Not much to report today. It was a pretty routine quiet night for me.
It appears we have lost another staff member. According to the rumor mill, he lost his temper with his girlfriend and grabbed her by the throat and threatned her. He was arrested, and will now lose his certification and will no longer be able to work for any sort of law enforcement in the state of Oregon. The guy had like 10 years in and pissed it away over what? a stupid argument with his girlfriend? What a waste, and he was a good officer. This is all of course just the talk, so it may not play out exactly as I have heard so far, but he is definately banned from entering the institution until further notice, so obviously something happened.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
February 21st
I guess I have slipped a bit and it has been a while since my last post.
There hasn't been a whole lot going on, at least for me, at work the last couple weeks. It has been pretty much the same old routine. It has been a little different in general population this last week though.
On Tuesday the 13th they had a fight in the dining room during the noon meal. This fight was between an African-American inmate and a Caucasian inmate. It appears that there was quite a bit of racial tension when this happened.
Then that evening there was a fight between 2 Hispanic inmates in D block. These inmates had just been recently released from IMU. They did not respond when staff arrived and ordered them to stop fighting. They did not respond and break apart even after OC spray was used, and staff had to intervene and physically pull them apart.
Because we have had an increasing number of incidents such as this, the administration slowed things down once again for several days. They limited the number of areas they allowed out to the yard at one time, and slowed the running of meals to limit the number of inmates out at one time. As of the time I am writing this, things should be back to normal schedule. I have been on my weekend for the last four days, so who knows what has happened while I was gone.
There hasn't been a whole lot going on, at least for me, at work the last couple weeks. It has been pretty much the same old routine. It has been a little different in general population this last week though.
On Tuesday the 13th they had a fight in the dining room during the noon meal. This fight was between an African-American inmate and a Caucasian inmate. It appears that there was quite a bit of racial tension when this happened.
Then that evening there was a fight between 2 Hispanic inmates in D block. These inmates had just been recently released from IMU. They did not respond when staff arrived and ordered them to stop fighting. They did not respond and break apart even after OC spray was used, and staff had to intervene and physically pull them apart.
Because we have had an increasing number of incidents such as this, the administration slowed things down once again for several days. They limited the number of areas they allowed out to the yard at one time, and slowed the running of meals to limit the number of inmates out at one time. As of the time I am writing this, things should be back to normal schedule. I have been on my weekend for the last four days, so who knows what has happened while I was gone.
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
February 7th
Well, grab yerself a cup'o'joe and kick back. This is gonna be a long ass post.
For starters, I will explain what IMU (Intensive Management Unit) is, since that is my new post starting this week. IMU is a prison within the prison.
When Inmates break rules they get sanctioned time in our DSU (Disciplinary Segregation Unit). This is basically a jail within the prison. They are locked down for most of the day, but do get to walk on the tier 5 days a week, and go to a secure outside yard, weather permitting. They don't get these privileges if they are on LOP (Loss Of Privileges). So if they break a rule they go to DSU. If they continue breaking rules and keep getting sent to DSU, OR the rule they broke was severe enough, like an assault on another inmate or staff for example, they get sanctioned to up to 180 days in DSU. Then they get sent to IMU. DSU is a disciplinary process and they can only be kept there a maximum of 180 days. IMU is a program unit, and they can be kept there pretty much indefinitely until they decide to do the program assigned to them so they can get out and be placed back in GP (General Population).
So IMU is a maximum lock down unit. They are kept locked up except to go to an inside yard area 5 days a week for 30 minutes. Then they get a 15 minute shower and go back to their cell. The only other time they get out is if they have school or a program to go to, or a visit. The amount of visits they can receive is cut back as well. When they do come out of their cells, they are always handcuffed with a set of cuffs that have a tether attached, and there are always at least 2 staff with that inmate. It is a very controlled, secure area. IMU is made up of 4 pods, or units. The inmates are housed in a different unit depending on how well they are doing and the progress of their program. The exception is C unit, which is where death row inmates are housed. This is one of the more stressful areas to work, because we get the inmates that can't behave in GP and are often the most disruptive and violent. We are not allowed to work in this unit for more than 2 years at a time. After that we have to bid out of the unit for at least 1 bid (6 months) to get away from the high stress environment for a while. The same 2 year rule applies to DSU.
