Our institution has been locked down since the evening of Sunday, September 21. Allegedly, there was a scuffle among four inmates inside a unit on the south side of this prison. A CO tried to intervene and was apparently assaulted by an inmate. Seems we will remain locked down until Oct. 21 or so, (I am housed in an Honor Unit and we are allowed, as of yesterday, to be out on the flats for 90 minutes each day. Hence, I am able email you.)
The year of 2023 and the entire month of January was characterized by lockdowns, mostly because hard-to-place (HTP) inmates were constantly fighting and assaulting staff. The staff finally shipped most, if not all, of the HTP inmates and moved the remaining drop-outs from the north side to the south side. Now, when a fight occurs, the staff can lock down the south side that caused the problems and the north side can remain operating under normal conditions.
However, the incident of September 21 resulted in a complete lockdown — collective punishment for the entire facility due to the actions of a few AICs. Visits have been cancelled and no programing outside of our unite is allowed.
Update, Oct. 8: The facility is now being let out into their units for four hours a day: 8-10 a.m. and 12-2 p.m. Monday to Friday. But apparently, one unit was reluctant to go back to their cells after the four hours, so they are punishing us by allowing us only ONE 5-minute phone call a day. …