DISTURBANCE AT THE ISCC HIGHLIGHTS FRUSTRATIONS, SENDS 4 INMATES TO HOSPITAL - NO STAFF INJURED BUT ENTIRE PRISON ON LOCKDOWN (AGAIN)
A disturbance (called a "riot" by some correctional officers) in a dorm housing up to 100 prisoners erupted at about 4:30 pm at the Idaho State Correctional Center on April 10, 2021. While the details of exactly what occurred are still unclear, there were reports of inmates attempting to set fires, break windows and attempts at breaking through the roof. What is clear is that frustrations at the ISCC have been running high as has previously been reported on this site.
More than 200 inmates with their hands on their heads were evacuated from H Block by Correctional Officers (COs) to the main building at the ISCC on Saturday afternoon. H Block, a steel sided building resembling an airport hanger, storage shed or garage was used as a warehouse before being converted to a dormitory-style housing unit. In the early 2000's, while operated by Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) (now, CoreCivic) H Block was known as the PIE building, used by Prison Industries for manufacturing various items with inmate labor.
Inmate frustrations at the ISCC have been so high that such a disturbance was inevitable - and like an earthquake, there may well be aftershocks. While some of the inmate frustrations come from necessary precautions and security arrangements taken by the administration due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most stem from the unnecessary and inconsistent application of "rules" which pop up one day, and disappear the next, applicable to some, but not others. Worse yet, staff continue to blatantly show favoritism to select inmates, systemically lie to prisoners - even about mundane matters - and deny even basic human dignities and constitutional rights to prisoners on a daily basis.
To throw fuel on the proverbial flame, administrators decided to lock down the entire facility even after the H Block disturbance had subsided. Certainly, the justification for the lockdown will be that there must be an investigation into the matters that resulted in the H block disturbance - as well there should. However, locking down the entire facility, even though the facility is (supposed to be) already compartmentalized, and the reasons for the disturbance have been staring them in the face for months simply exacerbates the inmate population frustrations. Indeed, at least 1 housing area has had only 1 day in 2021 where the day room was available for the entire day, with a recent 4 day lockdown due solely to a staff member failing to follow established protocols, not inmate misbehavior.
Facility administrators continue in refusing to rectify concerns brought to their attention weeks or months prior to a situation coming to a head as they listen only to specially recognized inmate sycophants, many of whom enjoy special treatment (food, drink, access to out-of-cell activities, laptop computers, administrator interventions, etc.). The majority of prisoners have no place or person to turn when unit staff - intentionally or not - are obtuse and unwilling or unable to provide a logical ear to any given immediate situation (Officer, would you contact food service, there is someone's severed finger in my vegan spaghetti! - No, I don't WANT to send a Concern Form to the kitchen!).
Half the "amenities" at the facility are broken or otherwise unavailable. Telephones and cable channels remain out for weeks at a time, legal resources not available for months, even limited outdoor recreation schedules are not being followed because an officer had diarrhea or simply didn't want to go outside that day. Case managers CHOOSE to pass out meals to prisoners rather than perform their assigned duties, duties which can make the difference of a prisoner going home on parole tomorrow, or months from now.
These are all significant and contributing factors in the frustration levels at the ISCC. Indeed, were ISCC a human, it would be on life-support.
When IDOC staff refuse to listen to those prisoners who are not just telling them what they want to hear, it is difficult for them to hear the rumblings which signal disruptions and their aftershocks which may signal impending disturbances, uprisings and/or riots of prisoners. When it becomes clear that staff and administrators would rather clean up the rubble than to prevent it in the first place, something - or someone - needs to be changed.
Dale Shackelford
#64613 / ISCC / Unit F
P.O. Box 70010
Boise, ID 83707
daleshackelford1@gmail.com (messages only)
idahoprisonblog.org