OK, guys, here is what I have promised many of you. Ever since I joined PTO, I have been asked by many people, "What is prison REALLY like." With Kennys series of his insights into the Texas prison system, I have been even more inundated with the same questions. My response to these inquiries was that I would make some post to try and answer some of these questions. It is such a long answer as you can tell by Kenny's post, that it would be impossible to answer everyone individually.

I want to make something very clear from the beginning. A prison term is a very personal, & individualistic experiance. You could litterally have two guys serve a prison term side by side, & get two different stories about their experiance. So, all I can do is tell you mine. This doesn't mean, your loved ones will be like mine. It may be in some ways, & different in others. Just because I went through an experiance doesn't mean your loved one will go through the same. There are however some basic things all prisoners have to deal with.

IN Cailf. it use to be, & to a certain extent still is the case where, most guys serve a period of time in jail before going to prison. Many have done many jail terms before being sent to prison. It's during these jail terms that guys are schooled about the rules. Also know as the "Con Code". Some counties school their guys better than others. Orange County where I come from does a pretty good job in preparing guys for prison. It is racially segragated for most of the jail, & it is also a very violent place. You are taught the rules, & are punished for infractions. When you get to prison, you represent your county. If you screw up in the joint, many times they will go to a guy from your county to put you in check. (Punish you for breaking a rule). Guys get tattoos that show what county they are from. I have two. I have "O.C" on my back, for Orange County, & I have a 5 pointed star on my elbow, which represents having done a year in the county jail on one term. This star, brings respect. Doing a bullet (A year term) is a hard thing to do in the county, & means you are down. You know whats up.

The rules you learn before you go to prison.
Never snitch on any one for anything, for any reason.
Donot befriend any guards, talk to them, etc.
Keep clean.
Pay your debts
Don't make promises you can't keep.
Keep all your promises.
Treat everyone with respect, even the guards, unless you are disrespected.
Deal with your own problems. Don't make your problems other peoples.
Mind your own business.
Never back down
Never steal from another prisoner.
Get a green light before taking action against another prisoner.
Stand up for your race


Rules for White Guys. (Mexicans, & Blacks have similar rules)

Never take food from a black guys tray
Never smoke after a black guy
Never sit at a black table
Never give a black guy something & refuse a white guy the same thing.
Don't play games with black guys.

Everything is ddividedd along racial lines, & you are to stick with your race, & if a riot jumps off, it's up to you to fight with your race.


So, you've been poped, you've gone to court, took the best deal, & have been waiting for the chain to the joint. It's early evening, & a deputy gets on the loud speaker, & starts naming names. You can tell by who he's calling, that they are pulling guys for the joint. Your praying, they call your name. Even if it's your first time, you just want to get out of county. Yee ha, your name has just been called. You pack up your personal property, keep some snacks to eat down stairs, & you give the rest of your stuff away, because you can't take it with you. There is always the lone ass who won't give his stuff away, thinking, he's being hustled, & that he'll get to keep his stuff. He's wrong, & all his stuff is trashed. The deputies recognize this too, so they go through his stuff really by the book. Other guys, they let small stuff slide by. So, now your put in a large cell with no beds with a bunch of other guys, waiting for the bus the next morning. This can be a very tense time. Guys know, that deputies don't like paper work, so they won't be punished if they go off on someone. Guys who have never been to prison are nervouse. Emotions, & energy is running high. The new guys have all kinds of questions from the guys who have already been there. The next morning, the bus is loaded, & off to Wasco it is. A three hour ride, all gaffled up, listening to Howard Stern. On the bus, the mood is much lighter. Guys checking out girls driving by. People checking out the bus, trying to see in. Eating the last of the snacks you have, sharing with the other guys, telling jokes, telling prison stories, telling tall tales of street life, & crimes. Then there it is, Wasco. Reception. Your home for the next month or so. As you get off the bus there are 2 trash cans. One for jumpsuits, one for tennis shoes. You strip naked, & walk to the side of the room, & wait till there are ten of you. It's cold, & people are milling about, coming & going, women & men, & your just standing there naaked. From now on, humility is broken. They put you through an intenssive search. They look at every part of your body. Lift this, spread that. They hand you a jumpsuit, & slippers & your off to the loop. Here they book you into the reception center. My first time, I was sitting in my cell with about 9 other guys, & we were just watching the goings on, when as they were checking a group of guys, a mexican pulls a razor blade out of his mouth, & attacks a black guy, right in front of god & everybody, stark naked. The black guy is bleeding like crazy, but not really hurt bad. The mexican is on the groung receiving flashlight therapy.After beeing beaten into submission by 6-7 guards, they litterally drag him naked across the floor, & throw him into a small cell where he waits for close to half an hour to be checked out by the medical staff, where he is pronounced fit to continue the booking process. He will do it however, gaffled up, hands & feet. After spendding a day being processed, you actually hit a bed/cell in the early evening. You get to your cell, the door pops, & you step inside, praying you get a good cellie, & he is praying the same.

