I recently read a blog post about prisons, and rules and such. The basic premise of the post was that “[people] only have power over us because we essentially allow them to.”

Because of my job, I have an interesting take on this subject. I believe that there are rules for good reasons. However, in an atmosphere such as a jail or prison, rules are tantamount to a cell within a cell. People in jail are already, very limited in movement, and then they find that they are even more limited in actions. Most people decide to allow us to make them do what we want them to, but at times there are people who just don’t really care. In fact there is little we can actually do to get people to follow the rules except by their own acceptance. In extreme cases, we have to use force, or restrain, but there is no real way to get people to stop all offensive/non-sanctioned behavior.

For instance, the girl who came in a couple of days ago that I wrote about, we were unable to get her to be quiet, even though she knew the consequences. One of which was being known as a disruptive person to a pod. In this case, any kind of punishment wouldn’t come from the “system”, but from fellow inmates. Even though the girl knew this, she decided to continue her behavior.

I can only think that she just plain refused to be locked up. Sure, she was in a cell, and even strapped down to a chair, but she wouldn’t let herself be stopped and so was free in some strange way.

It is similar for me. I follow rules to be able to keep my job. I know that the “I-Pod Rule” is dumb, and unfairly punitive. I also know that I have a choice. I decided, when I was hired, to allow the captains to rule my conduct while I am at work. I know that I can bring my i-pod, but the consequences are too great for me.

So, what can I do about this? I can refuse to let them control my attitude. The prevailing attitude of most employees right now is one of discontent; I don’t have to be. I can, in my own way, fight by refusing to become another angry person. I know that I don’t have to approve or like what is going on, but I can decide to change my outlook. No matter what my administration does, I am still in control of me; just like that girl who wouldn’t stop yelling.

I know that in the long run, I need a change, but for now, I can only change me. It’s the only thing I have any control over.

PS.. HERE’S SOMETHING SCREWED UP…

Sundays are usually a nice change to the usual hustle and bustle of the week. The only things that we really have to worry about are passing out new clothes to the inmates. Later on in the day, we pull each area for church (if they want to go), but that is usually towards the end of shift, and really isn’t that big a deal.

At about noon, I was just starting my round on the south side of the jail. I had finished the lower tier of the E-unit and was starting up the stairs when I heard the call we all knew would eventually come.

“Officers to A-unit. An inmate just jumped off the 2nd tier.”

I ran as fast as possible to the A-unit door, fumbling for my keys to get there as fast as possible. Once inside A-unit, I could see that the inmates were mostly in their cells still, but I saw a fellow officer standing over an inmate lying on the floor, face up.

The inmate wasn’t moving. I put my fingers to his neck to check for a pulse, and also under his nose to check for breathing. He had a good pulse and was breathing. THANK GOD.

In a few seconds, all other officers on shift arrived and started mopping up the remaining inmates who weren’t in their cells. Containment in any incident is important. Some incidents are part of an ambush plan, so inmates are quickly celled in and isolated from the incident.

Our medical staff arrived, and checked pulse and had me stabilize his neck. I placed pressure on both sides of his neck to make sure that it wouldn’t move in the event he woke up. There was no blood, and there were no obvious broken bones.

According to one inmate, he landed on the table with the back of his head. However, according to another inmate, he landed on the table with his feet, and then rolled to the floor. Of course, it doesn’t really matter how he landed, we still take care of the incident, but it’s good to get an idea of how it may have happened.

Once the Fire/EMT and the ambulance arrived, I was asked to still hold his neck, and it was at this point that I remembered that I hadn’t completed my round. (Who knows if this is part of a plant to divert attention, and also, I don’t want to get into trouble.) Luckily for me, the Sergeant told me that this was considered a free-bee.

Once the EMT’s had the inmate on the gurney, it was decided that two officers would be needed to go to the hospital. I was told to get armed up, and I sprinted to get my gear on.

By the time I was ready, the ambulance had already left, so I hit the gas, and sped to the hospital in a company car.

