Beginning this morning at about sunrise the facility has been shutdown...
...and all of the prisoners including myself are now confined to our cells. This is for a complete search by teams of prison guards who will be, before this "lockdown" is over, going from cell to cell, and over every square inch of the facility to search for weapons, drugs, illegal and unauthorized items of any kind.
This kind of lockdown happens about once per year at every maximum-security prison in New York State, and more often if the situation warrants it, like if there is a major disturbance. It will last about three, maybe four days. All "inmate movement" in the hallways and buildings, and all work assignments, stop. Even the kitchen closes and, until this is over, all the prisoners get fed in our cells. And the food is usually bad during a lockdown because no one is around to prepare it. We get bread, corn flakes, and milk for breakfast. Cold plates and sandwiches are served for most of the other meals.
For me, the lockdown provides a chance to catch up on my reading and do some other chores. I have a pile of letters to answer, and this is a good time to get to some of them. The recreation yards are closed, and so is the library, laundry, kitchen and mess halls, all classrooms, everything. Each of these areas must be searched.
My cell will be getting searched, probably sometime today or tomorrow. A team of two guards will be coming in, and they will then systematically go through all of my property and every inch of my little cell. They will inspect every piece of clothing, will thumb through all my letters, books and Bibles, and will basically check everything that I own. This is the routine and every prisoner gets the same treatment.
In the twenty-four years I have been incarcerated, these lockdowns and searches are routine. They're also a big hassle in some ways, because everything I have will be snooped through. Then it will take me awhile to put all my property back in order. However, once the searching is completed, things can get back to normal. Everybody will return to their same routines.
But for now, with all the men confined to our cells, there's quite a bit of commotion going on. Many of the guys are yelling back and forth to their friends in other cells, making opinions as to how long this lockdown will last, what the guards will be especially searching for, or giving each other advice on how and where to hide things.
We're never supposed to know when these lockdowns are coming. However, everyone can pretty much guess when one is coming because most "Max" prisons like to conduct their facility searches before the summer so as to get as many weapons of all kinds out of circulation. Every prison administrator knows that the hot summer months can spell trouble.
Yet the guards will also search for other things besides drugs and weapons. They will confiscate extra bedding, an extra lightbulb (each inmate is permitted to have only one), excessive numbers of books, tapes or clothing items, even extra soap (an inmate is only allowed to have not more than ten bars of soap in his cell at one time).
The list of things the guards can take is endless, and everything is up to their individual discretion. I usually never have any problems with the staff because my cell neat and I go by the rules. Still, it is very uncomfortable to get searched like this. At least with the prison shutdown I have the next few days with "free time." I'll get a lot of Scripture reading done.
D.B.
This kind of lockdown happens about once per year at every maximum-security prison in New York State, and more often if the situation warrants it, like if there is a major disturbance. It will last about three, maybe four days. All "inmate movement" in the hallways and buildings, and all work assignments, stop. Even the kitchen closes and, until this is over, all the prisoners get fed in our cells. And the food is usually bad during a lockdown because no one is around to prepare it. We get bread, corn flakes, and milk for breakfast. Cold plates and sandwiches are served for most of the other meals.
For me, the lockdown provides a chance to catch up on my reading and do some other chores. I have a pile of letters to answer, and this is a good time to get to some of them. The recreation yards are closed, and so is the library, laundry, kitchen and mess halls, all classrooms, everything. Each of these areas must be searched.
My cell will be getting searched, probably sometime today or tomorrow. A team of two guards will be coming in, and they will then systematically go through all of my property and every inch of my little cell. They will inspect every piece of clothing, will thumb through all my letters, books and Bibles, and will basically check everything that I own. This is the routine and every prisoner gets the same treatment.
In the twenty-four years I have been incarcerated, these lockdowns and searches are routine. They're also a big hassle in some ways, because everything I have will be snooped through. Then it will take me awhile to put all my property back in order. However, once the searching is completed, things can get back to normal. Everybody will return to their same routines.
But for now, with all the men confined to our cells, there's quite a bit of commotion going on. Many of the guys are yelling back and forth to their friends in other cells, making opinions as to how long this lockdown will last, what the guards will be especially searching for, or giving each other advice on how and where to hide things.
We're never supposed to know when these lockdowns are coming. However, everyone can pretty much guess when one is coming because most "Max" prisons like to conduct their facility searches before the summer so as to get as many weapons of all kinds out of circulation. Every prison administrator knows that the hot summer months can spell trouble.
Yet the guards will also search for other things besides drugs and weapons. They will confiscate extra bedding, an extra lightbulb (each inmate is permitted to have only one), excessive numbers of books, tapes or clothing items, even extra soap (an inmate is only allowed to have not more than ten bars of soap in his cell at one time).
The list of things the guards can take is endless, and everything is up to their individual discretion. I usually never have any problems with the staff because my cell neat and I go by the rules. Still, it is very uncomfortable to get searched like this. At least with the prison shutdown I have the next few days with "free time." I'll get a lot of Scripture reading done.
D.B.