Being in jail isn’t something most people want or even prepare for. I would posit the majority of folks would rather never experience this for themselves, although I’ve met people in my life that have spent so much time behind bars, they can’t function in regular society. It’s not something you can always prepare for either, things happen and one day, you find yourself being arrested and unable to be released. But for those who are going through a trial or waiting for a plea deal to be accepted, you’re probably wondering what to expect and searching for answers.
One of the most important things I can tell you is to find out as much as you can before you go. Once you’re in jail or prison, finding answers is damn near impossible. There will be times you’ll find yourself being given inaccurate answers inside, just to mess with your head. I won’t say all corrections officers (CO’s) are like this, but there are enough who are to make it well known that getting answers from CO’s is not your best bet. That’s if they’ll answer you at all.
Common sense dictates that being in jail isn’t a joy ride and that your freedoms, such as they are, will be severely limited. You may be surprised to find things like drugs and contraband are widely available, for a significant price. It’s very telling to me that the very thing that gets most people in my area arrested and incarcerated is just as easily available inside the walls of the local jail as it is on the street.
6 things to know about jail/prison
Remove all versions of jail or prison you’ve seen on television and in movies. Every facility is different, but the two men to a cell you’ve seen in so many shows isn’t the norm. Most facilities house prisoners in dorms, which are open rooms with multiple beds that are bunks. There are cells, but they’re typically reserved for special sections of the jail/prison. If you go into protective custody (PC), whether on your own or due to misbehavior, those areas contain cells which house two prisoners per cell. Due to COVID, most facilities are requiring quarantine for 14 days, which occurs within a cell block such as this.
There aren’t phones everywhere like you see in television and movies. In the block where I’m currently being housed, there are two phones in the common area, which is where we are released to every other day, for a couple of hours at a time. Where I am now, there are no ‘house rules’ regarding telephone or tablet usage. Most facilities, prisons more so than jail, end up with rules created by the inmates as to when phones can be used and by whom. The facility clearly has times set up for phones and tablets to be available, but the inmates are who typically control what goes on during those times.
Everything has a cost. Anything you could need while in jail or prison is available via commissary. And it all costs around 4–5 times more than it would in the real world. A pack of ramen? Almost a $1. A cheap $1 puzzle book you can pick up any time from Dollar Tree? $2–3. That may not seem like much, but when you start talking about higher end items, it gets pricey. Cheap (but better than what you’re issued) dollar store slides run about $30. If you care about your back and feet at all, those will be one of the first items you’ll want to purchase. Every floor in a jail or prison is concrete. You’re not out of your cell, if you’re in one, or outside much at all, so you’ll find yourself walking around the common area a lot. You can only sit somewhere for so long.
Yes, there are drugs in jail/prison. I would like to say I’m surprised by this, but I’m really not. It’s not as prevalent on the jail side, but it still happens. People bring them in with them when they’re booked (3 guesses as to how and the first 2 don’t count) and depending on how much they have, more often than not keep it to themselves. From what I’ve heard from men who’ve done time before, it becomes a serious issue in prison. Yes, the CO’s know. They’re part of the distribution highway. There’s absolutely zero chance the amount of drugs running through our prison system would be at the level it is without help from employees of the prison.
People will use anything to get high. On the days my level is allowed into the common area, I have seen men carrying Lysol wipes all day long. No, they’re not trying to be clean, they’re getting high. They huff the fumes from the cleaning cloth until it no longer has a scent. I’ve also seen inmates huffing bleach.
Not everyone is guilty, but most are. That doesn’t make them bad people inherently. Some of the nicest people I’ve met are what society would consider career criminals. They make mistakes of a certain breed, which doesn’t indicate who they are as a person. Some are junkies, willing to do most anything for a fix, which lands them in jail. Others found themselves in dire straits, and robbed a person or place to try to care for their families. Some are mentally ill and have no business in jail to start with, they need mental care and are unable to get it. One of the worst cases of police brutality in my county happened because a detective refused to listen to the parents of a mentally ill young man, and shot first then asked questions later. This young man lost his life because a cop thought he knew better than the people who cared for the man daily.
Being in jail or prison isn’t supposed to be easy, but it doesn’t have to be as difficult as they make it. If you’re truly trying to rehabilitate the people you’re locking up, serious sweeping changes must be made. You can’t break a person down to their bare bones and expect them to change. You can’t give someone 23 hours per day of time alone with nothing to do and expect there to be no issues. People need people in order to thrive, not just survive.