My next one will be about reception. This is where most of you had your first contact with CDC. No phone calls, slow mail. No matter how many times you do this, it's always rough. Reception sucks.


Be sure and Read all 10 Parts of the California Prison Series - "What California Prison Is Like" - listed below!

PART ONE - Introduction & Rules (http://www.prisontalk.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15516)

PART TWO - Reception (http://www.prisontalk.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15736)

PART THREE - Clarification on fights, riots & stabbings & Rape (http://www.prisontalk.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15740)

PART FOUR - Your New Home & Job, House Rules, Phone Calls & Such (http://www.prisontalk.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15739)

PART FIVE - Drugs, scams, & schemes (http://www.prisontalk.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15819)

PART SIX - California Prison Horror stories (http://www.prisontalk.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15946)

PART SEVEN - (CCF's) Community Correctional Facilities (http://www.prisontalk.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=16017)

PART EIGHT - Prison Gangs, Racism, Correctional Officers, Mail, Visits, Phone Calls, and Questions & Answers (http://www.prisontalk.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=16086)

PART NINE - Points / Levels, 3 Strikes Law, Ad-Seg / SHU / Protective Custody (http://www.prisontalk.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=16547)

PART TEN - Short Time, Release, Work Furloughs, etc (http://www.prisontalk.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=16756)

Thank you. Looking forward to your next installment!

Now that's what it is like in California, I thought there for awhile I had all the wrong information. This is the way I have always heard it thank you. Love Barbara

Well, my goodness! I was told it was like this from a very good source! MY SON!

But, I keep reading posts that it isn't like this and several have even said I was TOTALLY WRONG. So, I don't even post my thoughts any more to threads that could be way to sensitive.
KNOW WHAT I MEAN?

My son had a hard time being at County (SA) and was so Happy to get to Prison that he was immediately well liked and Nicked named "HAPPY".

He learned to keep his mouth shut before he was arrested. And the rest he learned day by day.

Thanks Ken
Love
Kathy

The University of Orange County Jail (SA) is certainly the # 1 University in California IMO. Love Barb

Thank you for sharing this with us all, Ken. My gratitude to you and Kenny from Texas for these thoughtful and insightful posts is tempered only by the fact that reading things like this make me wish I had had access to information such as this - and wish I had had PTO - 13 years ago when my journey dealing with the system began. But BECAUSE of that I am nowadays doubly and triply grateful that PTO is here for those new to it all or still struggling and seeking answers and talented fellows like you and Kenny are a part of it. Thanks, again, for sharing this with all of us and I know we'll all be looking forward to the next installment!!

Thank you Ken this is going to be a great help to all the folks out here in California and other state also I am sure. Now get to writing we are waiting. Love Barbara

Thanks for sharing Ken. It's still amazing to me how much they have guys in receptions be naked in front of everyone. Also, the lack of being able to go to the bathroom in privacy...

Deb

Also, I wonder if other states do this county thing? They don't in Michigan...

Deb

Great to read your post Ken ... Look forward to the next one!

Tamara

WOW! I'd never make it, I'm tired after reading just the first post. Good Lawd!!!!!!

Regina

ok.....you have my attention!
MORE..MORE...MORE.......PLEASE!
Thanks Ken!

Ken
I think you have all of our attention, so don't be to long in the next installment.
Thanks for the insight.

