True Stories of Doing Time: Entry Seven

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True Stories of Doing Time: Entry Seven:
by Terry Chandler (TC35)

This author encourages feedback and solicits your honest opinion of his stories. You can share that opinion with him on Jpay.com, Washington state, #941311 or by mail at:

Terry Chandler #941311
Stafford Creek Corrections Center
191 Constantine Way
Aberdeen, WA 98520

I had planned on starting at the beginning of my sentence and moving forward from there, but the prison I’m in now went on lockdown today (4-12-2017), so I figured I might as well make an entry about it.

I thought that I had gotten away from the lockdowns by working my way down to a minimum security prison, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. This prison has gone on lockdown a number of times since I’ve been here, and it has almost always been due to the same two gangs going after each other.

I guess things started off first thing this morning with a pretty good fight in one of the chow halls. I slept in and didn’t go to breakfast today, so I heard people talking about the fight after I got up. Then this afternoon something jumped off on the rec yard, and it sounds like shots might have been fired to gain control of the situation? I don’t know that for sure though, I simply overheard someone saying that had happened.

I’ve been through numerous lockdowns over the years so they really don’t phase me anymore, but there is one thing about lockdowns at this prison that really sucks!!! The cells here are dry cells, which means there are no toilets or sinks in our cells. There is only one unit here at this prison that has toilets and sinks in their cells, and that’s the medium security unit. So in order for us to use the restroom during a lockdown we have to slide a piece of paper through the crack in our cell door letting the staff know we need to go. From there we simply have to wait for staff to come around and unlock our cell so we can use the restroom, which can sometimes take much longer than you would hope for 🙁

I spent the first 19 years of my sentence between federal prison and state prison in closed custody (maximum security), then 6 months in medium security before being shipped here to this minimum security prison. For the most part this place is really mellow and laid back compared to where I’ve been over the years. The majority of the inmates here simply want to do their time without any problems, but this is prison and every now and then something always happens to cause the prison to go on lockdown.

So now its all about kicking back, relaxing, and waiting to see how long this lockdown lasts??? That is always the question,… how long will the lockdown last? I’ll continue adding to this entry throughout this lockdown to give you real time news about what is going on.

4/13/2017

So, they just came around and passed out a memo to inform us of what’s going on and this is what it says,…

April 13, 2017
To: ALL OFFENDERS
FROM: JENEVA COTTON, Associate Superintendent
RE: Facility Lockdown
On Wednesday 4/12/2017 at approximately 1300 there was a disturbance in the baseball yard. There were minimal injuries.

The facility will remain on lockdown while an investigation is conducted. Plans have been created to accommodate feeding, medication delivery, bathroom breaks, and other necessities. Please communicate with staff in your unit if you have any concerns.
Thank you for your cooperation.

From the sounds of this memo I’m guessing we will be on lockdown until Monday or Tuesday of next week, but that’s simply an educated guess from what’s happened in previous lockdowns here. Not what I wanted to hear but such is life when your doing doing time. At least I have this project to work on in order to help pass the time.

Last night for dinner we got a box meal that contained two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, a brownie, a bag of sun chips, and an orange. This morning for breakfast we received a box meal that contained a single serving bowl of cold cereal with a packet of powdered milk, a small apple cinnamon muffin, a nasty bran bar, and another peanut butter and jelly sandwich plus a banana. Thus the reason to always have a little food set aside as emergency rations. I’ve got a hot pot that I can heat things up in so I plan on fixing myself a hot meal later on today.

I got lucky last night and found two movies on TV back to back that I hadn’t seen before, one was called “Gone Girl” and the other was “The Boy Next Door”. So that passed 5 hours before calling it a night and going to sleep. My cellie and I each have our own TVs so we are able to watch whatever we want. The following are some of the shows I enjoy watching,… Wicked Tuna, Into The Badlands, Little Big Shots, Gold Rush, Gotham, a new one called “The Son”, Dual Survival, Vikings, Pawn Stars and the list goes on. During the day I tend to do my beadwork (which is a hobby I’ve had for the past twenty plus years), and write to my friends, go outside when the weather is nice, and a variety of other things. Then during the evening is when I kick back and watch TV for a few hours before going to sleep.

Okay, I’ll be back to write more once I have something new to write about, til then,…

They just came around and gave us another memo which says,…

April 13, 2017
TO: All Offenders
FROM: Maragaret Gilbert, Superintendent
RE: Update Facility Lockdown
Thank you for your patience and cooperation while the facility continues to be on lockdown.

Plans have been created to accommodate feeding, medication delivery, bathroom breaks, showers, outgoing mail, and laundry services. Please continue to communicate with staff in your unit if you have any concerns.

If no further incidents occur during the next 24 hour period we will continue to progress towards normal operation.

They gave us a hot meal for lunch today (chicken stir fry) that wasn’t too bad, but tonight we have another box meal with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, brownie and sun chips. So my cellie and I have decided to make burritos for dinner. We’ve mixed the cut up summer sausage with brown sugar, sweet soy glaze, crushed red peppers, cut up fresh garlic and BBQ sauce and its cooking in my hot pot. Then the packet of chili with beans is heating up in my cellies hot pot, then when those are done we will use the hot water for the refried beans and cheesy rice and beans, its gonna be grubbin 😛 Like I said, you always have to keep some food in the cell because you never know when you will need it?

4/14/2017

Today is day number 3 of the lockdown and we were finally able to take a shower this afternoon. I feel human again!!! Going days without a shower really sucks 🙁
No word yet on when they are going to move to modified lockdown and allow us to use the phones and Jpay kiosks? Hopefully it won’t be too much longer.
We just received another memo that says the following,…

April 14, 2017

To: All Offenders
From: Dan Van Ogle, Associate Superintendent
RE: Update Facility Lockdown

Thank you for your patience and cooperation while the facility continues to be on lockdown.

Plans have been created to continue to progress towards new normal facility operations. Saturday and Sunday we will gradually move towards opening the day rooms and running mainline movements on a restricted movement schedule. The plan also includes operating the visit program on Sunday for regular visits and any scheduled special visits. There will be no EFV’s. On Monday we anticipate returning all programs and facility movement’s to the new normal.

Please remember, these plans are contingent upon your continued positive behavior and cooperation with staff. Communicate any concerns you have with staff in your unit.

So it sounds like things could be back to normal operations on Monday, provided nothing else jumps off. At least I should be able to use the phone sometime this weekend to let my family and friends know what’s going on.

4/15/2017

Its day four of the lockdown and as of yet they have not begun allowing us to go out into the dayrooms. According to the last memo they passed out I expected that to happen today. I guess the day isn’t over yet so I’ll let you know if it happens later today or not?

They opened the dayrooms after they served lunch today, so people have been able to use the phones, jpay, take showers and simply be out of their cells and in the dayroom. Tonight we will be going to the chow hall for dinner on modified movement so at least we will have a hot meal for dinner. I’m guessing we will eat our meals in the chow hall tomorrow and then things will be back to normal operations on Monday. So I guess I’ll wrap this up here. I don’t know if I gave you a feel for what its like to go through a lockdown or not? If not, I gave it a shot.