At the ER, the other officer and I talked to the inmate, and learned that he was suicidal, and that he had indeed taken the plunge off the tier. (We were pretty sure that he had jumped, but there were no witnesses at that point that we had talked to) He was frustrated about the prospect of being deported back to Mexico, and felt that killing himself was the only way to get out of the situation.

Sad, really. Last week, I talked a little about some of the different types of suicidal subjects. I think this guy was pretty much determined to do the job. After talking to some of the inmates in his cell, it came out that he has been talking about his frustrations for a while now. Why they didn’t say anything to us before this, is beyond me.

Anyway, after all of the tests and prods and pokes, the doctor cleared him to go back to the jail, with NOT ONE SINGLE PROBLEM. He was fine. Ok, so he was obviously not fine by mental health standards, but PHYSICALLY he was perfect.

On a side note, we don’t have a high fence/rail to stop this kind of attempt except in the medical unit and lock down unit. The other areas only have a normal rail that’s just a little higher than your hip. Every officer I have talked to has said the same thing “I can’t believe that this hasn’t happened more often.” Frankly, we all know that if someone wants to kill themselves, they will find a way. However, by leaving this option so easily available, we are inviting inmates to utilize this method that they otherwise wouldn’t even think about. Many suicides are about availability of method (especially suicides that are impulsive), and by leaving the option for them to jump, we are just making it easier to complete their plan.

I know that putting up extra measures may not be popular with the number crunchers, but I would imagine that paying a settlement from a lawsuit may hit the pocket books a bit harder. There are also some logistical problems with creating a top-to-bottom fence. For instance, it makes the top tier harder to see, so officers would be less easy to track while they do their rounds. This could be a safety issue in and of itself, but I can’t imagine that inmates jumping to their deaths would trump that, or that it would be impossible to overcome the officer safety issues.

Money drives the world. We all know that. I just hope that it’s not only money that drove the decision to only put safety fence in a couple areas, and not everywhere.

I’ll make this short, because it wasn’t pretty.

“Jane” was in jail a couple of months back and was on work crew. According to her, THAT was going to be the last time in jail. Well, a couple of days ago she came back.

Today I was told that I was taking her to the hospital for a doctor’s appointment. Apparently she had an abscess on her arm that needed to be lanced and drained.

I took her to the urgent care clinic in the ER, and waited the usual hour in the waiting area.

When we finally got into the room, she showed the doctor her abscess. IT WAS HUGE!!

It was on her upper arm as large as an orange, and looking a very angry reddish color. I am sure “Jane” saw the amazed look on the doctor’s face, because I surely did. The doc left the room to go and get the necessary tools, and then I asked “Jane” if ‘IT’ was worth it. I couldn’t believe that she actually thought about the question before she answered “no”. I told her that I didn’t believe her since she took a while to answer, so she told me that she just didn’t know because the high was “the closest thing to god”, and that the only reason she even got the thing in the first place is because she “got lazy” and shot her heroine into her muscle instead of looking for a vein. HOLY SH (sorry, I’m really trying to stop using profanity)

Anyway, the doctor shoots her up with numbing medicine, and starts into her arm. Usually the slightest nick from a scalpel bursts the abscess and shoots puss like a squirt gun. This, however, was no ordinary abscess. It seems that the whole “shooting heroine into the arm thing” caused the abscess to form IN the muscle. So, the doc had to cut a lot deeper to finally hit pay dirt. Suddenly, milky red puss shot onto the floor… and just kept on coming.

There was so much puss, that it filled almost 2 kidney shaped pink bowls. After the first one was filled, the smell hit me and I almost vomited (seriously). The smell is really very horrible, and I don’t know how to accurately describe it. I would have to say that it is a mix between the acidic smell of fresh warm vomit, and the smell of a long dead and rotting animal; I still haven’t quite got all the nuances, but it’s as close as I can think of.

So, she got her gaping cavity of an arm filled with gauze to wick up the rest of the puss, and we left.

All in all, a pretty good day. No fights, no feces thrown on me, not fired, just a little puss (none on me), and tomorrow to look forward to.