Vickie

You've been called out & your transpacking to your mainline prison. This will be your first contact with the true Nazi's of CDC. Transportation guards are the most sadistic, evil, mean, rude, disrespectful, group of people on the planet. They are also punks, because they only act this way because your gaffled up with waist chains, & leg chains. Even then I have seen guys go after them. They shout at you. Call you names. Make fun of you. On one trip, a female transport officer tightened my waist chain so hard, I was pissing blood for a week. They will degrade you at any chance they get. I saw them make a guy relieve himself in his jumpsuit, by not letting him up to use the restroom, because they heard someone talking. When we got to our destination, this guy charged the guard, & got one good lick in before he was mercilessly beat down, & they seemed to be enjoying it. I beelieve they try to get guys to go off on them, so they push every button they can think of. It gives them an excuse to beat the crap out of a prisoner. Even the female guards are like this. Female guards were among the group beating the guy who was forced to soil himself. I guess you caan tell, I hate transportation officers. If your at a Calif. priison, & see guards dressed in black jumpsuits, with the legs tucked into their boots, stay away from them. Regular guards wear green/brown, transportation wears black.

Now about the chow situation. I know I'm going to get introuble with this one, LOL. I may even step on some toes, & for that I do apologize. This is just my personal experiance. Chow in every prison I was in was OK. I never had lousy food. There were things I didn't like, but others did. The food isn't great. It's institutional food. The helpings are decent, unless your at the end of the line. If food is short, you get a smaller issue, if there is a lot left, they give you larger helpings. IT's real popular to complain about prison food. It gets sympathy from family members so they will send extra money so they can buy food on canteen, & get stuff sent in in quarterly packages. Guys complain about prison food, yet will go & eat a spread. They act like they were some kind of gourmets on the street. Yet, there is a waiting list to work in the kitchen, & guys are bringing bags of food back to their cells. So, if the chow is so terrible why is everyone trying to get into the kitchen. So they can eat even more crap. Prison food isn't bad, & for what they do it really is OK. Everyone who goes in gains weight. How many of these guys really eat three square meals a day on the streets. I don't do that now. I eat off roach coaches, & at fast food joints. If I can eat that stuff, prison food is a step up. The problem with prison food is that it's cooked in large quantities, & is bland. This is how most prisons do it.

They have one main kitchen that cooks the food for all the yards. The avg. prison has about 4000 prisoners. So they are making 12,000 meals a day. They cook everything two days in advance. So, in case of a lock down they have a days worth of meals in reserve. It is then divided up into groups for each yard, & frozen. Each day a truck goes to the kitchen & picks up the days food & delivers it to each yard. Each yard has it's own small kitchen where the food trays are heated up, & the meals are served. Every prison has one day a week where they have a special breakfast, that all the prisoners look forward to. They make homemade Cinnamon Rolls the size of a dinner plate, & they are covered in frosting. Others have coffee cake, which is the size of a large brick. Most prisons serve these up on Thurs. mornings, & are really looked forward to. I worked for one CO, who would always have work for us to do by the main kitchen when they were cooking these up, & he would go in & get us all an issue on the sly. along with a couple cartons of really cold milk. He took good care of us.

Canteen/Store
CDC gives prisoners an issue of clothing, & bedding. You get a roll of toilet paper once a week, a bar of soap per week, razor exchange once a week, If you have no money on your books you can apply for welfare envelopes. They give you aprox. 5 per month. If you want or need anything else, you have to buy it at canteen.The profits they make off canteen pays for all the expenses of running the canteen. So it cost the state nothing to have this canteen/store. Profits left over after those expenses are put into the inmate welfare trust fund. When you get to prison, they set up a trust account that controls all your money. When you send money this is where it goes. The prisoner then submits a form to transfer money from his trust fund to his canteen acct. He has to do this every monthy. Just because he has money in his trust acct, doesn't mean he can go to store. He must make this fund transfer or he is SOL. They have three draws a month, one per week. The last week is a dead week. It is done by the last two digits of your CDC number. 00-33 are the first week, 34-66 are the second week, & 67-99 are the third week. When it's your turn, you fill out an order form, & submit it. When it's your day to pick up your order, you go to the window, & they give you your order. They also have what is called open line. They have certain days & hours the canteen window is open. If there is no one to pick up an order then you can go up to the window & place small orders. Lets say you put 150 dollars in your canteen acct, & only spend 100 at store. It leaves 50 dollars in your canteen acct. During the month on open line you can go to the window & buy things like a cold pepsi, or an ice cream, or if you run out of something you can get it. I didd all my shopping on open line because I didn't want guys to see me buying a lot of stuff at once. Walking across the yard with bags stuffed with things just brings out the vultures. It also tells the thieves where the good stuff is.

