I’m at the Fox Lake Minimum Correctional Institution (FMCI), a facility in the Wisconsin Prison System (WPS). As I’d noted earlier, I’m in the middle of a 5 day bunk confinement. In preparation, another inmate needed laundry soap so I gave him what I had left in exchange for doing my laundry since I couldn’t get off my bunk to monitor it. Bunk confinement stinks but its not that bad. It’s harder on my bunkmate(Cellie) than me as he is used to me being gone at least some of the time. It was Monday and I woke up about 5 am. I gave my laundry bag to this inmate, then ate breakfast and returned to my bunk. A couple of hours later Lt. Brodie announced we must all remain on our bunks until further notice as we were having an “area shakedown”. If we wanted to use the restroom we would need to be strip searched. Meanwhile, people started pulling out food from the cafeteria they’d stored and started moving it down and what they couldn’t finish they handed out to others and what they couldn’t get rid of there they tossed in the little waste basket by their bunks. Unauthorized property wasn’t as simple of a problem. I had two problems here. Another inmate has both my state clothing and the clothing I bought from the catalogs to do the laundry and because we can’t leave our bunks I can’t get it back. That means that clothing could get tossed in the shakedown as it won’t be on his property list. Also, as you might recall, I had a lamp on my bunk I didn’t buy. I watched others trying to get rid of property. Some threw it on bunks of guys who were at work, others tossed items in the aisle hoping the guards wouldn’t see it. Of course, being the anxiety junkie I am, was all freaked about the lamp for awhile. But the guys most worried were those in possession of alcohol and/or tobacco, one of which was Charlie. He kept going up and down the aisle trying to find a way to unload it. Guards came by twice over the next 4 hours to let us use the restroom and get water. Each time they took us two at a time into the shower area doing the whole strip search procedure they’ve done since Day One. It seems while we were waiting another unit was having their turn at getting shook down. Lunch time came and they gave us paper plates with hamburgers and returned us to our bunks. Finally a little after noon we were told to line up for the bathroom but this time we were each sent to an individual stall. But not a normal strip search by a blue shirt this time. They wore red shirts. They were guard trainees that had been bussed in just for this occasion. Once we’d been searched and gotten dressed, we walked up to the Multi-purpose Building, the same place as Chapel and orientation. All the way there, there were at least 20 guards lined up along the road, half on each side, there to verify we didn’t drop or pass anything. Out in the yard were guards with metal detectors, presumably looking for weapons. There were guards checking the roof looking for discarded contraband. This kind of a shakedown happens once a year I’m told. I sat in that building till about 4 pm. No books, no electronics and hundreds of people from which there was no where I could go to get away making ear splitting levels of noise. Just the very definition of hell itself for the anxiety junkie, at least this one. Finally, Captain Kramer called for 3 inmates to come to the office – Charlie was one of them. We then were all sent back. It looked like a hurricane had hit our unit. Mattresses were everywhere, papers, documents, and photographs on the floor. We spent hours that night straightening up. Somehow my clothes and lamp weren’t taken. There were inmates with items that had been broken or shouldn’t have been taken. They were told to fill out complaints. Guess how that will turn out? But Charlie never returned. Percy packed his stuff in boxes. I had watched him go in the office. I think he knew what was coming. I felt bad for him on a certain level. But tonight, I felt a collective sigh of relief from the whole unit, myself included.