Now the other thing different about IMU is that we work 12 hour shifts there. It is the only part of the prison with this sort of shift. It is a 3 week cycle. For 2 weeks we work 3 days on and 4 days off, and the 3rd week we work 4 days on and 3 days off. If you do the math, that equals out to 120 hours in the 3 week cycle, the same as doing 8 hour shifts 5 days a week.
Our work weeks run from Sunday to Saturday. Because my old post I had Friday and Saturday's off, my weekend was at the end of the week. When I bid the new post in IMU I bid a post that I work Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights (From 0600 pm to 0600 am). Then on my long week I go in a day early and work Tuesday night as well. So I have Saturday, Sunday, Monday and 2 of every 3 Tuesday's off. Putting this together, I was looking at having a nice 6 day weekend going into the new bid. You with me still? That would have been Thursday (I got off work Thursday morning at 0800 am on the old post) Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday night, and I would then go in Wednesday night at 0600 pm.
So I was sitting at home last night, planning on enjoying my last night of freedom before having to go back in to work tonight. At about 0605 pm my cell phone rang. I answer it and it is the swingshift lieutenant in IMU. The conversation goes something like this.
"So, Gary, were you planning on coming to work tonight?"
"Um, no, wasn't planning on it."
"Well, you're on the boards for tonight."
"What?!? I don't come in until Wednesday night."
"Well, this is Wednesday nights board. It is Tuesday night, but it is considered 1st shift (graveyard) so you are on tonight."
"I know how the boards work, I have worked 1st shift for a long time. But my post is actually Thursday, Friday and Saturday, which is actually 0600 pm on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. I only come in on Tuesday nights on my lo......
(Now at this point, with the Goddess as my witness, I SWEAR you could actually see a light bulb flicker to life above my head!)
....Aww SHIT lieutenant, what week are you guys on out there?"
(You see, the 3 week rotation doesn't re-set at the beginning of each bid. It just keeps cycling through.)
"Well, according to the board this is week 3."
"SON-OF-A-BITCH!! This IS my long week. I'll jump in the shower, get dressed and get there as soon as I can."
Ohhhh yeahhhhh, guess who was supposed to be at work by 0600 pm last night. So by the time I shower, get dressed and get to work it is 0730 pm. (I live about 45 miles from work, so it is almost an hour drive) Fortunately, the guy I was supposed to relieve at 0600 pm, decided that I could just pay him back the time instead of getting burned for being late. The lieutenant said that was ok with him, so now on my next long week, I gotta go in a couple hours early to pay him back for covering for me until I got in last night. What a great way to start the new bid.
Whew! WHAT?!? I warned you it was gonna be a long ass post.
Ok, one other thing to report. Apparently they had a pretty busy day on Monday, the 5th. They had 4 different fights during the day involving different groups of inmates. The first 2 happened within 11 minutes of each other in the dining room during lunch time. The first one involved 3 Hispanic inmates. The second one involved 6 African American inmates. The third one happened a couple hours later as the inmates were returning from the recreation yard back to the housing units. It involved an African American and a Caucasian inmate. The fourth was about 5 hours later in the evening and happened by the inmate's canteen exit door. At least three of the four fights are believed to be gang related, but they are all still under investigation.
Because of these fights, the line movements of inmates (including meals) was slowed down Tuesday to allow staff to better observe and control the inmates that were out at different times throughout the day. It sounds like everything went ok, but tensions will probably be running high, so it may be pretty volatile for a while.
OK, that is enough for now. I need sleep.
For starters, I will explain what IMU (Intensive Management Unit) is, since that is my new post starting this week. IMU is a prison within the prison.
