Bob Walsh
Stockton, CA
Male, 60
I worked for the California state system, starting as a Correctional Officer and retiring as a Lieutenant in 2005. I now write for the PacoVilla blog which is concerned with what could broadly be called The Correctional System.
You can request anything you want. In CA even some death row inmates are double-celled. Your housing situation is determined (in most states) by a check-list type criteria. How long is your sentence. Do you have a history of violence or fire-setting? Are you more likely than others to be the victim of violence? What is your personal preference. (That last one is way down the list.) What is available. Long term or even medium term your personal preferences mean almost nothing. The best way to sleep where you want is to stay out of prison.
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Yes. During my 24 years we had one "inside escape" (escape from within the main security perimeter) and a fair number of "outside escapes" (minimum security walkaways). The inside escapee was recaptured before the emergency count cleared. (In fact I and one other officer were the ones who caught him. He went out hidden in a bail of crushed cardboard.) That is common in CA. One of the things we are good at is keeping inmates in. Escapes from inside the security perimeter are rare. Walk-aways from fire camps, etc. are common.
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That depends almost entirely on the inmate, the period of time he was in prison and what sort of support system will be available to him on the outside. No easy answer there.
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NO, not really.
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Waitress
Are you instructed to "push" certain menu items that are at risk of going bad?
Casino Dealer
How do you prove that someone is card-counting?
Court Reporter
How do you transcribe when people in the courtroom are talking over and interrupting each other?
If it is funded and administratively supported properly with properly trained agents who spend at least as much time in the field as they do in the office, it can be very effective. As it is currently operated in many jurisdicitons it is a farce.
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The "system" does not, and can not, rehabilitate. Rehabilitation comes from within and can not be imposed from the outside. The offender must WANT to change and be willing to do so.
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I have not personally seen it, but it does happen. People get fired and sometimes prosecuted for it. At one time tobacco was popular and since it was not technically ILLEGAL to smuggle it some people thought it was OK. Then cell phones. Drugs have always been popular but also always illegal. I don't have any fine details on the profit margins of such things, and since I have been out 14 years now any info I might have had would be stale.
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