Mr. Rawles-
I just finished reading the letter sent in by the correctional officer regarding
his prison’s security infrastructure and keeping the prisoners in during
a SHTF scenario. I think he’s missing an important element regarding
keeping prisoners in the prison: He assumes the prisoners will be attempting
to get over or under the fences unaided. Prisoners have families and social
connections on the outside. During a true SHTF breakdown, some of those outsiders
will take risks on behalf of their incarcerated loved ones. The fences that
should be an obstacle could be breached with a vehicle from the outside in
just a few seconds, by someone coming to the aid of a prisoner during social
upheaval.
In a situation where the wheels are really coming off our society, I believe
people should assume the majority of prison inmates will get out, and become
difficult to identify as they reintegrate with whatever elements of society
are left.
Regards, - Rich S.
Sir:
I enjoy reading your blog. Let me be the first to applaud you on your
record of more than three years of daily posts without a miss. Good job! Now
let me recommend that you start posting twice a day!
On the subject of prisons, something that hasn't been mentioned other than
obliquely is the possibility of outside help in the time of collapse. And I'm
not talking about the help of peace-loving citizens in maintaining order in
a time of society difficulty. If the world goes crazy, I suspect that family
members, fellow gang members and some who just like to feed chaos will be assisting
prisoners escape from the outside. This would include attempting to take out
guards if they are still on duty, ramming the fences with vehicles to break
them down, to even opening individual cells. Just something to think about,
especially if you live near a prison. - Brian
James Wesley,
I have a friend that lives near a [high security] Federal prison.
Complete with guard towers, COs
carrying weapons, and a lot of inmates. We have talked about this at length
and have some conclusions similar to your man that posted from the Midwest.
I have one issue with his
logic – here in our area a lot of inmates have family members that have
purchased housing close to the prison to make for easier visitation (and bring
a new low to our area). I would say that the local people might stop some of
these guys from getting over or under the fence but I would also say that one ‘loved
one’ with a semi or large box truck will make sure that these upstanding
incarcerated ex-citizens will be able to make a break for it by crashing the
fence. You can count on some bad guys getting their friends out in a time of
crisis as they will have some people on the outside with out a doubt.
Just something that people over look – saying the locals are going to
pepper them in to demise is not counting that they may have relatives or friends
coming to rescue them from a sure end at the hands of the man. So it might
be good idea to set up security both to and from the prison before that peppering
action takes place. - Fitzy in Pennsylvania
Jim,
I have enjoyed the illuminating, if somewhat chilling, discussion regarding
the fate of correctional institutions in the event of a total TEOTWAWKI event.
Joe in the Midwest paints a very interesting picture that, coming from an
insider
carries great credibility. The water issue alone pretty much guarantees the
end of any possible uprising in a matter of days. Grim, but there it is.
It occurred to me, however, that while it may be possible to button up a facility
on the inside, there may be serious gaps in security that might prevent a determined
force, arriving on scene well equipped, to break in and free everyone. This
has happened before, in Latin America on occasion. In fact, a sniper from outside
the prison carried out a gangland execution from a hillside in France as late
as Sept. 30th of this year. In Iraq and elsewhere, attacks from the outside
to facilitate escapes seem to be getting almost routine.
In a situation where it was becoming apparent that law and order were breaking
down across the spectrum, I find it unlikely that the Mexican Mafia or other
robust organizations of that nature would sit by and allow their comrades to
remain locked in a potential death trap. These organizations are more than
capable of throwing the kind of party that could see the facility breached
from the outside in while an uprising occurs inside.
The local community, as Jim pointed out, would be a key source of back-up for
a beleaguered guard force but they had better be prepared to meet with a force
that would undoubtedly be equipped with all the kinds of things you don't find
in sporting goods stores and prepared to commit extreme violence. In the case
of the aforementioned organization, they undoubtedly have members in their
ranks who have served in someone's army somewhere, most likely in combat or
severe unrest areas.