Posts Tagged ‘Charlie’
An Institution Wide Shakedown
Posted: December 13, 2010 in UncategorizedTags: aisle, Also, Another, area, basket, bathroom, breakfast, Brodie, bunk, bunks, cafeteria, Captain, cellie, chapel, Charlie, complaints, confinement, contraband, Correctional, couldn, definition, didn, documents, FMCI, food, guys, hell, hours, hurricane, inmate, inmates, Institution, items, junkie, Just, Kramer, Lake, lamp, Laundry, Lunch, Mattresses, Minimum, Multi, noise, noon, office, Once, orientation, paper, papers, Percy, plates, possession, preparation, Prison, problems, procedure, purpose, relief, restroom, road, roof, Shakedown, shirt, soap, Some, System, trainees, Unit, weapons, Wide, Wisconsin, yard
Putting the Pieces Together
Posted: December 2, 2010 in UncategorizedTags: Anyway, behalf, behavior, Brodie, bunk, Charlie, Correctional, couldn, custody, didn, documentation, FMCI, Funny, giver, Greer, habit, heart, inmate, Institution, involvement, justice, Lake, Lawyer, manner, meals, Minimum, news, Percy, pieces, policy, Prison, restriction, size, Still, System, ticket, Together, treatment, victims, Waukesha, Wisconsin, wouldn
I’m at the Fox Lake Minimum Correctional Institution (FMCI), a facility in the Wisconsin Prison System (WPS). I woke up expecting Lt. Brodie to call me at any point to hear the ticket that Percy gave me. The day started off with Ms. Greer reporting the follow up she did with Waukesha County on them trying to charge me for medical treatment provided while I was in their custody. It seems it is their “policy” not to pay for medical treatment while in custody. Of course, if they had told me that at the time, I would’ve refused any treatment until I got to prison. I know I would have. I know me. Why they told me they’d pay for it when they really wouldn’t is a mystery to me. But Ms. Greer suggested I get a lawyer and returned to me all documentation I had provided to her. It was her way of ending any involvement on this. She also knows I have no way of getting a lawyer and fighting this while I’m here. Still, Ms. Greer made a phone call on my behalf. It’s not much but it’s more than I’d seen anyone do on my behalf while in the WPS. So I’ll giver her props for that. Still, it isn’t good news. I have no idea what to do on this now. I think I have little I can do while I’m here. A little later, I finally received a coat. It’s ironic because I’m probably going to be put on bunk restriction and not able to walk the track anyway. What’s more is I don’t really feel like it anyway. Adding that to the lack of sleep and the skipping of meals I’ve been doing and I’m pretty sure I’m in a bad place. Funny thing is if I hadn’t been writing I wouldn’t have connected the pieces. I just don’t know what to do about it. If I say anything, if they put me on meds, or they say I’m not suitable, I’ll lose my ERP program start date (Dec 13th). Anyway, Brodie didn’t show up all day. They were to hand out canteen in the evening. I didn’t think anything of it. But shortly after canteen got handed out, my cellie told me it was coming around. I asked what he meant. He then explained Charlie was surrounded by several guys at his bunk and they were all yelling and getting at him in a real aggressive manner. Listening in, it seems Charlie had borrowed so much canteen from so many people to pay for his cigarette habit that he couldn’t possibly pay everyone back. His size couldn’t save him and he couldn’t hide. His victims pursued him into the dayroom, getting in his face and he kept alternating between threatening and pleading with his accusers. As a rule, I have a good heart and don’t want to see anyone hurt. I don’t want to see Charlie hurt. But it was justice inmate style for once I was ok with it. I wonder if his behavior will change.
We Have Met the Enemy and it is Us
Posted: November 18, 2010 in UncategorizedTags: advantage, Appeal, areas, arrangements, attendance, attention, attitude, band, Brodie, Captain, chaplain, Charlie, choir, church, complaints, Correctional, demise, didn, drama, enemy, environment, FMCI, guitar, hour, incident, infiltration, inmates, Institution, keyboard, Kramer, Lake, leader, Many, member, members, Minimum, Most, music, noise, player, players, Prison, problems, Protestant, purpose, Satan, Service, singers, song, System, Unit, vocals, wasn, week, Wisconsin, woman
I’m at the Fox Lake Minimum Correctional Institution (FMCI), a facility in the Wisconsin Prison System (WPS). I was asked on Sunday to play keyboard for the choir for the Protestant church service. After the incident with Charlie, I was glad to turn my attention elsewhere. I had heard previously there had been quite a bit of drama associated with this particular group but I figured really, how bad could it be? The guy leaving the group had only been in charge a week and told me to meet the other singers by the basketball court for practice. Service was 3 hours away but no one knew the song arrangements. Most of the time was spent on a litany of complaints and backstabbing those not there. Many made a point of telling me their issues, perhaps because I was new and they wanted me to sway to their way of thinking. The refrain was basically that we were under attack from the enemy (Satan), thus the problems we were having. I was told because of guard complaints about the noise, they had taken away the drums and electric guitars. They claimed the institution didn’t allow sufficient practice time. Finally as further evidence of the “enemy’s” infiltration, solos had been stepped on and choir members were angered. I just rolled my eyes. My focus was solely to get the music down so I didn’t embarrass myself. The leader tried to get these complicated arrangements put in place with the other vocals. There just isn’t time. Finally, we practiced for a half hour at the multi-purpose building and then did the service. Simply put, it was awful. Most of the time when you stink as a band in a church environment, people tell you it was good anyway. Not this time. Many in attendance let me know how awful it sounded. My attitude was basically I get to play in a church band again so I want to take advantage. The following day I was told by the leader that Captain Kramer and Lt. Brodie wanted to see the choir. Kramer, an attractive middle-aged woman, is Brodie’s boss. I know if she was there, this wasn’t good. After we all got there, Kramer got right to the point. Apparently, inmates in the choir from Unit 10 had been in Unit 9 areas to practice vocals which is a major offense. Then she told us that due to this and the repeated problems incurred with this choir, that have caused her and Brodie to have to spend time on these issues every week, the choir was to be disbanded. The only exceptions were the leader, guitar and keyboard player, being sure to point out to the leader that the chaplain had specifically asked for him. In some ways, if intentional, it was a clever move on their part. Appeal to the leader’s ego, cause division within the group and confuse who they should be mad at. The problem with this is in this environment by Kramer singling out who was wanted, those people will feel pressure to not cooperate or be viewed as friendly to staff which you really don’t want here. So now the band leader was talking like none of use would stay, that they wouldn’t tell us how to run the choir. While he was off talking to each now former choir member, others started filling me in. While it was true they weren’t given adequate practice time (a half hour isn’t adequate to get all this ready), the guitar players and drummers had been repeatedly about the volume level and volunteers and staff complained. Choir members themselves had been going to the chaplain and Brodie complaining about each other. At the end of the day, it was just easier to shut it all down. It wasn’t Satan that was responsible for the group’s demise, it was largely the choir’s own fault. What’s going to happen now I don’t know. But sometimes I rather like being the quiet one!