Special Orders.
Each yard has what are called MAC reps. (Mens Advisory Council). Each race has their own MAC rep. They are the liasson between the prisoners & the Prison Administration. They alsso run the sspecial order dept. You can order items like Fans (A must), TV's if you are in a cell, walkmans, stereos, CD's/tapes, typewriters, clothes etc. This is all ordered through a catolog. The MAC rep walks you through the ordering process. They also add 10% of the cost to go to the inmate welfare trust fund. This trust fund pays for welfare envelopes, recreational equipment, cards, & games, arts & hobby supplies, movies, Group TV's, satalite or cable if necesarry to get a signal (Most prisons are in remote areas).

OK< thats the misc. stuff. Next will be What it's like on a prison yard. Your mainlining it.

Thank you so much Ken, you are giving us a real good look at what it is really like going through the prison system in California and most other states I would think. I am looking forward to going to the yard well not really but sort of. Love Barbara

This isn't considered Snitching is it?

JUST KIDDING!

Thanks Ken!

Love
Kathy

My fiance is currently serving an 18 month term with 7 months to go. He is also from Orange County too. He was busted for possesion of narcotics in his truck.

It seems our loved ones don't tell us everything that goes on. I guess they want to spare us. Thanks Ken for the insight. Looking forward to going to the yard.

Vickie

Thanks again...Ken
This is like reading a book....hey maybe you should write one!!!
First NOVEL...first MOVIE.
Staring Snoop Dogg & Dr. Dre & MnM!!
Let me see......what part do I want to play....hummmm

Wow, this is fascinating stuff! My brother just went into reception and is already talking about how he thinks he will get sent to the prison he wants!! This is great Ken, so on the money. thanks for sharing...

WOW JUST WHAT I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR. THIS IS SO HELPFUL. THANKS KEN

Ken these post are wonderful, thank you so much for sharing them with us. They are so open and to the point and really gives people an idea of what really goes on.

softie

Thanks everyone. With all that I have posted you can see why it is so hard to answer the question, "What is prison like".

deb, you learn to get use to getting naked in front of everyone, but it is a blow to the ego, & borders on humiliating, especialy all the snide comments that CO's make. They can be pretty cruel.

Kathy, & Barbara are my inspiration in doing this. They have been told by their sons, & others what I too am saying, so when we hear differently, we just want to set the record straight. Their sons have been pretty honest with them as to what prison is like. It seems like I have had pretty much the same experiance. Now naturally they have seen more than me, as they have done more time. But the general aspects are the same. Kathy, & Barbara, you both are right The University of Orange County Jail is just that. Great saying.

Excellent information Bro.. Great reading.. I'm on to the next chapter.

Very well written and very informative.

Thanks Ken
This is letting me know what it is like to all my Penpals , I do have one question ????
has anthing changed is what I've read so far, I mean I have one penpal who is pushing 40 years inside ,I am just trying to get hold of what he went through and is still going through , keep up the good work,, I can only imagine what inmate go through during strip searches and coming in naked , ahh how degrading can one get , I hear they are watched during showering too

Yes you are watched during showers & when your on the toilet by CO's men & women

Ken,
Thank you for the insight!! I knew some of it from what my hubby tells me, but, of course he can't tell me everything!! All letters being read, all phone calls possibly being listened in on, its impossible. We talk alot at our family visits, but that is only once a month, and for 3 days, so there is alot that you can forget to tell somebody. I'm looking forward to your next posting. Thank you again.

Ken you are the greatest for the Insight and TRUTH!

I must tell you ISP has been completely different from the other Prison's in California. My son and I have experienced a very lax atmosphere during Visits. And the yard is hardly ever down. But, being so east and with So. and No. Mexicans limited has caused less Chaos on the yard.

Just this past weekend one gal visiting did have a run in with a woman twice her size of dark color who tried to cut in front of the line for checking in for visits and the Gal stood her ground even though she was a tiny lady of Irish descent. It was very upsetting to all there when The Larger women threaten the Tiny gal, who told her she would meet her after visiting in the parking lot. Visiting was very tense until the Tiny gal told her boyfriend (inmate) and he had to confront the Large womens boyfriend (inmate). He just told him to get his girlfriend in CHECK. He said he would and that was that.

WHEW! Just another day in a Prisoners Life.

Love
Kathy

what can you send to wasco

This is perfect my bf just left for Wasco 3 days ago after doing a bullet plus 2 months in county!

i like all this info on calif. prisons, but has anyone out there been in ironwood or are all calif. prisons the same?
thanks,
dee