When Inmates break rules they get sanctioned time in our DSU (Disciplinary Segregation Unit). This is basically a jail within the prison. They are locked down for most of the day, but do get to walk on the tier 5 days a week, and go to a secure outside yard, weather permitting. They don't get these privileges if they are on LOP (Loss Of Privileges). So if they break a rule they go to DSU. If they continue breaking rules and keep getting sent to DSU, OR the rule they broke was severe enough, like an assault on another inmate or staff for example, they get sanctioned to up to 180 days in DSU. Then they get sent to IMU. DSU is a disciplinary process and they can only be kept there a maximum of 180 days. IMU is a program unit, and they can be kept there pretty much indefinitely until they decide to do the program assigned to them so they can get out and be placed back in GP (General Population).
So IMU is a maximum lock down unit. They are kept locked up except to go to an inside yard area 5 days a week for 30 minutes. Then they get a 15 minute shower and go back to their cell. The only other time they get out is if they have school or a program to go to, or a visit. The amount of visits they can receive is cut back as well. When they do come out of their cells, they are always handcuffed with a set of cuffs that have a tether attached, and there are always at least 2 staff with that inmate. It is a very controlled, secure area. IMU is made up of 4 pods, or units. The inmates are housed in a different unit depending on how well they are doing and the progress of their program. The exception is C unit, which is where death row inmates are housed. This is one of the more stressful areas to work, because we get the inmates that can't behave in GP and are often the most disruptive and violent. We are not allowed to work in this unit for more than 2 years at a time. After that we have to bid out of the unit for at least 1 bid (6 months) to get away from the high stress environment for a while. The same 2 year rule applies to DSU.
Now the other thing different about IMU is that we work 12 hour shifts there. It is the only part of the prison with this sort of shift. It is a 3 week cycle. For 2 weeks we work 3 days on and 4 days off, and the 3rd week we work 4 days on and 3 days off. If you do the math, that equals out to 120 hours in the 3 week cycle, the same as doing 8 hour shifts 5 days a week.
Our work weeks run from Sunday to Saturday. Because my old post I had Friday and Saturday's off, my weekend was at the end of the week. When I bid the new post in IMU I bid a post that I work Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights (From 0600 pm to 0600 am). Then on my long week I go in a day early and work Tuesday night as well. So I have Saturday, Sunday, Monday and 2 of every 3 Tuesday's off. Putting this together, I was looking at having a nice 6 day weekend going into the new bid. You with me still? That would have been Thursday (I got off work Thursday morning at 0800 am on the old post) Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday night, and I would then go in Wednesday night at 0600 pm.
So I was sitting at home last night, planning on enjoying my last night of freedom before having to go back in to work tonight. At about 0605 pm my cell phone rang. I answer it and it is the swingshift lieutenant in IMU. The conversation goes something like this.
"So, Gary, were you planning on coming to work tonight?"
"Um, no, wasn't planning on it."
"Well, you're on the boards for tonight."
"What?!? I don't come in until Wednesday night."
"Well, this is Wednesday nights board. It is Tuesday night, but it is considered 1st shift (graveyard) so you are on tonight."
"I know how the boards work, I have worked 1st shift for a long time. But my post is actually Thursday, Friday and Saturday, which is actually 0600 pm on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. I only come in on Tuesday nights on my lo......
(Now at this point, with the Goddess as my witness, I SWEAR you could actually see a light bulb flicker to life above my head!)
....Aww SHIT lieutenant, what week are you guys on out there?"
(You see, the 3 week rotation doesn't re-set at the beginning of each bid. It just keeps cycling through.)
"Well, according to the board this is week 3."
"SON-OF-A-BITCH!! This IS my long week. I'll jump in the shower, get dressed and get there as soon as I can."
Ohhhh yeahhhhh, guess who was supposed to be at work by 0600 pm last night. So by the time I shower, get dressed and get to work it is 0730 pm. (I live about 45 miles from work, so it is almost an hour drive) Fortunately, the guy I was supposed to relieve at 0600 pm, decided that I could just pay him back the time instead of getting burned for being late. The lieutenant said that was ok with him, so now on my next long week, I gotta go in a couple hours early to pay him back for covering for me until I got in last night. What a great way to start the new bid.
