him that I could not promise him anything because I was not authorized to do so. I did, however, let him know that he was playing a very dangerous game that does have severe consequences and that he should refrain from such practices in the future. The information he provided me was as smoke in the wind and nothing else. The sad question about this type of situation and many others was, How long could he snitch before he got a stich? It did not take long.
Within a few months, this same inmate was assaulted and had to be transferred to another location for his own protection. To see a young man who had been assaulted was not a pretty sight. However, the snitch could only blame himself. He knew better but would always take the chance.
Inmates lived by a set of rules: “the inmate code of ethics.”
These standards or rules were set deep in stone and were not meant to be broken. If they were broken by an inmate, they normally found themselves broken.
There were several indicators that inmates use in order to determine or verify if one was a snitch, a narc, or a pigeon. A few indicators are as follows:
1 You were considered a loner and a pushover and did not fit into the established system by all other inmates. This includes conversing with staff too much on a daily basis.
2 You had your time cut short in segregation and did not have to complete the entire punishment you received for your prison violation, such as extra duty.
3 You heard an inmate’s name being announced over the PA system in excess.
4 You received special favors from any staff member.
5 You received extra items, such as canteen, radio, and hygiene products, when they knew you were an indigent.
6 You were labeled as a homosexual.
Many believe that being a snitch, narc, or pigeon was a lucrative business in prison. I had never, in over twenty-two years as a correctional officer, ever seen a “rich snitch,” only a “foolish” one.
Chapter 3
Danger Ahead! The Dining Facility
By far without question, the prison dining facility is the most dangerous place in the entire prison setting. This is the last place you want fights, disturbances, or major uprisings to occur. The dining facility maintains one the largest numbers of inmates at any one time in a controlled area. This setting takes place three times every day. Breakfast is normally served at 6:00 a.m., lunch at 11:00 a.m., and dinner at 4:00 p.m. Extreme caution is at the highest-level during meal-feeding times because of the type of environment. The inmates use this time to obtain extra food, steal food and condiments, barter, and trade for their profit. Inmates always gripe and complain on a continuous basis, especially concerning the type, taste, and quality of food they were being served. It is an impossible task to satisfy one inmate, let alone nearly one thousand, in a short one-hour time frame. For reasons unknown, the food does not agree to their taste buds, the food seems cold, their desired portion is too small, and they do not approve of the meal selection set forth by the prison master menu.
The dining facility is centrally located in the middle of the prison, set apart and fenced in separately from all other areas for the sole purposes of receiving food supplies and extra security.
The dining facility on the inside is split down the middle with a large four-foot concrete barrier wall between the east and west sides. The serving lines on both sides of the barrier serve the same type of food, with the only exception of medically controlled special diets. The dining area is furnished with stainless steel tables with the capacity to sit four inmates at one time. The table and chairs are mounted and secured to the floor. Inmates entering the dining facility for chow have their prison ID card swiped in the dining facility computer system by officers working on both sides. This is required for two reasons. The first is to ensure that proper head count is completed to record the exact number of meals being served, and the second reason is to ensure inmates do not switch sides of the dining facility in an attempt to consume an additional meal. Inmates are habitual complainers; they complain about the food but will steal or fight to obtain a double portion.
It’s an unexplainable game they play, and it makes no sense. However, this is the prison environment, and there are no logical explanations why they think or act in this manner. After having their card swiped into the computer, they move up one at a time to the serving line. The serving line is where they receive their individual food tray. Upon my arrival in the prison, the trays were made of metal, but for good reasons, they were changed to plastic trays. The serving line is uniquely designed with an opening at the bottom of the long stainless steel serving counter approximately ten to twelve inches where their tray is passed through to them. They have no physical contact with the cooks or access to the food being served.
They are able to see the inmate cook on the other side, serving their food, but cannot physically control the amount being placed on their tray. The amount of food placed on an inmate’s tray is required to be equally the same. For example, an inmate has one hamburger with bun, one desert, one vegetable, and one serving of french fries. Several times during feeding, a tray will purposely be passed out with two or more hamburgers with an extra serving of french fries. The officer assigned to observe the serving line will have the tray with extra food returned to the dining facility manager, and the inmate will be given a new tray with the proper amount of food. All inmates involved in this incident risk have the possibility of being written up for a violation and possibly being placed in segregation, pending on the outcome of an investigation.
The inmate cooks on the serving line will give out extra food for several reasons, usually because he owes a favor for his own selfish or financial gain, has a gambling debt, or has been threatened, and even for disgusting sexual favors.
There are normally four officers or less working the dining hall for all three meals. I have personally worked the dining hall when only three officers were present. This was the administration’s normal practice. This again goes back to the problem of manpower shortage of correctional staff. This makes your job more intense and frustrating as you are always waiting for the worst situation to happen.
Somewhere within the prison administration, it is conceived that taking the risk of someone getting hurt or possibly killed rather than properly staffing the prison is a chance they were willing to take. The same excuse was always about not enough money.
Several times, when an officer was hurt, it ended of up in the local court system and the administration being sued for inadequate staffing and protection for the officer who got hurt. One would have to ask, What is the value of protection, safety, and life of the correctional staff and the safety of the public? I personally believe they could care less as long as things ran smoothly in the prison. Many incidents in this setting could have been stopped before they started if proper staffing was assigned to the prison, especially in the dining facility during meals.
A larger portion of food being given to an inmate was usually stopped but not enough to brag about. The amount of food being taken from the dining facility to the yards or to the dorms was a constant issue seven days a week. It was never unusual to find food, coffee, apples, and oranges hidden in their wall lockers, pillowcases, boots, on their bodies, trash cans, under their clothing, or even inside their bodies. I had even found drinks and food inside the toilets. I will discuss this in a later chapter.
The worst scenario for a disturbance or a fight to break out would be in the main cooking area of the dining facility, especially during feeding of the meal. Inmates had access to all types of cooking utensils, such as knives, large spatulas, large metal spoons, large aluminum paddles, and many heavy aluminum and stainless steel pots in their work area. These tools were kept secured in
