Vagabonds, Thugs and Thieves #2

It was October 6th, l978 when I walked through the gate of Jackson State Prison. I heard the cold metal on Metal clang of the electromagnetic lock as it snapped shut behind me. Then the next gate opened and slammed shut as I walked through the razor wired fences toward the prison lobby and the concourse that leads to the interior of the state's maximum security prison. It felt like a foreigh country. I glanvced through the small plate windows at the guard controlling the movement of the doors and gates. He sat expressionless, pressing buttons and moving levers. I tried not to stare. He watched every movement and controlled every move. In 56 steps I reached the lobby. Yes, I counted. A huge man who looked like an NFL linebacker met me in the lobby. He must have been 6'7" and had a hand the size of a baseball glove. He extended his giant right hand toward me and said, "Welcome to Jackson Prison, Mr. Usher. I'm Warden Banks." I learned later that he had played pro football; no surprises there.
That was my first day in a career that would span nearly 21 years and up to this point, my entire adult life. I was assigned to the hopsital Emergency Treatment room and an ominous looking medication delivery system called "The Box." Over those years, half in Medical and Half in Mental Health, I worked at close range with the vagabonds, thugs and thieves......and we worked on inmates too.
As in any job, the first phase of employment is administrative. There are forms for everything f rom I.D. badges and health forms to professional licenses and metal chits with which to draw keys from Center Control. I learned to filter the miiions of words from the personnel director into the six sentences of information that he really needed to say to get me started. There will be more on him in later blogs. His understanding of "The System" as a whole, and his willingness to share that knowledge proved valuable as my career porgressed.
The next two weeks were a whirlwind of adjusting to a heretofor unimaginable piece of Americana. It was a segmented society with very specific dividing lines between Inmates and Staff and between Custody staff and Treatment staff. The line was only compromised by the willingness of a staff member to risk his or her career by gringing contraband into the institution. Money was the lubricant that eased one faction into the realm of the other. In Jackson prison, inmates were not permitted to have cash money. Cigarettes were the mechanism of commerce. But, money sent from an inmate's "people" to the O>O> Box of an employee, could alter the balance of finance when cash, drugs, syringes and cell phones are brought in and delivered to the waiting inmate. The process is called Downing The Duck and in one risky act, usually followed by another, the employee gives his career to the inmate because the first time he refuses to convey the contraband, the inmate becomes the whistle blower and the employee's career is over. His pension is gone. His job is gone. His reputation is ruined and he can be arrested, all in one day in one lapse in judgement.
Listening to the factions interact, provided an incomparable venue to learn about human nature, the best aspects and the worst. It was a window into the criminal mind at close range and an opportunity to appreciate the differences and the similarities in their personalities and behaviors.
More Next Time:

VAGABONDS, THUGS AND THIEVES:

When most people think about prison and prisoners, the older folks think of Jimmy Cagney movies and maybe the Shawshank Redemption. Others think about Tom Hanks in The Green Mile. Still others think about Guantanamo Bay or Iraq's famous Abu Graeb prison. These are the prison settings and personalities that stick in the minds of the public, young and old.
There is however, a much larger segment of American society with much more common roots, that calls prison home or the place they have chosen to work for an entire career. There are Inmates and Outmates who ply the hallways and housing units of county jails and state and federal prisons in every state of the country.
The inmates range from the incourageable, violent adolescent to the predatory child molesting grandfather who looks like Chris Kringle. They spend days, weeks, months or years in small cells and large dormitories, serving sentences for violating the laws of a society that largely prefers the "out of sight, out of mind" attitude toward a growing segment of the American population. It appears that in difficult economic times, it is more cost effective and less problematic to incarcerate criminals than to rehabilitate them and reintegrate them into society. Many segments of the society are neither eager nor prepared to receive a newly released inmate, particularly with a history of crimes of a serious nature. In days of high unemployment, many busineses are laying off their employees as demand for their products or services declines.
An inmate close to his discharge date, whether at the end of sentence, being released on Parole or Probation or leaving prison to a Half Way House or Transitional Supervision, is like emerging from hibernation. He will face the bright sun and scorn of a society that lacks the will and the resources to accept a population of former inmates with questionable backgrounds and skills. Everything about a newly released inmate is suspect. What was his crime? Was he dangerous? Is he dangerous today? Does he have skills? Is he willing to work? Is he willing to learn? Can he be trusted? The questions never end and the doubt never completely disappears.
In upcoming blogs we'll take a look at the inmates while they are incarcerated, what they think about and what they do. We'll learn about their keepers, the correction officers, counselors, doctors and nurses. We will examine the communication skills, used and misused and we will delve into the lives of those who return home each day and those who will never go home.
You are welcome to comment, especially family members of inmates. We will keep the information generic and will not "Out" anyone. This can serve as a forum to inform, to decrease anxiety and doubt and a place to ask questions of a realm that many do not understand.
More next time. J.B. Imhoff