Making their way to their target would not necessarily be too difficult as
many of these facilities are within range of a tank of gas from areas where
these groups congeal in numbers. More than likely a number of gas stations
along the way that can be looted as well.
Some of the figures in secure facilities mean a great deal to these organizations,
sometimes even running them from the inside. That they would sit idly by and
let them die I find unlikely. At that point, you've got serious problems on
two fronts. Those fences can be breached by anyone with a chain saw with a
metal cutting attachment...or a stolen dump truck. Defeat the cinder block
in much the same way and saw through any re-bar they encounter. The corrections
officers get pinned down in their secure fall back position by infantry and
all the birdies fly the cage.
Any local law enforcement organizations or concerned citizens in these areas
may wish to consider that possibility as they ponder our uncertain future.
- Mosby
Mr. Rawles:
Having read the post about a large correctional facility from the
perspective of one of it's guards - I think that a few things need to be addressed.
It's not necessary to go over or under a wire fence, you simply need to defeat
some of it's deadlier facets. Defensive obstacles are only as good as the people
defending their integrity. With 30 minutes the convicts will have the concertina
wire cleared away and the fence itself clipped. Among the many things
taken from inmates on a regular basis are makeshift wire cutters. Worse yet,
envision an
accomplice outside the wire (realizing the fence is no longer defended) can
simply walk up and toss a couple of small bolt cutters that will deal with
the fence quickly. I suppose it's even possible to simply drive a vehicle through
both fences, although some are built with concrete bases and are resistant
to this. The point is, the fence might as well not exist - there will be no
folks on the other side of the wire to defend it, most of them in such a scenario
will
be at their homes looking after their families - the only ones available might
be unmarried men and women, but - again - their labors are far more usefully
spent preparing at their shelter, than protecting society at large by their
actions.
Perhaps he should ask himself exactly how many COs will remain to defend the
wire? And you have to remember that you are flanked, since each of
those inmates has family, and if experience serves, quite a few families move
to
the area
near the institution just to be nearby [to facilitate frequent visits].
He's right, of course, in that there are typically only a core of troublemakers
bent on violence, for the most part America locks up a lot of non-violent people,
our incarceration rates per capita are staggering compared with the worse third-world
hellholes for human rights. Yeah, there is summary execution in those places
that aren't factored in, but we seem to be the only on that is bent on rearing millions of
people that have been disenfranchised and alienated from their own society.
According to The Christian Science Monitor: "More
than 5.6 million Americans are in prison or have served time there, according
to a new report by the Justice Department released Sunday. That's 1 in 37 adults
living in the United States, the highest incarceration level in the world."
Now let's look at the ripple, each of those persons is a member of some family
for the most part, most have children - all of these people have a bone to
pick with society as a whole. So it is not unjustifiable to contemplate that
there are a few hundred people outside of the prison that
will make it their business to free those that are still inside.
Then there are the families,
who, realizing, that their loved ones are in a locked-down prison, starving
and subject to the basest brutality imaginable - will mount some sort of rescue
effort.
Let us hope that it's not a family member with access to a M1 Abrams tank or
even a Bradley [tracked Infantry Fighting Vehicle], not to mention the several
different
varieties of armored transportation our military uses and stockpiles around
the country.
Long before this happens, the administration of each prison (and since it's
more and more often a private corporation with no intrinsic
duty to serve the public trust) needs to identify their core population that
are the violent
offenders,
put them in the deepest lockdown, then release the non-violent ones. It really
is a small percentage of the population. Get them back with the only societal
control that has any chance of working, their families. But you need to do
it before you have 2,000 violent felons looking for a way out. They will find
a way out.
I, frankly think that if things collapse too hard that the prisons in California
alone will be overrun by the gang members who are not in the
prison. Pelican Bay Correctional Facility had 3,301 prisoners as of 2006. While
located in
the far north of California hundreds of miles from S.F. and L.A. - it's only
a hop and a skip to Salem, Oregon. And it's where California
houses the worst of the worst. Fortunately for San Francisco, a far larger
prison exists just north of the bay - San Quentin. With a paltry 5,000 maximum
security inmates. It costs $210 million a year to run. In a collapse
can you really foresee any state government allocating that?
