have you ever visited a prison?

[Timandalicia]

or drove past one?

i havent but i was meant to go onto a school trip to HMP lancaster farms

What do you mean by “visited”. I’ve spent some time there...
Jk.

 

[barkley]

drove past one for years during my daily commute, now drive past another if in that area shopping.

as for visiting? kind off-LOTS OF TIMES. had a family member who worked at san quentin and lived with his family on the grounds. we would visit and have to drive through the main gate to get the car searched (coming and going)-i remember that there was a rule that you couldn't wear any type of blue jeans b/c that was what the inmates wore. we would drive past the buildings and the exercise yard to a lovely little family neighborhood.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

I worked in the county jail when I was in college. My mom was a jail nurse. Dad was a deputy sheriff (they met in jail!). My sister and I worked part time as medical clerks in both the main jail and a lower security detention center. It was an interesting experience. The main jail was more intense and had its own distinct smell. I liked working in the detention center better. The inmates had more freedom there. They lived in dorms and got lots of time outside. They were all pretty mellow. Most were careful not to cause trouble since they didn’t want to get sent back to the main jail. It wasn’t the greatest atmosphere to work in, but it paid twice what I could make at a minimum wage job, so I stuck it out for over a year.

 

[Pyotr]

Yes. I work in corrections. I don’t work in a prison, but I’ve been in them many, many times.

 

[disykat]

I visited our very small county jail as a kid several times on field trips. We were only shown empty rooms. of course. Now it is big enough that I'm sure they don't do field trips anymore! I've been to the county jail where I live now to deliver library books. For the books, we go in past security, but not into the main jail so there is no interaction the the people who are detained.

I have considered going as part of a prison ministry from church, but they only allow a certain number of people and I've never made the list.

I have had two awkward inmate interactions though...

I spoke to an escaped inmate during recess when I was in 4th grade. I encountered him prior to suddenly being surrounded by squad cars and the teachers all madly blowing their whistles trying to get us inside. He held a lady in a house across the street hostage and we were in lockdown for hours. I had nightmares for years and can still picture him vividly almost 50 years later. When people try to tell me "lockdown" is a new thing, I disagree!

When I had a surgery I was in the hospital next door to an inmate with 24 hour guards. He was injured during his crime and his name had been released when they were looking for him so I knew exactly who it was. I had a minor acquaintance relationship with a family member of that person. Small world.

 

[prairie_girl]

Never been to one, driven past our big prison a few times. It’s out of town so I have no need to. I think we have a jail in our law courts building downtown. We have juvie hall downtown too.

 

[Yoshi]

In 3rd grade my class went to a jail as part of a trip to places around town (I remember also going to the fire station). All the kids got a chance to go into an empty cell.

 

[FQLover]

Yes, I have. I have gone to a state prison several states away from mine to visit my dear nephew who is incarcerated there.
The whole thing is a very eye-opening experience which most people do not know anything about. My family did not, either, until three years ago.

Did you know that inmates are not given any toilet paper? They must buy it themselves from their commissary account. If they don't have family or close friends who put some money in their account, they must earn it themselves and then buy the TP. My nephew works in the kitchen and makes 25 cents an hour. In the state where my nephew is serving time, it is stated that it will take a woman two weeks of work in order to buy a box of tampons. I would think that is about the time it would take to earn money for a 4 pack of toilet paper, maybe a 6 pack. If an inmate is not allowed to work, or is not able, and has no family to put money in the commissary account, he or she must live without having any toilet paper or any tampons. I can't imagine. Just one of the many things my eyes have been opened to.

 

[Heather07438]

Yes, many many years ago, with my ex to visit his mom.

That's sad. It's rough when Mom is behind bars

I visited a good friend every week or two for the 9 months he was in county.

Visited a state prison twice.

 

[AlohaNow]

Never visited, but yes, of course have driven past some. The most interesting was the Supermax in Florence, Colorado as we drove by last summer on our way to a campground in Westcliffe, CO. Some of the worst federally charged criminals are held in there, so it was weird driving by knowing what evil was lurking inside. I'm not going to bother mentioning any of their names, but feel free to Google up Florence Supermax if you are interested. Like, really bad dudes.

 

[justafigment27]

Yes. They built a state prison where I grew up and offered tours before it opened to inmates.

 

[bcla]

Never visited, but yes, of course have driven past some. The most interesting was the Supermax in Florence, Colorado as we drove by last summer on our way to a campground in Westcliffe, CO. Some of the worst federally charged criminals are held in there, so it was weird driving by knowing what evil was lurking inside. I'm not going to bother mentioning any of their names, but feel free to Google up Florence Supermax if you are interested. Like, really bad dudes.

There are a few prisoners there who were sentenced in state courts but they ended up there because they were exceptionally violent in state prison and were transferred. Alcatraz would get some prisoners who attempted multiple escapes in state prisons.

As for the prison itself, there was one tour given where 60 Minutes visited.

 

[marthachick]

I work for a local government and when our county had construction going on for both the new maximum security prison and a few years later the new local county jail, we toured both before they were complete. Haven’t been in either since completed.

 

[ronandannette]

Yes, I have. I have gone to a state prison several states away from mine to visit my dear nephew who is incarcerated there.
The whole thing is a very eye-opening experience which most people do not know anything about. My family did not, either, until three years ago.

Did you know that inmates are not given any toilet paper? They must buy it themselves from their commissary account. If they don't have family or close friends who put some money in their account, they must earn it themselves and then buy the TP. My nephew works in the kitchen and makes 25 cents an hour. In the state where my nephew is serving time, it is stated that it will take a woman two weeks of work in order to buy a box of tampons. I would think that is about the time it would take to earn money for a 4 pack of toilet paper, maybe a 6 pack. If an inmate is not allowed to work, or is not able, and has no family to put money in the commissary account, he or she must live without having any toilet paper or any tampons. I can't imagine. Just one of the many things my eyes have been opened to.

Sorry - what?!? How is anyone supposed to live humanely without those things? Isn't there some sort of minimum standard of care for people in custody in the US?

 

[Leopardchucks]

I visited Indian Springs prison here in NV back in my early teenage years. I was in the program called "scared straight" and I remember it being pretty abusive and traumatizing.

Never been to a prison as an adult. Driven past many of them. One prison in Fort Madison, IA looks just like a creepy castle.

 

[BadPinkTink]

I used to live beside a high security infamous prison in London. The apartment block I lived in was originally built for the officers about 100 years ago.

Like many others I have visited Alcatraz.

I have also visited a famous Irish prison http://kilmainhamgaolmuseum.ie/ which like Alcatraz is now open to the public.

Back in 2006 I did a bus tour around Europe and one of the hotels we stayed in Switzerland at is a converted prison https://www.barabas-luzern.ch/

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I have driven by a prison plenty of times... I noticed the "don't pick up hitchhikers" signs, and was like yep, probably good advice I have never been inside, nor do I have any desire to go inside.

I have been inside a jail a number of times. When I was a social worker, I had to go inside to talk to people who were current "guests" of the facility.

 

[angelmav]

Used to live near a minimum security prison in Lakewood CO, the inmates had lawn chairs they would sit out on during the summer.

 

[NYCgrrl]

The Tower of London and Eastern State Penitentiary ( I think that’s the name) in Philly are prisons I‘ve visited. Would like to visit the slave holding compounds of Elmina in Ghana before I leave this earth.

There are many many prisons throughout NYC that you can pass daily and of course Sing Sing can be seen on any commuter train that runs along the Hudson.

 

[easyas123]

We poured the foundation & some other related work on the building that the death penalty was served in one of the Delaware prisons-