yesterday was our first day at the department of corrections. we listened to some lectures, toured the building, and got to do ridealongs with NCI (neighborhood corrections initiative) which is the police and corrections officers working together. We were in a big van with 2 cops and 1 corrections officer. We arrested 2 people and stopped several others. The cops opened the side doors so one of the guys we arrested could talk to us. it’s surprising how open offenders are to sharing their history, offense, and drugs of choice. not that they actually shared drugs they just told us.
I saw what a crack pipe looks like for the first time. we learned where each drug is prevalent in Seattle, how to spot suspicious activity, and how to tell what drug a person is high on. it was sweet.
today we toured 2 prisons. one was maximum security and one was minimum. I was surprised how “chill” (as one of my teammates put it) the prisons were. the inmates weren’t hand cuffed, shackled, or anything. the prisoners totally out numbered the guards. it seemed like and uprising would be pretty easy but they’re actually pretty rare.
tomorrow we’re watching work crews work. they’re mostly made up of offenders who violated conditions of their parole. They’re given the option of working on a work crew or going to prison. it’s far more cost efficient for them to work on the crews and, some may argue, more effective. some people choose prison because they’re homeless and it provides 3 meals a day and a place to sleep.
oh- and Chris says i’m the funniest person on project … yay me
