“We’re just trying to hold the lid on things. Look the other way at small infractions, not
get in guys’ faces, keep fights and disruptions to a minimum.” That’s what a day sergeant told us the other
morning as he was heading out to interview for a lieutenant’s job at another
facility.
The corrections philosophy change has been implemented by
DOC’s Director, Harold Clarke, two years into his job and trying to put his
stamp on the system. And, some things
have improved. While still notorious for
their denial of publications (VA DOC routinely wins a “muzzle” award for their
censorship of books, music and magazines) access to books, magazines and CDs
has improved. The grooming policy has
been updated allowing for some facial hair.
But, every change came as a result of DOC losing a lawsuit brought by an
inmate to address a violation of constitutional rights. Yes, inmates still possess basic rights, not
as a proactive policy idea.
Is DOC finally realizing they can find better ways to
operate? I like to think so, but my
years in here tell me otherwise. First,
DOC is straining. There are too many
inmates and too few officers to adequately run a facility. The expression “shit happens” was written
with prisons in mind. Every day fights
breakout that go unnoticed by the staff (see my next blog); every day, guys are
getting high on the ball court; the gambling operation in here would make Vegas
proud.
The honest officers will tell you they can’t keep up. “Just keep a lid on things”, is the
slogan. “Do your shift, avoid paperwork,
collect your check.” Is it working? It would if along with that there were
incentives for early release. Instead,
you have an overcrowded facility with half those in prison not a threat; you
lack sufficient manpower to adequately staff; money is so tight you can’t
provide programs to meet the treatment needs of those incarcerated, treatment
needs that you-in-fact have identified as necessary for success upon release.
And the policies you implement? They are poorly worded (English teachers
would react in horror at the failure of DOC staff to issue lucid, coherent
memos), poorly thought out (there is no detailed analysis of the ramifications
of policy changes) and poorly enforced (favoritism, racial issues, and a
general lack of educated staff mean most policies are either selectively
enforced or ignored altogether). It
creates a toxic environment of rumor, open hostility, and further contempt for
authority.
Mix hundreds of young inmates with officers poorly paid,
poorly trained, poorly educated and from the same neighborhoods and you have a
recipe for disaster. Many of the young
men coming here are fresh from jail (Piedmont Regional Jail in Farmville). They spend three to five days in Lunenburg’s “hole”
for receiving then come out on the compound.
They’re pulling sentences of ten months to two years. This is camp to them. Momma – or their “Boo” (girlfriend) send them
$200 or $300 each month. They’re too
short for vocational programs to learn any trade. There’s no money for college so the ones with
a high school diploma have no educational opportunity and those without a
diploma, well the waiting list is too long and there aren’t enough classrooms,
or teachers, or hours in a week.
So they do what they do.
They sleep, play basketball, lift weights and gamble. They grow more contemptuous of society and
regale each other with their next street hustle. And that’s at a re-entry facility. Imagine what it’s like at a higher security level
with guys looking at 20, 30, even more years “under the gun”.
“EBC”, nice concept.
Unfortunately a concept not fully thought out, fully implemented with
adequate staff, programs, money and incentives for participation, is doomed for
failure.
I don’t have all the answers, but I could suggest that
Director Clarke – for all his good intentions – would be better served coming
out here and talking to a few of us.
Without that, EBC is just the start of another failed corrections
philosophy.
No comments:
Post a Comment