What's jail really like?

A friend of mine was in prison for four years. (San Quentin) He'd been in before, also spent time in the county jail. He said it wasn't THAT bad. The food in prisons is better than in jails. Some of the guards are just jerks, but most are okay. You quickly learn you have no privacy, for instance everyone showers together under the watch of guards. There are some prisoners you learn to just leave alone, some groups you don't try to intrude, but not violence and rape every day like on TV. The problem was more boredom than violence.

I sent my buddy a TV and he was very grateful. They cut the speaker wires, you can only listen with headphones. He couldn't have a computer, and even though he was taking classes on computers in prison any media (floppy disks, cassettes, thumb-drives) were contraband. In fact I sent him a newspaper clipping that mentioned me and he said they wouldn't let him have it--newspaper clippings are also contraband!

He had a chance to take a class in C programming. The instructor was a volunteer but he also taught C in a comm. college or a high school, I'm not sure. He was greatly enjoying the class but it ended when the instructor had to quit. There were a lot of epidemics going around that year, apparently several different strains of flu, and in prison they had a rule that if you were sick you still had to show up at your job, so every epidemic spread through the entire prison. The instructor caught two or three of these and then decided it wasn't healthy to work at a prison. I think the guards' union made a formal complaint but nothing changed.

A few months after he got out, he spent 30 days in county jail for some minor violation of his parole. He told me he would have preferred to go back to 'Q' for a month. The food was better, the guards were generally more humane, the bed was a little more comfortable.

I've been to several different jails and to prison once. County jail is alot nicer then city jails In my opinion. That's typically bc city jails in my area aren't meant to hold you long, county jail is where you can sit up to two years I believe. Food is better in county plus there was commissary. You could buy map pencils off there, yes there is tv but we had 60 girls that all had to agree to one show or it would be cut off for fighting. Violence wasn't as big a deal as you see on tv bc most people just want to do their time and go home. Now prison had more violence but wasn't horrible. All of it is survivable if you keep to yourself. Be nice, everyone is having a rough time in there, but don't let others try and guilt you into buying them stuff off commissary. It is all survivable and you just fall into a routine. Oh they also usually have a crappy library but you can read to pass the time too. Hope this helps

I can only answer for my experience of a British prison. We don't have jails - it's all called prison. But you're obviously American so that won't be much use to you.

Watch TV programs like America's hardest prisons or 24 hours in police lock up. It at least gives you an indication of life in jails and prisons.

In Canada, the guards don't do anything and just watch inmates fight. There aren't many people incarcerated so the jail guards have very little experience breaking up fights. On top of that, it is pretty frightening to get hit.

I have only been in jail twice and only long enough for them to figure out they had the wrong guy, I have a common name and was arrested because of my name only twice. It really wasn't that bad. The second time I actually asked if I could stay long enough to finish the game of spades we were playing, but the guards said no. I wasn't there long enough to have a meal there or sleep either time.

Honestly, I'd find some cop book about jails, or watch youtube videos on different prisons. (Or, if all else fails and you still want to know, go get yourself arrested.)

It's a picnic.

When i was 20 I got a job as a Deputy at our local county jail. My Dad was a police officer so maybe it wasn't unusual that that is what i did. My local county jail was not a huge jail but there was about 250 inmates. When i was a Deputy I felt I knew everything and the inmates were the scum of society and deserved to have a rough time. I think though that I was fair and never did anything to abuse the inmates or treat them bad. As a Deputy you would know who to watch out for and who was likely to cause trouble. I remember being there at 20 and having guys much older than me call me sir. It was really just a job for me back then and i didn't really think about what the inmates thought about me. You had to be smart as there were many more inmates than deputies - most just wanted to do their time and get out. There were plenty of repeat customers though - they would e getting out and saying that they would not be back but most ended up coming back. They knew it and you knew it but that was the way things were. I worked there as a deputy for 3 years.

I left to go to another job but about 3 years later I ended up back there - that time as an inmate. I arrived on the bus from court and all chained up with a few others. I had got a 4 month sentence with probation and it was the worst few months of my life. I used to think that the inmates got what they deserved but when you are an inmate yourself it is very different. As an inmate you don't really have any rights - you hand over any personal property, take off your clothes and then you are just another inmate stuck in a cell - or really a cage - for your sentence. I was lucky that our county jail isn't too bad but still had to deal with people I knew from working there - some of the Deputies who I knew from working there gave me a bit of a hard time. i was asked if I wanted to go into protection but I stayed in general population. I got some crap from some of the other inmates because I used to be a guard there but it wasn't too bad. I remember my cellmate saying to me on my first day "you're wearing the orange now". I know in some places it would probably be hell being an ex Deputy but it wasn't too bad for me.

The main thing about jail is the boredom - where I was we were up at 6am for breakfast and the whole day was just meals, counts and hanging around in between. I think in prisons there are classes and programs you can go to and work you can do which nust help pass the time but not really that in jail. There were a few fights alrights but nothing too bad - you have 250 bored males all stuck together so something is going to happen.

Only when you are inmate you find out how much your freedom means to you. You are told exactly when to do things and how to do them and you have to follow the rules. You end up treating the deputies/COs like God as you want to stay on their good side. You look forward to getting visits but then you end up only seeing your visitor behind a glass divider and are desperate to touch them. Like I said I wa sonly there for a few months but it was the worst time of my life. People who say jailis easy don't really know what they are on about. I would dream about being able to do simple things like going for a walk or a swim, going to the cinemaa. having a McDonalds, going to see a movie, having a cell phone or smoking a cigarette - all things I would do without thinking at home but none of what you could do in jail.

Lucky when I got out I stayed out of trouble and never got arrested again. I do feel a bit of sympathy now when i hear of people in jail

there are a few good TV programs you may want to watch - one is called "jail" and the other is "lockup"....they both are filmed in actual jails and prisons and you get an idea of what happens to those who get sentenced.............it's not very nice