Entry #17 - New Administration and Bad Press - 6.4.07

This camp has a bit of a laissez-faire reputation. In the past, wardens would turn over every two years, along with the administrative staff who worked under them. Such was policy. This practice has been relaxed recently, perhaps due to a lack of qualified applicants (who knows). Finally, however, after a long haul with the previous, we have a new administration. There could not be a worse time for an incident to garner media attention.

As Murphy’s Law dictates, “Everything that can go wrong, will go wrong.” Last week, a state trooper spotted an inmate in his greens meeting up with a car along the highway. The trooper flashed her lights and the driver of the car took off for a short distance before finally pulling over. At that point, the inmate jumped out of the car and high-tailed it through the woods. The trooper proceeded to call the prison and we were called to our bunks for an emergency count. By that time, the inmate was back in his bunk, present and accounted for. Unfortunately, the young girl driving the car cracked and gave up all necessary info.

The local and national media got a hold of it, at which point the spin was on. One local article made the inmate in question sound like the biggest menace to society since the Son of Sam. The information that the paper claimed that they got from the police report said that the inmate got out of the car wearing a ski mask and walked towards the female trooper wielding a wire wrapped around his hand in an intimidating fashion. Accompany such an image with alluding to the fact that the inmate may have been an escapee from the medium facility below and you’ve got a hell of a news story to make the public panic.

The news articles in both title and text referred to the inmate as an escapee. In reality, the inmate had not “escaped”. He was on an excursion and had no intention of running away. According to the guidebook, it is unlikely that he will be charged with escape.

Also, when reporting the potential contraband found in the trunk of the female driver’s car, they refer to a gallon bag of white powder. The natural implication here is that the couple was running drugs (specifically) cocaine) into the camp. More than likely, the bag contained creatine, a legal health supplement that some guys use in association with working out. Referring to the “powder” gives the impression of more dramatic debauchery taking place, thus a more sensational story.

I can only speculate on the likelihood that he had a ski mask on – not likely as the incident occurred during the morning. I know the inmate in question and he was not a stupid individual. Plus, we don’t have ski masks, only ski caps. He may have cut eyeholes into a cap, but once again, not likely. As for the wire, the inmate in question was not a violent man. He was one of the most solemn and austere people that I’ve ever met. What’s a guy gonna do against an armed trooper? As I said, he may have made a bad choice the day in question, but he’s not stupid.

The general public doesn’t realize that camps exist. They are scared shitless of the idea of convicted felons not being kept behind a monumental security system, as they imagine us all to be the crazed villains depicted in the aforementioned news story. Thus, they are likely up in arms at the possibility of a criminal “escaping” the chains that bind him. In actuality, fenceless camps are tests for inmates that seem worthy of some moderate level of trust and freedom. As with all tests, it is not unheard of that some fail. Making this determination of trustworthiness is in part the reason for camps like this.

An event like this and the consequential media coverage isn’t exactly desirable to a new warden. This guy seems like a no bullshit fella, and our camp specifically has a bit of a laissez-faire reputation. Naturally, due to this, he’s bringing the hammer down and things are changing around here. Yet I’ve no hard feelings towards him. The media, on the other hand, I hold in extreme contempt for spreading fear through their sensationalism. Yet another obstacle to the felon trying to reassimilate back into society.

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Book: A Man Without A Country by Kurt Vonnegut – may he rest in peace