Sunday, July 05, 2009 Few American citizens are aware of the daily goings-ons inside the nation’s prison microstructures. In New York State prison has become “big Business” and generates industry in countless small towns’ upstate, towns that would otherwise suffer tremendous loss if the correctional institution holding it together closes down. The crime rate in New York City is secretly coveted by the prison industry which is a colossal monster, a sort of modern-day plantation housing hundreds of thousands of minorities and lower and middle class “inmates”, who many times, must learn to re-create themselves in order to survive within the subcultures of “the belly of the beast”. The Prison industrial complex of America is a paradoxical and lucrative entity and there are few states that have capitalized more on this commodity than New York State which boast that, “The New York State Department of Correctional Services is responsible for the confinement and [sic] habilitation of approximately 60,000 inmates held at 68 state correctional facilities plus the 916-bed Willard Drug Treatment Campus and the 100-bed Edgecombe Residential Treatment Facility.” (NYSDOCS Home Page)
On “the inside” there are specific rule of etiquette that must be adhered to by those unlucky enough to find themselves trapped within a virtual nightmare with extended families, government officials and politically savvy manipulators who, as prisoners many times run the prison themselves. There are cultural norms and roles imperative to the organization of the everyday interactions within “the walls” and if one find herself/himself a new resident on the inside, it would be extremely wise to familiarize oneself with the social norms necessary to survive expeditiously. Loyalty is rare and sparse, violence is accepted and thus, expected while associations are scrutinized closely and if found unacceptable by prison elite or hierarchy, judged harshly. For instance, hanging around known informants also called, “snitches” could make a stay on the inside very uncomfortable for some unsuspecting inmate. Hanging around correctional staff frequently could be viewed as subversive and therefore dangerous for the inmate involved. Male prisons are virtual warzones today and, most times, the enemy is the correctional officer. Already labeled deviant and ostracized by society the New York State inmate is a subaltern with no voice. Any claim made by the convict must be investigated by corrections’ staff prior to action because having committed whatever “instant offense” severe enough to land him in prison, the prisoner is shrouded by suspicion; he is seen by guards as the adversary and the aversion is greatly reciprocated by the male inmate who harbors mistrust and hatred for the corrections officer---his jailer. All too frequently, violence ensues between these inside role players often ending in serious injury or death. The average citizen must understand that order must be kept inside the prison and thus, violence is “a necessary evil” employed by staff to maintain the safety and security of the facility: “Care, Custody and Control”, that is the motto of a NYS DOCS employee. However, the openly deviant behavior, criminally violent acts, lies and dishonesty are not actions confined to the inmate. All too often, the secretly permissible blatant misuse of power formally categorized as staff misconduct is carried out, covered up and casually and called “justified use of force” in the required form filed by staff members following every physical incident within a correctional facility. Last year there were 0000 uses of force in New York state prisons alone. Malik Sheridan remembers, “When I was up-north servin’ a two an a half to fo, the cops used tah roll on us when they felt like it, yo. It was us an then it was them. We used tah open they asses up like tuna fish cans during them rumbles that they started but it was always too many ah them to win, Na mean?” It is even worse for the “lifers and maximum security inmates who, many times, are victimized by corrections’ staff. Not all inmates rumble like Malik and his buddies did. Understanding the ways in which men interact within the system prepares me for articles like the one below, found online today 6/29/09: Authorities say a New York state prison guard was shot dead on a Brooklyn street after getting in an argument with another man. Police say the correction officer was shot several times early Sunday after leaving a barbershop to make a call and getting into the argument. Police did not have a motive for the attack but did not suspect it was robbery. The State Department of Correctional Services identified the officer as 30-year-old Jeremie Kane. Kane was hired in 2005 and worked in Sing Sing prison before going on leave on workers compensation in May. It was not clear if Kane was armed when he was shot. He was pronounced dead at Kings County Hospital Center. No arrests had been made. Sing Sing Correctional Facility is a maximum security prison in Ossining, New York, approximately 30 miles north of New York City. Chances are very great that C.O. Kane knew his assailant from the inside. It is not uncommon for correctional employees in New York State prisons to reside within the five boroughs were an astronomical percentage of the prison population are arrested and eventually convicted. Without a group of colleagues and possibly, without his firearm, Kane was an easy target for a former adversary from a very secretive, paradoxical and dangerous micro structural subculture obscure invisible to the majority. My heart goes out to both the Family of Corrections’ Officer, J. Kane and to all inmates’ families who will never know the true cause of death of their beloved son, nephew, brother, uncle, grandfather or sister.
