From The Inside Looking Out. Glen Reed
around the picnic table. Some were rapping lyrics of songs, laughing, and what appeared to be having normal conversations among themselves. The canteen (commissary) in front of L dorm was lined up with inmates waiting to purchase their personal and food items, such as sodas, candies, chips, sandwiches, radios, batteries, and hygiene products.
I would like to put this in perspective before I go any further. I was the only correctional officer assigned to these two yards at this time. There were approximately 150 inmates on the yard. It was my sole responsibility to watch for possible signs that would be of concern, such as unauthorized gambling, disturbances, or a fight about to break out. I had established communication over the radio with the gun tower on the back of K yard.
Everything was calm and seemed very normal. Most disturbances, fights, and gang-related issues were active volcanoes just waiting to erupt and explode at any time.
As I turned to look toward the inmates around the picnic table, a fight broke out in the canteen (commissary line). I immediately called a code over the radio per policy and procedures for a disturbance or fight. I then observed an inmate in front of the line turn around and hit another inmate in the mouth. At this time, officers arrived from other locations to assist me, and the situation was controlled before it got further out of hand. The yards were immediately closed, and all inmates were directed back to their perspective dorms. With the assistance from another officer, we attempted to help the inmate on the ground on his feet. He was bleeding from his mouth and crawling around in the dirt. Both of his front teeth were knocked out by the other inmate, and his radio broke into pieces on the ground in front of the canteen. Medical was immediately called, and the nurse on duty responded to the scene. Both inmates involved were placed in restraints (handcuffs) and escorted to medical for further evaluation. The inmate who hit the other inmate in the mouth had no visible cuts, bruises, scratches, or redness on neither his hands nor his arms. This led us to believe that he possibly hit the other inmate with something other than his fist or hands. This was usual practice in prison setting. The use of an item or homemade weapon is a concern for staff and the administration. You could conduct a complete search of the inmates to include all prison areas and never find all these weapons. No weapon or hard object was found or confiscated in the area where the fight erupted. The item possibly used was obviously passed off to another inmate who hid or got rid of it. Inmate deception is remarkable. Inmates usually use another inmate as a spy to watch for staff in order to carry out their deceptive acts of assaults, stealing, tattooing, and passing of contraband at the right time or moment to ensure there is no trail of evidence to be found.
This inmate is referred to as the hawk. The internal investigation conducted did not prove that an object was used in this particular fight. The reason he was found guilty of this assault and placed in segregation was I was fortunate enough to have witnessed the entire incident. Both inmates were placed in segregation after their medical screening, pending outcome of the investigation. The inmate who was assaulted was transported outside the prison on a medical trip to a dentist for further necessary treatment on his mouth and teeth.
Again, additional medical bills at the cost of the taxpayer! Could this assault have been prevented if the proper staffing had been on the yard? Probably not. However with proper staffing, the odds would have been better. Within a short period of time, the lieutenant confirmed the reason the inmate was assaulted. It was due to the inmate being a known snitch who was known for talking to staff and feeding sensitive information concerning the movement of drugs and other contraband within the prison. This was a sure indicator that this inmate was an absolute snitch. If you were a snitch or had been labeled as a snitch, there was no distinction between the two as far as the other inmates were concerned. Just the smallest rumor that an inmate could be a snitch carried the same weight and consequences as if you were known for snitching.
Both were detrimental to one’s well-being.
Why then snitch? This is a fact of life in prison, and there are several reasons for this particular type of self-destructive behavior.
A snitch and/or a sex offender are spineless cowards not worthy and definitely not assets to the inmate population.
The snitch is on a self-destructive mission to attempt to make things easier on themselves.
A large percentage of snitches fall into the lifestyle of homosexuality. I cannot overemphasize the potential problems that can be detrimental to a snitch. They usually end up being assaulted, being hurt, and even possibly being killed. “If you snitch, you will end up with a stich.” Snitches engage in this unpredictable behavior for the craziest reasons. They will snitch in order to obtain special favors from other inmates, extra food from staff, extra canteen, shorter time in segregation, and being assigned to the bed and dormitory of their choice. These are extremely popular payoffs for snitching if you live the life of a homosexual because a homosexual desires to be taken care of and being protected by their sugar daddy, who usually refers to the homosexual as their state girl or their bitch.
I was preparing to have all the inmates sent outside for recreation when a young inmate approached me and asked if he could speak to me in a private setting. I had him go to the sergeant’s office at the back of the dormitory. We went in the office where he sat down and asked me for my assistance. His request was he wanted me to provide him a dorm janitor or yard janitor job. Jobs were not always available and normally paid only forty cents per day but were difficult to obtain.
I informed him I understood, and I would place his name on a waiting list along with all the other names on the list. I told to him that when the next opening came up, he would be considered along with the others on the list who have also requested this job. He then went there—snitch mode 101. He asked me if I was aware of the amount of contraband, such as marijuana, postal stamps, tattooing, gambling, and other items, being moved around in the prison. He wanted this job to the extent that he was willing to snitch out others even with the possibility of getting hurt. I knew this was an issue for his safety, so I had to be extremely careful in my handling of this sensitive matter. However, at the same time, I wanted to know where the contraband was coming from. I listened completely to what he was trying to offer me. He told me, giving me the information that was worth the job.
Before he left the office, I informed him that I could not promise him anything because I was not authorized to do so. I did, however, let him know that he was playing a very dangerous game that does have severe consequences and that he should refrain from such practices in the future. The information he provided me was as smoke in the wind and nothing else. The sad question about this type of situation and many others was, How long could he snitch before he got a stich? It did not take long.
Within a few months, this same inmate was assaulted and had to be transferred to another location for his own protection. To see a young man who had been assaulted was not a pretty sight. However, the snitch could only blame himself. He knew better but would always take the chance.
Inmates lived by a set of rules: “the inmate code of ethics.”
These standards or rules were set deep in stone and were not meant to be broken. If they were broken by an inmate, they normally found themselves broken.
There were several indicators that inmates use in order to determine or verify if one was a snitch, a narc, or a pigeon. A few indicators are as follows:
1 You were considered a loner and a pushover and did not fit into the established system by all other inmates. This includes conversing with staff too much on a daily basis.
2 You had your time cut short in segregation and did not have to complete the entire punishment you received for your prison violation, such as extra duty.
3 You heard an inmate’s name being announced over the PA system in excess.
4 You received special favors from any staff member.
5 You received extra items, such as canteen, radio, and hygiene products, when they knew you were an indigent.
6 You were labeled as a homosexual.
Many believe that being a snitch, narc, or pigeon was a lucrative business in prison. I had never, in over twenty-two years as a correctional officer, ever seen a “rich snitch,” only a “foolish” one.