Whew! WHAT?!? I warned you it was gonna be a long ass post.
Ok, one other thing to report. Apparently they had a pretty busy day on Monday, the 5th. They had 4 different fights during the day involving different groups of inmates. The first 2 happened within 11 minutes of each other in the dining room during lunch time. The first one involved 3 Hispanic inmates. The second one involved 6 African American inmates. The third one happened a couple hours later as the inmates were returning from the recreation yard back to the housing units. It involved an African American and a Caucasian inmate. The fourth was about 5 hours later in the evening and happened by the inmate's canteen exit door. At least three of the four fights are believed to be gang related, but they are all still under investigation.
Because of these fights, the line movements of inmates (including meals) was slowed down Tuesday to allow staff to better observe and control the inmates that were out at different times throughout the day. It sounds like everything went ok, but tensions will probably be running high, so it may be pretty volatile for a while.
OK, that is enough for now. I need sleep.
Monday, January 29, 2007
January 29th
Quiet shift again last night. Then at about 11:00pm my partner called me on the radio and told me the boss wanted to know if I wanted to work 3 tower for the dayshift. sigh. Did I WANT to, not really, but it is sure hard to pass up easy overtime like that, so I did it. SO after 8 hours of driving and watching alarms, I spent another 8 in a tower watching traffic go around the corner of the wall.
It is an easy post, all I have to do is write down license plate numbers of vehicles that go around the back of the institution. Despite it being an easy one, it sure makes a long day. Nothing looks better after 16 hours at work than seeing your relief coming down the wall at you.
Interesting side note. While on the wall in the tower today, one of our maintenance guys came up to look at a problem in 5 tower. Each of the towers has an intercom system in it, so as he passed each tower, we would alert the next tower by saying, "Hey 4 tower, you have that red hat coming your way headed to 5 tower". As the red hat was leaving and we were calling him back off the wall, I got on the intercom and asked everyone if maybe they thoguht it was time to give the maintenance people a new name. It has been a good 10 years since anyone has SEEN a red hat. You see, the maintenance guys used to all wear red baseball hats at work. Because security staff didn't work around these guys that much, not many of them got to learn their names. So they were called "red hats". After some banter and seriously politically incorrect ideas, it was decided we would just stick with calling them red hats.
Well, I got a great 4 hours sleep, time to go back for more. Until tomorrow...
It is an easy post, all I have to do is write down license plate numbers of vehicles that go around the back of the institution. Despite it being an easy one, it sure makes a long day. Nothing looks better after 16 hours at work than seeing your relief coming down the wall at you.
Interesting side note. While on the wall in the tower today, one of our maintenance guys came up to look at a problem in 5 tower. Each of the towers has an intercom system in it, so as he passed each tower, we would alert the next tower by saying, "Hey 4 tower, you have that red hat coming your way headed to 5 tower". As the red hat was leaving and we were calling him back off the wall, I got on the intercom and asked everyone if maybe they thoguht it was time to give the maintenance people a new name. It has been a good 10 years since anyone has SEEN a red hat. You see, the maintenance guys used to all wear red baseball hats at work. Because security staff didn't work around these guys that much, not many of them got to learn their names. So they were called "red hats". After some banter and seriously politically incorrect ideas, it was decided we would just stick with calling them red hats.
Well, I got a great 4 hours sleep, time to go back for more. Until tomorrow...
Sunday, January 28, 2007
January 28th
Nothing exciting last night. Just another night of driving in circles, then watching a moniter.
Getting cold as hell at night again though. They said it was going to be in the high 20's, and it definatly felt like it got there last night.
Getting cold as hell at night again though. They said it was going to be in the high 20's, and it definatly felt like it got there last night.
Friday, January 26, 2007
January 26th
I thought I would post and clarify a few things.