On “the inside” there are specific rule of etiquette that must be adhered to by those unlucky enough to find themselves trapped within a virtual nightmare with extended families, government officials and politically savvy manipulators who, as prisoners many times run the prison themselves. There are cultural norms and roles imperative to the organization of the everyday interactions within “the walls” and if one find herself/himself a new resident on the inside, it would be extremely wise to familiarize oneself with the social norms necessary to survive expeditiously. Loyalty is rare and sparse, violence is accepted and thus, expected while associations are scrutinized closely and if found unacceptable by prison elite or hierarchy, judged harshly. For instance, hanging around known informants also called, “snitches” could make a stay on the inside very uncomfortable for some unsuspecting inmate. Hanging around correctional staff frequently could be viewed as subversive and therefore dangerous for the inmate involved. Male prisons are virtual warzones today and, most times, the enemy is the correctional officer. Already labeled deviant and ostracized by society the New York State inmate is a subaltern with no voice. Any claim made by the convict must be investigated by corrections’ staff prior to action because having committed whatever “instant offense” severe enough to land him in prison, the prisoner is shrouded by suspicion; he is seen by guards as the adversary and the aversion is greatly reciprocated by the male inmate who harbors mistrust and hatred for the corrections officer---his jailer. All too frequently, violence ensues between these inside role players often ending in serious injury or death. The average citizen must understand that order must be kept inside the prison and thus, violence is “a necessary evil” employed by staff to maintain the safety and security of the facility: “Care, Custody and Control”, that is the motto of a NYS DOCS employee. However, the openly deviant behavior, criminally violent acts, lies and dishonesty are not actions confined to the inmate. All too often, the secretly permissible blatant misuse of power formally categorized as staff misconduct is carried out, covered up and casually and called “justified use of force” in the required form filed by staff members following every physical incident within a correctional facility. Last year there were 0000 uses of force in New York state prisons alone. Malik Sheridan remembers, “When I was up-north servin’ a two an a half to fo, the cops used tah roll on us when they felt like it, yo. It was us an then it was them. We used tah open they asses up like tuna fish cans during them rumbles that they started but it was always too many ah them to win, Na mean?” It is even worse for the “lifers and maximum security inmates who, many times, are victimized by corrections’ staff. Not all inmates rumble like Malik and his buddies did. Understanding the ways in which men interact within the system prepares me for articles like the one below, found online today 6/29/09: Authorities say a New York state prison guard was shot dead on a Brooklyn street after getting in an argument with another man. Police say the correction officer was shot several times early Sunday after leaving a barbershop to make a call and getting into the argument. Police did not have a motive for the attack but did not suspect it was robbery. The State Department of Correctional Services identified the officer as 30-year-old Jeremie Kane. Kane was hired in 2005 and worked in Sing Sing prison before going on leave on workers compensation in May. It was not clear if Kane was armed when he was shot. He was pronounced dead at Kings County Hospital Center. No arrests had been made. Sing Sing Correctional Facility is a maximum security prison in Ossining, New York, approximately 30 miles north of New York City. Chances are very great that C.O. Kane knew his assailant from the inside. It is not uncommon for correctional employees in New York State prisons to reside within the five boroughs were an astronomical percentage of the prison population are arrested and eventually convicted. Without a group of colleagues and possibly, without his firearm, Kane was an easy target for a former adversary from a very secretive, paradoxical and dangerous micro structural subculture obscure invisible to the majority. My heart goes out to both the Family of Corrections’ Officer, J. Kane and to all inmates’ families who will never know the true cause of death of their beloved son, nephew, brother, uncle, grandfather or sister.
3 comments:
Its obvious that these civil servents would never wear uniforms outside the venues in which they work. Simply because they could very well encounter a former adversay that they (the Corrections Officer) may have formerlly done an injustice
Nurse even in 2019 your coments on the prison industrial complex is riveting to folks. Especially us exconvicts who lived that very life you expose in your essay.
Truths being obscured by CORRECTIONS simply hurt our nation's youth and other group s at large. There only way to improve these institutions is to shed elucidating light upon them, thereby exposing the atrocities being committed daily.
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