I’m at the Milwaukee Secure Detention Facility (MSDF), an institution in the Wisconsin Prison System (WPS), participating in the Earned Release Program (ERP). On weekends there is no ERP activity. The lights are turned back off after count at 6:15 am and remain off until 10:30-11:00 am. I usually try to take advantage and enjoy the silence as close as it gets anyway. One of our regular 1st shift guards is Roscoe Peters. He’s late forties, early fifties and is know as a “cool” guard. He has a booming voice that will rattle you if you screw up but it’s known he’s not out to mess with you just because. My cellmate, Andre Charles and Peters usually go back and forth with each other on a near every day basis, with Andre talking from the top tier down to Peters who bellows back. But it’s always done tongue in cheek. At about 11 am, the swampers brought in our lunch trays and after we had all gotten in line, he announced there would be no trading food between inmates, not even at your own table, because someone had “gone over his head to the unit manager”. At another point in the meal, after having busted a couple of people for trying to trade, he said the inmate needs to come talk to him to fix this. After we were finished with lunch a whole parade of inmates went to the desk, including Andre, to find out what was going on. It seems the swampers had been getting extra food and the inmate who wrote the complaint to the unit manager was unhappy about it. They seem to do that a lot around here, complain, if another inmate is perceived to get preferential treatment. My philosophy on this is if someone else has found a way to make their life here a little more bearable more power to them. It’s none of my business. I don’t want to use the word “cutthroat” to describe the environment here (bad image) but its an apt description, more so than any prison I’ve been in up until now. Then Peters announced he’d find out who it was on Monday and it wasn’t going to go well for him. I’ve never even spoken to Peters but he always made a good impression on me. I just wish he’d be a little smarter in what he says. I can’t imagine this not getting back to someone he doesn’t want it to especially if there is an inmate trying to take him down. So we probably haven’t heard the end of this one. But I guess as much as I hate this place, and though the phrase “watch your back” has taken a whole new meaning for me with some of these inmates, I have managed to get into a semblance of a routine which has been key to my survival anywhere I’ve been. I’ve completed one week of ERP and have 23 to go. I’m pretty sure I’m going to make it.
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Shortly after this was written, about 20-30 people showed up with musical instruments and started singing Christmas carols! I asked what church they were from and they told me several different ones and they they have a Bible study on Mondays. They gave us a paper bag with treats and a bag of chocolate chip Chips Ahoy Crunchy cookies. I’ve never seen anything like this before in prison, nor had my cellies. And most unexpected in a maximum security facility like MSDF! Of course, a few cons in us couldn’t just enjoy the rare moment and scammed extra cookies and treats by claiming they were missed. But really, an awesome event by what I think might be awesome people!
Life in Wisconsin Prisons and Beyond 