest speaker Carl Cannon on Thursday, March 10th. Carl Cannon grew up and graduated from Peoria Central High School. After school he served 3 years  in Germany as a US Army Staff Sergeant and 10 years as a military policeman. After serving he then became a prison guard. He didn’t want to be just an ordinary prison guard, Carl wanted to be the best. Once he put that in his head, he achieved it. Carl Cannon has received many great awards for being a great Prison guard. It took him a little while, but he came to the realization that he was being awarded for being the best at locking people away. Carl then took it upon himself to help reduce the number of prisoners in the US, instead of letting it  keep growing to larger numbers. “ They just kept getting younger and younger and younger.”  This then led him to creating the ELITE Program. Mr. Cannon gathered his team and started this program in the early 2000s. 

Before the assembly we got the chance to interview Carl Cannon and ask questions about his program and himself. We asked him what was his “ah ha” moment/what inspired him to start this and he replied, “ Being a prison guard and having a realization that not all people are bad even in a prison yard.” Next we asked Carl what his favorite part of his job is and he responded, “watching the life come to work in young people.”  We asked where he would be if he wasn’t here right now and he replied, “maybe in with one of the inmates.”  What is the hardest part of Carl Cannon’s job, “ that you can’t save everybody,” said Carl Cannon. We mention the military, knowing he has served some time and asked what branch he was in and responded, “the army.”   On the topic of the military we asked him what the transition was like from the army to Peoria and the country and spreading the word about his Elite program, “Very odd … really odd” said Cannon. He says the most rewarding part of his job is, “Spreading the word, doing what I do everyday.”  We asked what the basics of his program is about, ”Respect”, he answered. We asked how long Cannon has been running his program and what  has changed since the beginning. “I’ve been doing it since the early 2000s and the youth has changed, so the approach had to adjust.”  What is his end goal or larger goal towards the end of this program, “ You know… my goal is one, to reconfirm those who are right to stay there and to warn those who aren’t that it can get worse.” he responded. Lastly we asked Carl, what is the change he hopes to see in Peoria. Carl said,  “it doesn’t matter where you live, it is how you choose to live.”