Self Defense, Instinct or Both?
Posted: November 17, 2010 in UncategorizedTags: aisle, aisles, areas, attitude, behavior, Both, boundaries, bunk, Charlie, compassion, Correctional, cupboard, cupboards, decision, Defense, didn, effort, environment, expenses, fact, FMCI, folks, food, From, governor, heart, inmate, inmates, Instinct, Institution, intentions, items, kitchen, Lake, manner, Many, Minimum, money, Most, needs, Neither, People, person, perspective, possessions, Prison, problems, reaction, retaliation, Scam, self, situation, situations, System, task, threat, Unit, violation, violence, Wisconsin, world
I’m at the Fox Lake Minimum Correctional Institution (FMCI), a facility in the Wisconsin Prison System (WPS). It may not come as a shock to you that many inmates have problems with boundaries. The real question for me is whether or not the person violating my boundaries has acted in a malicious manner or is it just the way they are. Most of the time I have an opportunity to assess the situation or person and methodically make a decision how I’ll react to a violation. That wasn’t the case today. This particular situation involved an inmate named Charlie who lives in my row of bunks on Unit 9. Charlie who has been in many years, goes up and down the aisles, begging coffee, food and it is rumored he is not above taking something left out on a bunk or cupboard. In fact, it got to the point where inmates in other rows in an effort to defend their row without having to snitch, joined together and told him he was banned from their aisle. Policing themselves has mixed success at a minimum security level. It is more effective in a medium environment where the threat of violence is more prevalent. Unfortunately, since Charlie lives in my aisle, he can’t be banned here. The problem for Charlie as I perceive it, is he has nobody to help him financially on the outside. Neither did I, but I received money for valued possessions which I use for my expenses. If he did that, how long since it dried up. Many of us are not without heart. We gave him coffee and other items. He promised many he would pay them back in some fashion. But he repaid very few. I was one of the few. You might ask if others expected to be paid back, how are they showing heart or compassion? Because nothing his ever free, not in the real world but especially here. When he didn’t pay back the others, fact is no one would do anything about it because Charlie is a physically imposing person. He is at least 6’8” and at least 300lbs. But what made people even more angry was he took much of what was given him and traded it for cigarettes. People felt hustled because they felt they had given to meet his needs. From his perspective, he had taken what he had gotten to trade to meet his real “need”. Charlie had misrepresented his intentions to others – again not shocking behavior from some inmates. The effect of all this was that no one would have anything to do with him. I thought the situation would improve for him once he got a job in the kitchen. He would be able to scam food out of the kitchen to trade for his wants or needs, which is exactly what happened. But for these folks like myself he did pay back, somehow in his mind this represented a bond between him and each individual. He would come by our bunk areas and want to peer in our cupboards, wanting to know what we had in canteen and trying to propose various deals. No one was interested and I could see the confusion in his eyes. But my understanding attitude evaporated yesterday when he came up to me from the side, put his arms around me and whispered he needed food and wanted to trade. He could have told me he had a pardon from the governor and my reaction would have been the same. I jabbed my elbow in his rib cage and warned him to step off (back). Looking surprised he asked me what was with the attitude. He really didn’t understand this. Yes, I have issues. Did I overreact? I tried unsuccessfully to explain in my agitated state about my space, my boundaries and his need to respect that. He walked away and it was over. Normally in these situations one might fear retaliation from others. Not this time. Charlie is universally disliked. But the task before me is to figure out how I can handle a situation like this differently in the future, why I fear people getting in my space so much and what to do about it.
Life in Wisconsin Prisons and Beyond 