Bio

Michael "Prison Mike" Cantrell

Michael Cantrell is a nationally recognized correctional and prison expert, author, trainer, and host of The Prison Officer Podcast. He brings more than 29 years of experience inside the correctional profession, including over two decades with the Federal Bureau of Prisons. He is also a featured prison expert on Netflix’s The New Stanford Prison Experiment, providing professional insight and context on prison environments, correctional culture, and the dynamics of incarceration.

Cantrell retired from the Federal Bureau of Prisons as Chief of the Office of Emergency Preparedness in Washington, D.C., where he worked at the national level on emergency preparedness, crisis response, and correctional security. Throughout his career, he served in a wide range of operational and leadership positions, including correctional officer, lieutenant, captain, K-9 handler, and special response and disturbance control team leader. His experience spans institutional security, use of force, emergency response, high-risk inmate movement, leadership, training, and correctional operations.

Today, Cantrell works as a correctional consultant, expert witness, instructor, and speaker, bringing the realities of prison operations to audiences both inside and outside the profession. He also serves as Director of Correctional Training for Command Presence, developing and delivering training specifically for correctional professionals.

Cantrell is the author of The Weight of Justice: Leadership Lessons from Inside America's Toughest Prisons, which draws on nearly three decades of experiences, decisions, successes, failures, and leadership lessons from behind prison walls. He is also the author of POWER SKILLS: Emotional Intelligence and Soft Skills for Correctional Officers, First Responders, and Beyond, examining the human skills required to communicate, lead, make decisions, and maintain emotional control in high-stress environments.

In 2020, Cantrell launched The Prison Officer Podcast, a platform dedicated to telling the often-overlooked story of corrections. Through conversations with correctional professionals, leaders, researchers, and other experts, the podcast explores prison culture, leadership, training, officer wellness, and the realities of working behind the walls.

Through his writing, training, consulting, podcasting, and television work, Cantrell provides audiences with an experienced practitioner’s perspective on prisons—how they operate, the people who work inside them, and the complex human dynamics that exist behind the walls.

To book Michael for your event or conference, contact him at mike@theprisonofficer.com or visit www.theprisonofficer.com.