We took the Teacher's Quorum (14-15 year old boys from church). to the County Prison. One of the TQ advisers works at the prison (that would be Corrections Officer Darling).
HIGHLIGHTS...
- We went to the 'padded' room. This is for the 'out of control' people that are brought in. The floor, walls, door and ceiling are all a rubber coated kind of thing. The tour guide also told us that those put in these kinds of rooms (there were four) that they were a little crazy in the head. He said that they like to 'paint' and were called Poop-casos. They have had inmates 'paint' so much that a bio team has had to come and clean up the room. Just two minutes after he told us that, one of the youth, with is hand full flushed on the wall, said, "Why are the walls squishy again." I said, "Dylan, remind me not to shake your hand on Sunday".
- We got to visit the various wings of the Jail - min, mid, and max security. While in Max security for the men - one of the inmates just happened to be looking out of his cell. He started hooting and hollering at the group. The tour guide said that they all do that, because they don't every see anything but guards and other inmates. The max-security inmates get out of their mini cell to a larger room (about the size of an oversize class room) for one hour each day. 23 hours in the little cell, one hour in the group cell.
- We went through the women's wing. No one from max-security of the women's section saw us. All the others just kind of stared at us with blank looks on their faces.
- Some of the inmates worked at the jail. They did janitorial, laundry, and other minor duties. They would get paid for their services - in either reduced time or phone privileges. We say maybe 15-20 workers the whole night. We even passed some in the hallways of the prison. When we near the end of the tour, someone asked why some workers were in blue while others where in orange. The guide told us that the orange suits were people who had done something bad - attacked a guard or inmate, or something like that. He said that the guards never turn their back on an orange. What about a Pear - two inmates...After I heard that, I noticed that C/O Darling became more attentive every time we passed working inmates...great! It's not that he started doing it...he was being overly attentive all night when we were around the inmates. I just noticed it at the end.
- We also got to see the psych ward. They get to were heavy denim 'gowns' so they can tear them or use them as a hanging device. They are under 24-7 watch. they were happy to see us too and let us know.
- It was a good night - it helped those who were interested in law enforcement and helped those who needed to see what happens to those who don't make wise choices.
On a funny note...the next day, I was at the Chevron that I go to every morning. The clerk there is Tammy. I told her about our tour of the prison. She asked if we visted the C or D wing. I said yes. She said that is where she used to live. She said she has changed her life around. Last week she told me that her Dad and Step mom (converts of one year) just went to the temple to be sealed. One of the other customers at Cheveron asked what that meant and she proceeded to tell the customer exactly what that meant...and yes, I have invited her to church. Our mission has what's called invitation Sunday...but that's a different story.
