Such a reputation, if deserved, should not be surprising. Anyone rubbing shoulders with criminals every working day would need to be tough and something else besides. Like realistic, for example. One of the basic realities of life inside was revealed to a visiting Limerick Leader journalist by a lone warder supervising inmates at Limerick. He was referring to the fact that that officers are, in a sense, incarcerated for the rest of their working lives.
Decency demands that prisoners be humanely treated.
So does self-prerservation. But even well-treated prisoners can be prone to violence. The safety of warders cannot be guaranteed at all times and in all circumstances. Precautions can be taken but danger goes with the territory. In the past a minority got the service a bad name.