First Impression

Box One is the first contact anyone has with the prison.

Be it staff, inmate, visitor, vendor, or police, they all must stopand check in at this post. Each visitor is asked if he or she has anydrugs, alcohol, or weapons. Police and law enforcement officialssecure their weapons here. Private citizens and visitors, even withconcealed carry permits, are not permitted to bring guns on thepremises. There are many signs posted prohibiting these and otheritems, and saying that all vehicles are subject to search.

If any contraband is found, the person carrying it is deniedaccess to the grounds for that day. Occasionally, random searchesare conducted by the prison SRT team. If and when any contrabanditems are found, the local police or state police are called and thecarriers are subsequently arrested. Their visitation rights are eithersuspended or completely denied for up to a year. Even then, theperson must apply to the warden for permission to visit.

Even when police come in to drop off or pick up prisoners, theirvehicles are searched, because of all the weapons they carry: rifles,pistols, ammo, and tear gas or pepper sprays. All weapons must allbe checked in and secured at this post.

As the many visitors arrive, they are asked if they have any ofthe above-mentioned prohibited items. Their response is usuallythe same: no. Some are spot-checked just to be sure. The volume oftraffic on weekends and holidays is high, and a lot of cars come inbringing visitors.

In addition to checking all vehicles, prison guards check allvisitors visually to make sure they conform to the dress code, whichthey all received a copy of at some time during their loved one's firstweek of incarceration. This is just a visual check, as they will be morethoroughly checked by the front desk officer.

After all, it is a men's prison. No tank tops, no bare midriffs,no showing of cleavage, no short shorts, and no short skirts. Shortsand skirts cannot be higher than six inches above the knee, and ifit's close, it's measured. If it does not comply, the visitor is deniedaccess until he or she complies. Many who are denied access use thelocal big box store to buy clothes that comply.

All commercial trucks are given the same checks when entering.However, upon departure, they are scrutinized more closely becauseinmates unload the vehicles and the potential for escape is greater,even though the trucks are checked at least two times before theyget to the front gate.

First Day in Prison

My Old Kentucky home, where the sun shines bright, as the song goes,except for today.

It was a typical cold, rainy spring day in Kentucky. Thetemperature was in the low 40s, a slight fog hung in the air like ahorror movie in a cemetery, except it was daytime. The drizzle wassteady. All in all, it was a miserable day to be outside, one that youwould rather spend indoors keeping warm. But not here.

This was to be a very different day for me and the three others whohad just been hired. We were on the way to becoming correctionalofficers, or prison guards, as we are sometimes called. And those areamong the good terms we heard from the inmates.

But for now, we were on our way to pick up our uniformsand equipment. The uniforms includes hats, belts, jackets, andraincoats—if they had your size. We were also given a couple ofblue jumpsuits. Some were new, most used, and all faded blue.(Hmm ... the big blue line). And in spite of the manufacturer's tag,one size fits nobody. We all looked and felt like we belonged on atrash pickup crew or a garbage truck. We were also issued belts tohang our equipment on: radio pouches, first aid kit carrier, a pouchfor rubber/latex gloves, and a mouth piece for CPR in the event wehad to use it.

Leaving the warehouse, our arms full of our new gear, weproceeded to a car used to transport prisoners. Stowing our gear inthe trunk, the four of us got in the car. This was our first (unlesssomeone had been previously arrested or detained) experience witha car with doors that only opened from the outside, and a screenor partition separating the front and back seats. This was for theprotection of the officers when transporting prisoners. Oh what joy,with the four of us in cramped in the confines of that smelly car!

I guess I knew what was coming next so I hustled to the passengerside of the car and got the front seat—shotgun, as it's called. I didn'twant to be enclosed like sardines with the three of them, especiallysince one was rather rotund.

The first thing we noticed was it sure didn't smell like our cars.It reeked of the many prisoners who had been transported overthe years. In the confines of a prison not everyone practices dailyhygiene, so body odor can become a problem. Stale cigarette smoke,before the state banned smoking in state vehicles, body odors, funkand farts, stinky feet, all in an enclosed area. It was a smell we wouldall become to familiar with in the dorms.

Our trainer explained we were going to take a tour of the outsideof the facility. We called him Lieutenant "I'm so cool I know itall," AKA Herman the German, and we would be reminded whywe chose those nicknames on more than one occasion, even aftertraining was over. He never let anyone forget it, either.

As we drove around the perimeter of the prison, the onlyconstant beside the cold drizzly rain was the high chain-link fencewith rows of razor wire attached to it on top and along the bottom.The razor wire is exactly that—razor sharp! Any one or any thinggetting caught in it would be sliced and diced severely, like a Vego-Matichad gotten ahold of it. And the more you struggled, theworse it got. Severe slicing and entanglement—it could be real nasty.Occasionally a skunk or a raccoon would get caught in it. Nothingto do but wait and then have maintenance remove the carcass verycarefully!

The DOC wanted to keep people either in or out but I don'tknow of anyone ever trying to break into prison. A lot of the convictsdidn't want to be here, but some did; they got free medical carebecause they had no one on the outside to take care of them.

There were occasional signs that stated: CAUTION. STAYAWAY / OFF THE FENCE. DEADLY FORCE IN USE!

Very bold...