Not On My Watch

By Bob Hatrak

with Joan Hatrak

About The Book

The memoir ‘Not On My Watch’, by Bob Hatrak, who was the youngest warden of a maximum-security prison in America, Rahway State, is an inspirational story of how one man with great vision, overcame personal adversity to become one of the most notable and progressive prison reformers of our time. Together with his wife Joan, Bob tells of his ‘do-it-yourself’ approach. Inmates were empowered to envision their path after incarceration and were given the choice to join self-rehab groups with common interests.  Bob’s insight and compassion was the driving force that created the “Scared Straight” program, which he developed in the 1970’s, and is still being used today throughout the United States and abroad, as a means of deterring juvenile crime. He is also credited for enabling ‘one of the most unbelievable stories in all of boxing’, that of James Scott, a convicted murderer, and his rise to be the contender to the title of ‘light heavy-weight champion of the world’ … while he was incarcerated. Bob’s story is personal, professional,  gut-wrenching, inspirational … but most important … a reminder that as a society, we have a long way to travel on the path to justice, equality, and reform. 

Coming 2023