Prisons
Oct 13, 2018 18:47:39 GMT 10
Post by SharksFan99 on Oct 13, 2018 18:47:39 GMT 10
I know this doesn't really belong in the "Travel & Tourism" board, but I thought the topic was a bit 'too heavy' for the Popedia Lounge. I just thought it would be interesting if we had a general discussion thread about prisons and how they differ in different countries. Has anyone else here ever been inside a prison before? If so, what was your experience of it? What is your opinion of the prison system in your country?
Myself personally, I have visited a maximum security prison three times within the past two weeks (if you've read my journal thread, you'll know why). It's quite an interesting experience going inside a prison. Going into a prison makes you appreciate the things in life we take for granted, such as the freedom to do whatever we want, watch our favourite shows, listen to music etc.
I know most people probably haven't had the experience of going to a prison, so this is what my experience of prison has been like:
Entering into a prison:
You can park your car right out the front of the main entrance. Sometimes there are two police officers with sniffer dogs and if you want to enter into the prison, the sniffer dogs will search you to see if you have possession of any drugs. On other occasions (as was the case with me today), you can walk straight into the prison ground's reception building, which is where you have to go to be granted access into the prison and make inquiries.
When you enter into the reception building, you need to fill out a green identification form and write down the name of the prisoner you are wanting to see, your full name, your address, date of birth etc. After this is done, you hand the green form to the police officers at the reception desk and they assess the information you have provided them. You also need to hand them your drivers licence (or photo ID card) and place your index finger on a small fingerprint detection scanner. Frustratingly for me, it never recognises my fingerprint.
These things are not allowed to go into the prison grounds:
* Mobile phones
* Anything metal (e.g jewellery, belts)
* Money
* Jackets with hoods
* Watches
* Paper notes and pens
You are basically not allowed to have anything with you when you enter into the prison grounds. Fortunately, there are lockers in the reception building where you can store things (which are prohibited) and collect them once you leave. I made the mistake a week ago of accidentally wearing my hooded jacket into the reception building and I had to leave it in our allocated locker, even though it was really cold on the day.
Once you are granted entry, you need to walk through a door which leads into a small room in the same building. In the room, there is a police officer next to a metal detector, which you are required to walk through. In addition to that, the police officer uses a metal detector scanner to see if you have any prohibited items on you. They also check your pockets. Once this is done, you can walk out of the building and through the prison grounds to enter into another building.
When you enter into the other building (which is basically just an office/administration building), you need to pass through yet another metal detector and get searched to see if you have any metal on you. You then have to hand in the green identification form to the officers in that building and yet again, place your finger on a fingerprint detection scanner. There is a waiting area in the building where you can sit and wait for your name to be called so that you can go through the next checkpoint.
After this, you walk through the prison yard and enter into another building, which contains the visitor rooms and the prisoner cells (visitors can't access that part of the building though). Oddly enough, there isn't a metal detector in the third building, although you do need to do another fingerprint detection test again. All up, it can take up to 20 minutes to go through all the sections, even though the buildings are only a few hundred metres apart.
Prison Life:
* People of different races are separated from one another and placed in separate wards within the prison grounds. In Australian prisons, Caucasians, Aboriginals and Arab/Muslim people all have their own wards.
* Prisoners are eligible to acquire a card which gives them extra privileges. To obtain one, however, it is dependent on the family of an inmate needing to purchase one from the police department and recharging the card out of their own money. If the family of the inmate doesn't recharge the card with money, the prisoner loses the privileges. Privilages can include telephone calls to the outside world (it is $3 per call and phone calls are limited to 5 minutes), renting a TV, fizzy drink (e.g Coca Cola, Solo), potato chips and sanitary products.
* Because Australian prisons are based on rehabilitation rather than punishment, a lot of programs are offered to prisoners for free. The programs can include alcohol abuse programs, smoke-free programs and drug rehabilitation programs. Prisoners can also complete tertiary education (TAFE) courses and undertake work . They earn $15 AUD for the work they do, which is actually pretty good when you consider the fact that our minimum wage is $18.93. In contrast, in the United States, prisoners only earn $1.25 US and they are paid in nickels.
* Some prisoners cut open tennis balls when they are out in the yard, stuff drugs inside the tennis balls and then throw them into other yards within the prison grounds. Apples can also get thrown at random and because the razor wire separating the yards are so sharp, the apples often get sliced in half when they are thrown.
* Unfortunately, pigeons (and other birds) quite often land on the razor wire and their legs/feet get sliced off. It's a common sight to see. The funny thing is though, some prisoners try to take care of the pigeon after it happens, even though they are all murderers, drug addicts, sex offenders etc.
I have never seen it happen myself though.
* I'm not sure if this is the case in other prisons, but the prisoners in the one I visit have to wear a green tracksuit at all times. When they have visitors, however, they have to wear a white tracksuit.
* Prisoners have their own individual cells, although some prisoners have to share a cell. There is never any more than two people in a single cell though.
Cuisine:
* Bread is served to the prisoners every day.
* Prisoners are also served fruit every single day, but they are only given the choice of apples and bananas. That's it. IMO, it's pretty bad that they can't at least offer oranges or mangoes.
* Breakfast is served at 9am, lunch is at 11.30am and dinner is served at 2.30pm in the afternoon. I don't understand why they serve dinner so early. Prisoners need to return to their cells at 2.30pm, but why can't the guards/officers just leave dinner at the cell doors later on in the afternoon? I'm sure it wouldn't be that much of an inconvenience.
* Dinner consists of: sausage rolls, pies, sheppards pie, chicken, vegetables, devil wings (spicy chicken wings) etc.