On my current post at work, I work mobile unit 4 days a week, and the dining room the last night. Mobile patrol is just that, I spend 4 hours a night in a dodge truck driving around the outside perimeter of the institution. This is an armed post, we have a shotgun rack and a .38 (yes, Smith and Wesson .38 revolver) sidearm. Just this year we got funding for Glocks, but they won't bring them online until everyone has gone through training for them, meaning the end of this year. The other 4 hours I trade out with my partner and go inside the master control center, where we moniter the perimeter alarms.
The dining room night is just that, inside the dining room. There is not much going on until we run the first kitchen workers at 03:15am. They start preparing the morning meal at that time. Then at 05:00am the dining room workers come out and eat before mainline starts breakfast. Mainline breakfast starts at 05:30am, and usually takes close to 2 hours to feed. Then cleanup starts and they start making lunch.
Now all of this will change after next week when I start my new post. We bid new posts according to seniority every 6 months. The next bid I will be going back to our Intensive Management Unit. I will post more on this once I have made the switch after next week.
A fogline is called when it gets so foggy that visibility is down enough 10 tower (which sits in the middle of the institution) can't see 5 tower (which is on the east wall). When fogline is called by the officer in charge (or OIC), 2 people are assigned as wall walkers. These 2 people carry Ruger Mini 14's and walk the catwalk on the wall. The OIC may also (and usually does unless the fog is fairly light) have mobile continue driving the perimeter until fogline is lifted.
On my current post at work, I work mobile unit 4 days a week, and the dining room the last night. Mobile patrol is just that, I spend 4 hours a night in a dodge truck driving around the outside perimeter of the institution. This is an armed post, we have a shotgun rack and a .38 (yes, Smith and Wesson .38 revolver) sidearm. Just this year we got funding for Glocks, but they won't bring them online until everyone has gone through training for them, meaning the end of this year. The other 4 hours I trade out with my partner and go inside the master control center, where we moniter the perimeter alarms.
The dining room night is just that, inside the dining room. There is not much going on until we run the first kitchen workers at 03:15am. They start preparing the morning meal at that time. Then at 05:00am the dining room workers come out and eat before mainline starts breakfast. Mainline breakfast starts at 05:30am, and usually takes close to 2 hours to feed. Then cleanup starts and they start making lunch.
Now all of this will change after next week when I start my new post. We bid new posts according to seniority every 6 months. The next bid I will be going back to our Intensive Management Unit. I will post more on this once I have made the switch after next week.
A fogline is called when it gets so foggy that visibility is down enough 10 tower (which sits in the middle of the institution) can't see 5 tower (which is on the east wall). When fogline is called by the officer in charge (or OIC), 2 people are assigned as wall walkers. These 2 people carry Ruger Mini 14's and walk the catwalk on the wall. The OIC may also (and usually does unless the fog is fairly light) have mobile continue driving the perimeter until fogline is lifted.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
January 24th
Well, it was just a normal night for me last night. UNTIL about 03:00am when the fog rolled in so thick you couldn't see 100 feet. A fog line was called and I ended up driving until it finally lifted enough for them to call it off at 09:30am. Made for an easy 4 hours of overtime.
It was just as well, I had ridden my Goldwing to work last night. It got colder than they said it was going to last night, and with the fog rolling in, there was talk of some icy areas on the roads. They were fine by the time I got out of there and headed home, but it was a chilly ride home.
The disciplinary unit was busy last night. Just before I got to work at 09:00pm the entire second tier flooded out. This is when they plug their toilets with clothing or bedding and then repeatedly flush so they overflow and dump water all over the place. This was in response to the staff doing shack downs on the tier earlier. Just their way of saying they weren't happy about it. There was a nifty, cleverly made tattoo gun found during the shake down. I saw it when they put it in the evidence locker. It was a pretty good one. Inmates can get pretty creative when they have nothing better to do all day.
