I am sure some contraband comes through the mailroom and that the personnel need protection for that. But I can just assure you that none of the inmates sent it. So, we should not get punished for what someone else sends to the mailroom. Yet were given 22 days in lockdown for claims of contraband in the mail. Most of us do not believe the mailroom is the primary entryway. They copy everything here, including mail that comes from third-party vendors, which pose 0% threat. This administration just never misses an opportunity to waste money and then claim they have no money so they can lock us down.
I have a FULL month-by-month log of all days on lockdown for CY ’25. As of July, we have been on lockdown for 103 of 212 days. The highest month was April, with 20 of 30 days in lockdown. The lowest was March with 11 of 31 days. Many of these lockdowns are for “cost cutting,” which I do not believe is a valid reason. They make that claim but have the same number of officers in the CO office as they do when we are not locked down. We know they are pre-planned, since they prepare sack lunches days in advance.
At Thomson, we are somewhat of an anomaly as this is a low-security prison being run as a high. We have cells with doors that are locked many times a day, as well as locked range doors. Two of the unit doors are locked. Low-security prisons are supposed to have no locked doors.
The trauma inflicted by these lockdowns cannot be overstated. If the BOP doesn’t have the money to run the prison correctly, then close it until you do. Like most places, we have people 1000s of miles from home, well outside their region, in violation of the FSA. The burden this places on families is HUGE.
As I’m sure many have advocated for, bodycams and an on-site ombudsman would solve a lot of problems right away. And take the locks off the doors. The bodycams and audio of all the lies people get told would stop the abuse. We have no way to document it otherwise, and then it becomes a he-said she-said situation, and we know how that always goes. Power without accountability is corruption and we see that every day here.