This Week's SitRep

[Jimd]

The past week has been a bloody one. So far, no friendly casualties, though.

About a week ago, a group of over a dozen inmates attacked a single inmate during an argument over the ice machine on D-Block. Seems every inmate wants like 20 lbs. of ice for himself, which doesn't work out; there are 540 inmates on that block, and one machine won't even come CLOSE! The weapon(s) used were locks-in-socks.

The C-Block had a stabbing.

A few days later, C-Block made the news again when a brawl broke out between an unknown number of inmates, and some were injured.

Then, yesterday, an inmate was led off E-Block, all bloodied up. He stated that he was taking his earring out and slipped, ripping his ear in half. That's certainly plausible, I'm sure many of us here have done the same thing at least once in our lives, right?

The story gets better. They took him to the Dispensary, cleaned him up, bought into his bull**it story and.........YES, left him walk back to E-Block!! I'm sure we'll hear soon about how he took revenge upon the offending "earring".

The heat and humidity in the prison are unGodly, and every time that happens, violence peaks. This year is no different. I'm just happy that no staff have been seriously injured thus far. Hope it stays that way.

I'm not sure of the date yet, but within the next few weeks, I should start my new job as Corrections Counselor. And I can't wait!!!!

[Civilian]

Wow Jim I always say I don't know how you guys do it, and I still don't. Stay safe, and know that a lot of us are preying for you, and the other CO's.

[smcfalls13]

I'm just happy that no staff have been seriously injured thus
far. Hope it stays that way.

My thoughts exactly Jim. :cool:

When you start as a counselor, I know you'll still be in with the inmates, but are you going to still be a walking target in there, or will being a counselor alleviate that somewhat.

Basically, are the inmates going to ignore you for the most part since you're not an officer, or are you still going to be on the chopping block every day.

Stay safe bro.

[Pete1977]

hey jimd

stay safe man, and good luck on the new position. :)

[Jimd]

Scott and all, thanks for your concerns.
I'll be less of a target as a counselor. They still are attacked every now and then, but aren't in the mix of things as much as officers are. I'll be more of a caseworker than anything else, which suits me fine.

But I know this already...when a Signal 13 is called (officer down), I'm sure I'll react as I have for nearly the past sixteen years, and tear off running with the rest of the officers, jumping over those who've fallen, shoving people out of the way to be the first on the scene to render assistance. It's a reaction process that involves little conscious thought.

You really haven't seen anything until you've seen it happen; it's like 50 to 100 officers instantly and very violently become obsessive/compulsive about getting to a single point NOW, and will do anything to make it happen like yesterday.

Bodies, chairs, tables, objects of all descriptions fly and/or are run over in a most ruthless fashion, and it would actually be comical were it not for the very dire circumstances under which it happens. People who are uninitiated would likely say, "What the hell, that's retarded!" if they didn't have any idea what the rush was for.

But when you see that horde of madmen sprinting down a cell block to save your ass, the feeling...well, it's a waste of time for me to even try to describe that feeling. It's love. Love for your fellow officer, a shared bond of common experience. They're coming to save you, no matter who you are, no matter who likes you or dislikes you. You are one of them, and they're coming to take your ass back and make sure everything's okay. They're not going to let the bad guys have you, because that's just the way it is.

Every time I've called a "13" (far too many for one career), the feeling of seeing those guys coming to save the day was like, "Oh, thank God, everything's going to be okay, I just have to hang on for another few seconds." Indescribable, I can't come close to doing it justice. I've already thought, Wow, they're coming like that for lil' ol' me??? They're some incredible people.

This is one of the reasons it's so difficult to leave the uniform. That bond is strong. We lay down our lives for one another, shed our blood for one another, and they are my brothers. "We few, we happy few...we band of brothers. For whoever sheds his blood with me shall be my brother." --Shakespeare

"A greater love no man shall have, than to lay down one's life for his brother." -- Jesus Christ

[David Lowry]

Jim,

Glad you and your guys are ok. Been a while since we talked last. I hope you have a much safer experience at your new job man.

As always, God bless you for doing such a darn good job at such a difficult job.

http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/7460/thumbsup4xx.gif

[smcfalls13]

But I know this already...when a Signal 13 is called (officer down), I'm sure I'll react as I have for nearly the past sixteen years, and tear off running with the rest of the officers, jumping over those who've fallen, shoving people out of the way to be the first on the scene to render assistance. It's a reaction process that involves little conscious thought.


This doesn't surprise me at all. You won't be breaking that bond anytime soon. :cool:

[rcbalt2]

Hey jim good luck on your new post. I like reading your threads they give me a whole new level of respect for CO's.

[dialex]

Hi Jim. Good luck with the new job and take care. You are a good man and people like you are needed.
BTW Chad is on holiday - eat your heart out :p

[CopilotATS-55]

Good luck Jim
and Be Safe :)

[Jimd]

Thanks for the support, guys.

[zenheretic]

Well now hopefully the stress won't be burning you so much. Maybe you can get back to work on that book. Many of us know you got enough stories to make it sell well. Folks have a morbid fascination with prison life/criminals. Time to make it happen Jim, imho.

ZH