ISCC ADMINISTRATORS "OPEN UP" THE PRISON AFTER PANDEMIC RESTRICTIONS - THIS AIN'T GONNA BE GOOD

Sometime around April, 2020 the ISCC (as well as most of the IDOC) started restricting prisoner movement due to Covid-19 [except for the 'privileged' prisoners who - throughout the entire pandemic - were, and are still allowed to have the run of the place and do whatever they want to do]. Recreation, education and [so-called] rehabilitative programs and general movement throughout the facility were all either cancelled, or severely curtailed. On March 28, 2022, many of these restrictions are scheduled to relax, and the institution is to head back to normal - whatever that is.

There are certain to be several problems with going back to normal operations, not the least of which has to do with staffing. If indeed there are enough staff to cover the facility, many officers (including National Guardsmen and Women) are new either to the ISCC, or corrections altogether, having been hired and assigned to their new posts during the lockdowns and will have no idea how the place REALLY operates on a daily basis. Despite directions, advice from their fellow officers, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and post orders instructing them as to what to do - and how to do it - the reality of what needs to be done to make things smooth and secure will be much different. It's not a reflection on the officer or the system, it's just the reality of the situation.

The same can be said for prisoners. Many have arrived at the ISCC only to be locked down and limited movements around the facility were under escort. Once regular (inmate) movements, programs, recreation, chow hall feeding chapel and other activities restart, it can become a bit overwhelming for the uninitiated. (Indeed, when I first arrived at the ISCC in 2011, it took me days to learn how to get to the chow hall and back to my cell without getting lost.)

Speaking of chow (excuse me, meals), I understand the chow hall (dining room) is also scheduled to open soon, maybe with just one unit eating there so as to train staff and inmate workers. This is one of the WORST ideas in the history of the ISCC, for as history has shown, it is the chow hall at this facility that is the nexus of many, if not most of the issues and serious problems at the ISCC. Further, the dining room would be better utilized were it partitioned off for a larger kitchen [prep] area and for other uses, such as education, where the existing education department is directly adjacent to the dining room, and vocational education classrooms are directly across the hall.

Fights, passing of contraband/information between units, forced seating of prisoners (which causes lasting animosity towards staff and other prisoners), food service workers (usually table wipers) becoming targets (for real or imagined slights), being "disrespected" by inmates from other units/wings (resulting in fights in other/common areas of the prison), food theft, staff coverage issues and "line-ups" all are avoided by feeding prisoners on their units as has been done effectively, if not efficiently, for nearly 2 years (see SATELLITE FEEDING AT THE ISCC - A BETTER WAY TO SECURITY AND SOCIAL DISTANCING on this site). Staff and inmate safety, and institutional security are more threatened in the ISCC chow hall during meals than at any other place, and at any other time in the facility.

Several inmates will undoubtedly face anything from simple beatings to serious assaults - on sight - once the ISCC is opened up and multiple units are released at once into the hallways or into the chow hall together, and several staff confide not only they know it's coming, but that they are looking forward to the action over the monotony.

Many inmates are already targeted, and prisoners are just waiting for a chance to "make contact" with them. While there will certainly be the occasional unplanned assaults, most in danger are those who are generally known to be "privileged" - those inmates who have been allowed by staff over the past couple years to hire and fire other prisoners for special jobs (in addition to already having 1 or more jobs) - with special benefits of outside food, "bonus" and "hazard" pay amounting to hundreds of dollars a month (like the making of masks, etc.), those who have been getting paid since the pandemic restrictions began despite not working at all (totalling thousands of dollars), those who have talked crap about others thinking the lockdowns would never end (or thought the target of their mouthiness wouldn't find out) and those who - individually and/or as part of a group - have acted as "lackeys" of the ISCC administration and staff - again receiving special pay, food and amenities for volunteering to perform "extra" duties while others are denied jobs altogether because of it.

Maybe the pandemic-era changes have taught administrators new normals for the ISCC - normals which will make the facility safer, more secure and less violent than before. The changes will be stressful.


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