It was just as well, I had ridden my Goldwing to work last night. It got colder than they said it was going to last night, and with the fog rolling in, there was talk of some icy areas on the roads. They were fine by the time I got out of there and headed home, but it was a chilly ride home.
The disciplinary unit was busy last night. Just before I got to work at 09:00pm the entire second tier flooded out. This is when they plug their toilets with clothing or bedding and then repeatedly flush so they overflow and dump water all over the place. This was in response to the staff doing shack downs on the tier earlier. Just their way of saying they weren't happy about it. There was a nifty, cleverly made tattoo gun found during the shake down. I saw it when they put it in the evidence locker. It was a pretty good one. Inmates can get pretty creative when they have nothing better to do all day.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
January 23rd
Pretty normal night last night.
We got one more of the inmates from the fight at OSCI last night. This guy is in a wheel chair, but I guess he is the one that started the whole thing. From what I have been told, he pulled something off his wheelchair and started flailing it at a rival gang member. Perhaps we should take his wheelchair and let him drag himself around, he may be less inclined to start shit that way.
We got one more of the inmates from the fight at OSCI last night. This guy is in a wheel chair, but I guess he is the one that started the whole thing. From what I have been told, he pulled something off his wheelchair and started flailing it at a rival gang member. Perhaps we should take his wheelchair and let him drag himself around, he may be less inclined to start shit that way.
Monday, January 22, 2007
January 22nd
I guess it is time for some catch up.
Last week on my Friday, which would be Wednesday night, I worked 12:00am to 08:00am.
This is the night I kind of get screwed, since the rest of my week is 09:00pm to 05:30am. So I got doubly screwed, thanks to a lieutenant. If one of the other guys that drive mobile on my Friday call in or have the night off, it is general practice that I get called and offered the post for the night. Instead, this lieutenant called someone else in, and screwed me over. It is things like this that have such a negative impact on moral. They act like it's no big deal, just get over it, but it is a big deal to us and it shows the indifference management feels towards the people who are actually in the trenches doing the work.
Last Saturday there was a large fight between two Mexican gang factions at one of the medium facilities. It involved as many as 30 inmates. Three staff had minor injuries from getting it broke up. We got 16 of the involved inmates transported to us that evening at about 10:00pm.
Then last night they brought over 3 more of them. We now have the majority of the players. We are all just wondering now how long it will be before they get word to their "homies" and we have a flare up at our institution. A lot of us, myself included, figure by this weekend something is going to go down. As long as everyone remains vigilant and paying attention to what is going on around them, we should be able to quickly control it when it does.
Last week on my Friday, which would be Wednesday night, I worked 12:00am to 08:00am.
This is the night I kind of get screwed, since the rest of my week is 09:00pm to 05:30am. So I got doubly screwed, thanks to a lieutenant. If one of the other guys that drive mobile on my Friday call in or have the night off, it is general practice that I get called and offered the post for the night. Instead, this lieutenant called someone else in, and screwed me over. It is things like this that have such a negative impact on moral. They act like it's no big deal, just get over it, but it is a big deal to us and it shows the indifference management feels towards the people who are actually in the trenches doing the work.
Last Saturday there was a large fight between two Mexican gang factions at one of the medium facilities. It involved as many as 30 inmates. Three staff had minor injuries from getting it broke up. We got 16 of the involved inmates transported to us that evening at about 10:00pm.
Then last night they brought over 3 more of them. We now have the majority of the players. We are all just wondering now how long it will be before they get word to their "homies" and we have a flare up at our institution. A lot of us, myself included, figure by this weekend something is going to go down. As long as everyone remains vigilant and paying attention to what is going on around them, we should be able to quickly control it when it does.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
January 17th
Another uneventful night. It was kind of fun driving around the perimeter last night. There was still some snow and ice down the north side of the institution. You could goose the gas a little and the tires would spin. It's the simple things that keep you going.
Fortunatly, the roads didn't freeze back up, so the commute home was pretty much a normal drive.
Fortunatly, the roads didn't freeze back up, so the commute home was pretty much a normal drive.
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