Nothing ruins your day like getting shot with a dart made from a Frito's bag and dipped in dookie. Yes, you read me correctly, it is not entirely impossible that you might get shot with a poisoned dart in prison. At least that is how the legend goes. I cant say I've ever seen it happen with my own two eyes, but I have heard from guys who did time in the Atlanta federal lock up, and from guys who did time in California. As best I can tell, the practice of using home made dart guns originated with the marielitos who were locked up when Castro emptied his prisons and insane asylums and sent them over here by the boat load. At some point the prison gangs in some California prisons picked up on the idea, and adopted it for their own. Like I said, I've no idea if it is true, but there is something about the mental picture of some Indiana Jones inmate , running through a cell block, while tiny darts rain down upon him.
Aboriginal dart guns aside, the most popular method of punching someones ticket is to stab them. The shank, also known as a shiv or bone crusher, has been around prison since time began. I imagine there was some caveman convict , sharpening a rock and waiting to ventilate some unlucky victim. The material used to make a shank is as varied as the size, shape and reason for making them. You could be sliced with a razor blade melted to the handle of a tooth brush, but more often than not the method of delivery is to stab rather than cut. A scrap of metal is often used, but with the numerous metal detectors throughout most prisons, metal is the least desirable material , when stealthy stabbing is the order of the day.
Plastic is favored by many for it's versatility and availability. Trash bags can be melted down and molded in to a crude yet effective weapon. A piece of Plexiglass makes an excellent shiv, as an added bonus, a couple of cuts made in the handle, allow the user to snap the plexiglass off inside his victim, leaving him with a smaller piece to get rid of, and more importantly, the piece that has his prints on it is in the stabbers possession rather than the victims belly.
Bludgeoning is also a popular method of reaching out and touching someone. A couple of bars of soap in a sock is an excellent way to clean your enemies clock. Contrary to what Hollywood would have you believe, a 6 pack of soda in a pillow case is not an effective way to bash in someones skull. A couple of good swings and you will be left holding a soggy pillow case filled with empty pop cans. Mop wringers are popular head knockers as well. basically, anything harder than the intended victims head can be, and probably has been used to beat someone down.
The most insidious and disgusting weapon, is used most often on guards. Being "Gassed" is a method used most often by inmates with mental issues. Feces and Urine are blended in a cup or other container and thrown in the guards face. You can imagine with the numerous diseases carried by some inmates, getting hit with a pint or two of shit and piss, is especially undesirable. It also earns the thrower a first class, and well deserved beating.
The thing to always keep in the fore front of your mind is this, there are more ways for somone to harm or kill you than you can imagine. You never know when some wobble head is going to snap , crackle, and pop you in the head. Chances are, if you keep your nose clean and avoid the vices like drugs and gambling, you will probably get through prison unscathed. But you just cant rule out being in the wrong place at the wrong time. So always be aware of your surroundings, and keep your eye out for anyone with a newspaper rolled up into a dart gun.
I was fortunate to have never been gassed or spit at. Had one swing on me, but missed, luck for me. The officer I used to relieve was always getting gassed.
ReplyDeleteSickening. made me hesitate to go in on my first day. But I learned quickly. Just did my job, and not go out of my way to give them a reason. SMU has it's perks.
You are right on one thing, a weapon is anything you can et your hands on. I have seen the effects of a mop wringer in action, one had a broken jaw, and the other 26 stitches across the top of his head.
Prison fights are probably the most lethal I have ever had the chance to see. All business, no honor involved. Most are planned out meticulously and are over long before an officer can get to them. I have lost count on how many I was involved in when working the Gang unit, SMU, or mental health, never mind gen-pop.
Good read.
WOW...you mean to tell me that people get stabbed alot in the joint?
ReplyDeleteRDM - could you gather these prison tutorials into one place so that I might print them for my older son?
ReplyDeleteWould be much appreciated.
how did they make that fork?
ReplyDeletethey make good weapons
ReplyDeletePretty much like what he said. Inmates have 24 hours to figure out how to get back at us and can read us like books. And we as officers only do our 8 and go home and forget about it.
ReplyDeleteCorrections is no joke. You see shit in there that would will never see public. And no training they can offer can ever prepare you for what you might see. When you see an inmate get slashed across his belly so deep that his guts are hanging out and the inmate proceeding to rip them out with his hands then you tell me that's normal. Or you see a guy cut himself and start slinging blood and spraying his cell screaming and hollering.
the fact that in that pic there was like a meat cleaver should show somethings wrong with that jail inmates should not have access to metal that large
ReplyDeleteI read your blog frequently and I just thought I’d say keep up the amazing work!
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