Working in today’s Penal System can sometimes be difficult. This describes what goes on at some of the prison during night shift.
This material is of my own work. Any resemblance to actual events or location or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Names and places are not listed in my Prison Tales stories, if there are any actual events or location or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and is made up or fictitious.
Most people think night shift at a prison would be the easy shift. I have worked both day and night shift and believe each shifts offers danger as well as excitement. What most people don’t realize is that the general population in a prison is not always locked behind doors where they just sit all day in their cells. Most of the inmate have prison jobs or go to school. Institutional lock – down times differ from prison to prison. The Institution were I worked didn’t lock the prisoners down until 1130 at night and they started feeding breakfast at 0530. This means the prison kitchen workers started at about 0200 in the morning.
Even though it is a maximum security prison most of the inmates are free to go to the library or gym on their scheduled days. Other wise after their evening meal the inmates remain in the dorm. Most of the dorms I worked in had an average of 180 inmates on each fall and one or if your lucky two officers, but you seldom work with others. And you’re looked in with the inmates while relying on First Responders to get you out if something happened.
During the evening hours before and after lock-down, gives the inmates the best opportunity to plan their deals and scams or conduct any other business they may come across. This time also gives the religious groups a changed to meet. I will not say that inmates do not get saved in prison, I do believe some inmates truly believe in a higher being, but some use Christianity and Islam or what ever else they believed in such as Wicca and Rastafarian as protection. It is the same as the guys from the same town forming a bond of protection against inmates from other town. They even give them self-names. If you’re from the coastal area you may be known as a fish head. If you were a member of a gang before you were put in prison you kept you affiliation with your gang. I can go on an on.
After lock-down and the dorm light go out. You can always spot a few inmates watching your every move at their door windows throughout the night. Some of these inmates are doing their job to help plan for future scams on the officer. Others are a sexual predator wanting to get a good look at the person on shift while they visualize and do to themselves what ever they do behind closed doors. Yes, there are sick some people in prison.
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