LOCKDOWN

Lockdowns are a common and cruel necessity in prison. This kind of punishment serves to discourage inmates from behaviour that disrupts the orderly running of the facility. A prison may go on lockdown for many reasons depending on the security level of that prison.

In a U.S.P where there are mostly ultra-violent inmates serving incredibly lengthy sentences, the prison will go on lockdown for fights, stabbings and riots. In a medium-high prison where I’m being held, no one has ever been stabbed as far as I know. I can honestly say that in the past ten years that I've been here, the administration has never had to lock this prison down for that level of violence.

Let me be clear, there have been many fights between different gangs and rival factions but knives were never brandished and no one was seriously hurt. There were a few teeth knocked out and a broken jaw, but no one died. And for the most part this administration has done a good job at keeping dangerous drugs from being introduced into the prison population.

This changed in about 2015 when suddenly we were flooded with synthetic narcotics. These drugs caused some inmates to behave in strange and unpredictable ways. With that unpredictability came a rash of violent assaults on other inmates as well as staff.

The main drug being abused was a dangerous opioid. A crew of prison staff became violently ill and the prison went on lockdown for our safety. This powerful opioid has caused a dozen inmates in another prison to die from an overdose. Our administration locked us down for a few days to remove it from our institution.

The drugs were being introduced into the facility in many forms. The administration believes the majority of the contraband is coming through the mail. This resulted in a very heavy restriction being placed on our precious mail. Books, in particular, were held for months while they inspected them and never released to us at all. These drugs were also being smuggled in through visiting friends and family.

Lockdowns bring our lives to an abrupt halt and make a 24-hour day seem longer than it is. The drugs are making the staff unusually harsh on the inmates. Yesterday I got a shake down when I was leaving the unit to go to work. Then again when I left the dietary unit, and twice while I was at work.

My room was turned upside down by every shift that worked in a day. There are three shifts so that means my room was turned upside down in the morning, afternoon and night. It wasn’t just me, they would shake down a lot of inmates. I know that the number one rule of prison is to mind your own business, so when you see and hear things– you don't. You know what I mean?

I hope this explains why a prison may go on lockdown. Some inmates believe the lockdowns are petty but I think, in many cases, they are necessary especially if you want to make it through your time here, healthy and alive. I felt bad for my cellmate whose family attempted to come to see him one weekend while the prison was on lockdown. They were turned away. I’ve noticed over the years that many inmates think because they’re in a cell their family and loved ones don’t experience incarceration. When we go on lockdown, in a strange way our people are on lockdown too.

The only food the prison feeds us during lock down is bread and flavored water. We have a little saying, ‘Eat Your Bread!’ It's an inside joke that means make the best of what you’ve got 'cus it could be worse!

If the prison goes on lockdown because an inmate overdosed the captain will allow the T.V.'s to stay on. But if there’s an assault you best believe the T.V.'s will be going off. An assault will trigger a three-day lockdown period. During the three days of lockdown, we’re not allowed out to shower and are served frozen lunch meat and bread. At the end of three days the staff will let us out, a few at a time, to take a shower and finally, a hot meal is served. This becomes a very welcomed ‘treat.’

I try to keep a bunch of snacks, postage stamps and batteries so I can listen to my radio in case we go on lockdown. You never get used to a lockdown. The dreaded command of LOCKDOWN always seems to steal your breath away. During lockdowns I read, write and workout. There is not much else you can do in your cell that’s about the size of a linen closet.

The Special Housing Unit (SHU) here has showers in the cells so when the general population goes on lockdown, some inmates ‘check in’ into the SHU just so they can go for a walk, get some fresh air and a shower! In any case, lockdowns are an integral part of being in prison.

A majority of the inmates I meet in this prison are young first-time non-violent drug offenders, mostly substance abusers who might have robbed a pharmacy for more drugs. These people need help not incarceration. Things may be totally different in state prison, but here in a Federal prison they hold a lot of people who should not be here and that is a big waste of the taxpayer's dollars.

This prison is a ‘program’ institution. They have all kinds of vocational classes and classes in mental health, drug abuse and victim impact. Unfortunately, when the prison goes on lockdown all the programs stop. This means that it takes twice as long to get through a program. It’s frustrating and has an impact on how we mentally cope with being in prison. The next time there’s a lapse in me posting, chances are I am on lockdown ‘Eating my Bread!’