Working in the Lock-Up Unit in a Women's Prison

After three years of working with the Department of Corrections and still having little or no seniority I did have enough time in to at least get what was called third watch. In law enforcement this is the swing shift.

I probably had a choice of going back to graveyard (1^st watch) but did not desire doing that again. A position came up working in the Security Housing Unit (SHU) with Wednesdays and Fridays off. I took this position because eventually I figured something with better days off would show up in the near future. And I was right. In about 6 months or so a position in the same area came up with Saturdays and Sundays off.

I worked in this area on third watch (1400-2200 hours) from 1990-1992 and was the same time frame that I decided to go back to school and get my associates degree. My motivation behind this was that if you had an associate degree they gave you extra money every month. I don't remember the exact amount but it was at least a 100.00 a month. Plus if you passed a physical fitness test they gave you some more money. My thought was this. Every little bit of extra money I could get would help. And I could always use a couple extra dollars.

Some of the other names that they had for the SHU unit were SPHU (Special Housing Unit) Administrative Segregation, Graystone, the "Hole" or just plain "Lockup" unit. This is where they would send the inmates who got in trouble, either from too many write-ups or they caught doing drugs or fighting with other inmates or staff. They also had a section of "graystone" for new inmates just coming into the institution called the Reception Center (RC) inmates. This was like an overflow area for when the regular RC became full, which it always did; they had somewhere else to put them.

The capacity of the lockup unit was 200 inmates, but I don't think we ever filled it up to capacity because they usually tried to keep the ones who were back there for disciplinary problems by themselves. We usually had around 30-34 cells set aside for them so the most I saw in Administrative Segregation (Ad-Seg or lock-up) was between 25-30 inmates. That number always fluctuated depending how often they were caught doing their misdeeds.

The description of the lock-up is very hard to describe in words and even though I will try to make an attempt at it, the best way to see it is to see it in person. Now I am not suggesting to get in trouble to see it but if you do get in trouble I hope you don't get in enough hot water to be sent to prison. Believe me; I would take my lousy description of the lock up unit over actually going to prison to see it.

The name graystone got its name because the building is basically one big piece of cement, gray in color, shaped in the form of a weird looking heptagon. When you enter the building you enter a small sallyport, with a gate that is opened to let you in and another one that is closed about 25 feet in front of you. Much like a sallyport you would see at any of the prisons, except smaller than a vehicle sallyport and is only about 6 feet wide. Once you are in the one gate they hold you there until you're clear to go through the next one.

Once you get inside the first thing that anyone sees is a big sign that says something to the effect of "No warning shots fired" This may sound a little intimidating but we want them to make sure they know we can't give a warning shot inside a building. If we were to give one it would ricochet all over the building and possibly hit someone else.

When you walk into the sallyport directly above you is where the control officer is located. This is the "gunners" position that also controls all of the gates and the doors to all of the cells to the inmates. There is a big numbered panel that has all of their cell numbers plus there is big fence around the lock up unit, as well, which has a gate he has to operate, to let people in and out. There is enough work for two officers, up there, but they made the post for just one person. I guess they didn't want to put two officers up there or they may get to talking and not pay attention to what they were doing. Or probably the real reason would be, it saves them money.

The number of staff that they had working on the floor, with the inmates, depended on the shift and their budget constraints at the time. I believe when I was working there, they had four staff on the floor and the one up in the "bubble" as the inmates liked to call it. At night they had only one on the floor and one upstairs. And I believe on 2^nd watch (day shift) four or five. I don't remember exactly.

Of all of the posts at CIW (California Institution for Women) the time here seemed to go by the fastest and was my most favorite post as well. True, sometimes, it seemed like a lot more work than some of the other places but I really don't mind a little work.

I worked in graystone on three different tours of duty over my twenty year career and had many experiences while I worked in lock-up. I will tell of the experiences that stand out the most while I worked there. Besides working there from 1990-1992, I also worked there from 1997-1998 and again my last year there in 2006.