If you live in California, you really want to avoid the
areas on this map.
They have 318,000
inmates in their system with an annual turnover of about 14,000 (leaving and
being replaced) It costs almost $10 billion a year to run with a per
inmate cost of $35,000. That $10 billion represents the budget shortfall
that California is currently struggling with.
The correctional system and it's repercussions on our society is yet one more lie we
as citizens have been allowing our politicians to use to manipulate us. The
truest statement ever made about prison, is that most people
go into it fairly naive and non-violent, they get their real education
once they
are in there. If someone burglarizes my home, for instance, I figure he owes
me to fix it and to replace stuff - that's pretty much it. As our current legal
systems exists, the bad guy doesn't commit a crime against me, but
against "The
People of the State of California" - huh? Recently a burglar duo had their
sentences 'modified' - they had been convicted of 32 separate residential burglaries
- most while the residents were at home. In the original sentence
one got 18 months and the other got six months, reimbursement was ordered and
each was to write
a letter of apology to the victims, along with 500 hours of community service.
Without telling the victims, about 9 months later, the sentences of both were
modified to credit for time served, the writs of restitution were vacated and
they were both released without spending one hour doing community service,
and not one penny to restitution. And it was all done without the knowledge
or consent of the real victims, who no longer had the right to object
simply because the crime was against, "The People". No kidding.
I'm pretty sure that we turn out more violent offenders every year than we
do doctors and nurses in a given year. Heck, in California alone it's 14,000.
And most of those aren't first offenders, it is very rare
to spend time in a real prison on your first offense in California.
So while the fence looks formidable, and I'm certain someone would make some
effort to secure it in the event of a total lockdown - there are factors that
we have been breeding out of control for decades now that will influence the
ultimate outcome of it.
Oh, did anyone notice that the California Penal System map didn't include Federal facilities?
There are 11 of them. Here's
a map of Federal Prisons in the BOP's farthest western region.
Not all federal facilities are true prisons, some are temporary facilities
(like those attached to courthouses)
Oops, have we forgotten all the local prisons (county jails) Each county has
at least one, but most have at least two (one for temporary
- awaiting trial, short sentences) and one for longer term. Hmmm... Let's see:
California has 58 counties, and officially 117 jails according to records.
Most of these have a wide mix of inmates, in most cases those sentences to
misdemeanors
go
to
county jail, but a lot of inmates there are held by contract
with state corrections due to overcrowding, and lets not forget that when a
prison inmate must undergo
a trial while still incarcerated, they are transferred to a county facility
until the trial is over. At any one time in California there are 6,000 people
awaiting trial on various felonies, some will plea out, some will go to trial,
etc. It is estimated that current capacity is 75,000 - add that to the state
prisoners and federal prisoners and you come up with 20,133 in California (according
to the Bureau of Prisons web site) as of Nov 2, 2008.
Aw, gosh - I almost forgot the seven military prisons or confinement centers
in California! This rounds out the current population to around 180,000 people
in California alone - and they are everywhere that people are. That, by the
way - does not include the county jails. It is difficult to get a day to day
count there because so many of them are operating well above their
rated capacity
People whine all the time about the money we 'waste' on military interventions
- and nobody seems to care about the number one growth industry in America
today - prison.
Oh, this doesn't count those people who are currently serving their sentences
in house arrest or other non-incarceration capacity - but that number is statistically
small compared to those locked up and dehumanized. Do I sound like a bleeding
heart type? Well, if you knew me you wouldn't think so.
Along the same lines of Elizabeth B. who recently explained that stocking up
on food wasn't enough, you have to learn to grow it too - you cannot sit back
and expect
that
criminal acts will disappear in a societal collapse - neither will the criminals
who existed before starvation set in, not to mention
those that will turn criminal when their survival is on the line. - LDM
