Who's Calling?

Last Saturday, amid the suicide in building “7,” a new crisis broke out here. Over in building “2,” on a slow, rainy Saturday with the compound locked down as the administration dealt with the death of an inmate while in their isolation custody, an inmate decided to call his girlfriend. “No big deal,” you say. Except the guy made the call from his bunk. That’s right; the guy had a cell phone.

            Cell phones inside a prison are a major security breach. Get caught with one and it’s an automatic trip to “the Onion,” Red Onion – Virginia’s only supermax facility. The only way to get a cell phone in is through staff. Some DOC employee here is dirty. Pay him or her a couple of hundred dollars and the phone gets smuggled in with a charger and access card or number that lets you put minutes on the phone. Yeah, having a guy with a phone in the building is a big deal – bigger, in fact, than some inmate choking to death on a Styrofoam cup!

            So Einstein is waxing philosophical to his “boo” and an officer hears and sees it. A confrontation ensues and the inmate and his phone are placed in custody and taken to the hole. Two other officers remain in the building to pack Alexander Graham Bell’s belongings up. And lo and behold they find a pocket knife and a shiv (homemade knife). Things start to get real interesting in “2” building right about then!

            Building “2” – both sides – was immediately put on full lockdown. No one came out without escort; the building wasn’t allowed any rec on Sunday; chow calls came after everyone else on the compound ate and returned to their own housing.

            Monday morning brought shift change and the night shift was ready to head home for a five day break. Except they couldn’t leave. The night shift – about thirty of them anyway – stayed over and en masse marched into “2.” For six hours they ripped “2” building apart searching for anything else. One guy and his pillow left in handcuffs. At least thirty mattresses came out for x-ray. Just like everything else in here a few hours later it was over.

            What’s the result? Well, for one thing the investigators are demanding to know “Who brought you the phone?” The inmate is sticking with “A guy I didn’t know was going home and left it with me.” They know that’s a lie – and not a very good one – but a week or two from now, after the inmate is transported to Red Onion, this too shall pass. That’s prison, crazy behavior and even crazier responses.

            It’s been a heck of a couple of weeks in here, but you learn to roll with the punches.