* For some reason, fish isn't served at all. You can eat cans of tuna and crab sticks, however.
If you have any questions or if there is something else you would like to know about prison, please feel free to ask.
Myself personally, I have visited a maximum security prison three times within the past two weeks (if you've read my journal thread, you'll know why). It's quite an interesting experience going inside a prison. Going into a prison makes you appreciate the things in life we take for granted, such as the freedom to do whatever we want, watch our favourite shows, listen to music etc.
I know most people probably haven't had the experience of going to a prison, so this is what my experience of prison has been like:
Entering into a prison:
You can park your car right out the front of the main entrance. Sometimes there are two police officers with sniffer dogs and if you want to enter into the prison, the sniffer dogs will search you to see if you have possession of any drugs. On other occasions (as was the case with me today), you can walk straight into the prison ground's reception building, which is where you have to go to be granted access into the prison and make inquiries.
When you enter into the reception building, you need to fill out a green identification form and write down the name of the prisoner you are wanting to see, your full name, your address, date of birth etc. After this is done, you hand the green form to the police officers at the reception desk and they assess the information you have provided them. You also need to hand them your drivers licence (or photo ID card) and place your index finger on a small fingerprint detection scanner. Frustratingly for me, it never recognises my fingerprint.
These things are not allowed to go into the prison grounds:
* Mobile phones
* Anything metal (e.g jewellery, belts)
* Money
* Jackets with hoods
* Watches
* Paper notes and pens
You are basically not allowed to have anything with you when you enter into the prison grounds. Fortunately, there are lockers in the reception building where you can store things (which are prohibited) and collect them once you leave. I made the mistake a week ago of accidentally wearing my hooded jacket into the reception building and I had to leave it in our allocated locker, even though it was really cold on the day.
Once you are granted entry, you need to walk through a door which leads into a small room in the same building. In the room, there is a police officer next to a metal detector, which you are required to walk through. In addition to that, the police officer uses a metal detector scanner to see if you have any prohibited items on you. They also check your pockets. Once this is done, you can walk out of the building and through the prison grounds to enter into another building.
When you enter into the other building (which is basically just an office/administration building), you need to pass through yet another metal detector and get searched to see if you have any metal on you. You then have to hand in the green identification form to the officers in that building and yet again, place your finger on a fingerprint detection scanner. There is a waiting area in the building where you can sit and wait for your name to be called so that you can go through the next checkpoint.
After this, you walk through the prison yard and enter into another building, which contains the visitor rooms and the prisoner cells (visitors can't access that part of the building though). Oddly enough, there isn't a metal detector in the third building, although you do need to do another fingerprint detection test again. All up, it can take up to 20 minutes to go through all the sections, even though the buildings are only a few hundred metres apart.
Prison Life:
* People of different races are separated from one another and placed in separate wards within the prison grounds. In Australian prisons, Caucasians, Aboriginals and Arab/Muslim people all have their own wards.
* Prisoners are eligible to acquire a card which gives them extra privileges. To obtain one, however, it is dependent on the family of an inmate needing to purchase one from the police department and recharging the card out of their own money. If the family of the inmate doesn't recharge the card with money, the prisoner loses the privileges. Privilages can include telephone calls to the outside world (it is $3 per call and phone calls are limited to 5 minutes), renting a TV, fizzy drink (e.g Coca Cola, Solo), potato chips and sanitary products.
* Because Australian prisons are based on rehabilitation rather than punishment, a lot of programs are offered to prisoners for free. The programs can include alcohol abuse programs, smoke-free programs and drug rehabilitation programs. Prisoners can also complete tertiary education (TAFE) courses and undertake work . They earn $15 AUD for the work they do, which is actually pretty good when you consider the fact that our minimum wage is $18.93. In contrast, in the United States, prisoners only earn $1.25 US and they are paid in nickels.
* Some prisoners cut open tennis balls when they are out in the yard, stuff drugs inside the tennis balls and then throw them into other yards within the prison grounds. Apples can also get thrown at random and because the razor wire separating the yards are so sharp, the apples often get sliced in half when they are thrown.
* Unfortunately, pigeons (and other birds) quite often land on the razor wire and their legs/feet get sliced off. It's a common sight to see. The funny thing is though, some prisoners try to take care of the pigeon after it happens, even though they are all murderers, drug addicts, sex offenders etc.
I have never seen it happen myself though.* I'm not sure if this is the case in other prisons, but the prisoners in the one I visit have to wear a green tracksuit at all times. When they have visitors, however, they have to wear a white tracksuit.
* Prisoners have their own individual cells, although some prisoners have to share a cell. There is never any more than two people in a single cell though.
Cuisine:
* Bread is served to the prisoners every day.
* Prisoners are also served fruit every single day, but they are only given the choice of apples and bananas. That's it. IMO, it's pretty bad that they can't at least offer oranges or mangoes.
* Breakfast is served at 9am, lunch is at 11.30am and dinner is served at 2.30pm in the afternoon. I don't understand why they serve dinner so early. Prisoners need to return to their cells at 2.30pm, but why can't the guards/officers just leave dinner at the cell doors later on in the afternoon? I'm sure it wouldn't be that much of an inconvenience.
* Dinner consists of: sausage rolls, pies, sheppards pie, chicken, vegetables, devil wings (spicy chicken wings) etc.
* For some reason, fish isn't served at all. You can eat cans of tuna and crab sticks, however.
If you have any questions or if there is something else you would like to know about prison, please feel free to ask.
), "Police Ten 7" is a NZ-produced factual program which follows the work of police officers on patrol across cities/towns in New Zealand. If you've never watched it before, it's worth checking out; Kiwis are funny to watch.