A rise of murders is traumatising inmates and staff, and making life harder for staff. But even in prison, violence isn’t inevitable.
There are hotspots for violence in prison. The exercise yard, the showers. There are peak times, too. Mealtimes and association periods are particularly volatile.
But first thing in the morning is not when you expect to hear an alarm bell. I certainly didn’t, at 6am in my office on the residential wing of a high-security prison in late 2018. All prisoners were locked up at that time. But overcrowding has long been a problem in UK prisons, and keeping three men in cells designed for one can be a recipe for disaster.
When I reached the scene, I found one of my colleagues standing outside a cell with his keys in the lock, poised to open the door. The control panel next to the door showed a blinking orange light. The cell bell can be activated by prisoners inside to call for officer assistance. Normally this would be a request for toilet roll or paracetamol. But that day was different.
Inside the cell, one man sat trembling on the top bunk.
Continue @ Guardian.
Would I be right that the fact that he wrote about his experiences indicates he would have more empathy than most of them?
ReplyDeleteI've always wondered if the Prison service, the cops and the army might be places for psychopaths and sociopaths to 'Hide' between getting off on beating and maiming people!
I visited a POW in the H blocks, when I was with him, I realised my miniature Maglite torch was in my sleeve pocket, I asked him if he wanted it!
He looked long and hard at me weighing up his options and then replied: "It will be a trap, they will know you have it, if you give it to me, you might not be leaving of your own accord!"
How naïve of me!!!!
Folks might be interested in my old sparring partner Peter Williams QC, he set up the Howard League for penal reform, the social media link is The Sir Peter Williams QC Penal Reform League.
Pete was one of the good guys, the House of Lords hated him, so you can imagine why we were friends.
One thing he taught me was "You can never win an argument with a cop, STFU until you're in front of a judge".
Pete kept me out of jail when I was a young, feral activist.
I was lucky to know him.
In 1981 he sailed a yacht with the name Lawyers against nuclear, he sailed it to Moruroa atoll protesting the French nuking my Polynesian neighbours.