Gunslingers in Prison

You hear true. Every once in a while I and my fellow Gunslingers and Agents have to go to Prison. In the years working at my Agency I have gone to multiple Prisons in multiple States. Most of which have been right here in South Carolina.

Most of the time when I conduct an extradition to another State and pull one of our Offenders from a Prison or a County Jail, 9 out of 10 times, there will be no major issues (Long waits for Offenders, Paperwork late or not completed at all, or Correctional Officers in an unhelpful mood). However, whenever dealing with the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC), the above happens more often than not.

No where is this more evident than at the Local "Maximum" Security Prison in my Jurisdiction. I am really not sure how this particular penitentiary received the designation of Maximum Security other than the fact that it has more Concertina wire than some of the others.

Now, I have been to this Prison 10 to 12 times since beginning me career. Once while I was a Deputy, the rest with this Agency. Of those times with this Agency, I have gone to this Prison twice in order to Transport Offenders from SCDC custody into our custody to begin the Violation process.

You may ask me why on Earth I would go to Prison if to not get a Prisoner. Well the answer is simple. I go because my job sometimes requires me to go. This particular facility is a satellite location for Parole Board Hearings. That means that offenders come from other SCDC facilities to this one to go before the Parole Board to get a chance at being placed on Parole. It is also a location for Parole Revocations. Hence, my being there.

I have only taken 4 Parolees before the Board for a Revocation, the other times I went in order to help another Agent transport an Offender to the facility. Without fail, every time I have gone the rules are staggeringly different.

Usually, this is due to whoever you meet at the gate. The only thing that remains constant is the fact that if its on your person it does not go through the gate. No Firearms (surprise), No ammunition, No knives, No cell phones, and No money. If you have any of those on your person while trying to drive through the gate, it has to be left in lock up at the gate.

Now, having to hand over my Firearm to anyone other than someone that I trust explicitly, is a major do not do. So, having to turn over my Firearm to some Guard in a booth, is absolutely nerve racking.

From here things go completely different from time to time. The car gets searched from stem to stern, completely overlooking the Offender for some reason. Myself and the other Agent can go from honor system that you gave up all contraband to too close to a strip search for comfort.

This last time I went before the Board I took my partner Casey. This was his first time coming to this facility or to any kind of Parole Board function since he went through training years ago. So, while we wait at the gate for the Gate Guard to finish with the vehicle in front of us, I gave him a rough overview of what he could expect. I told him what he needed to do once we got inside and I had to walk my Offender the rest of the way. Needless to say, the Gate Guard did everything completely different.

Once I was inside with the Offender, he was greeted warmly by everyone, convict and Correctional Officer alike. Then, once we got inside the cafeteria building, I was met with more random security changes that I did not expect, but it was best to try and go with the flow. We were then ushered into the Cafeteria where we would wait to be teleconferenced with the Parole Board. That is correct, the Cafeteria. On one side of the Cafeteria, convicts waiting to go before the board to try and re-enter society. On the opposite side of the room family members of said convicts. Being the odd folks out, we get the unprecedented honor of being in the very middle of the room with nothing but a pair of ball point pens for protection.

After taking our seats and beginning the long wait for the Hearings to begin, my Offender begins to tell me his life story. This being the second time that I have met the man, I listen with one ear and pay attention to my surroundings with everything else. After, a few minutes Casey manages to get into the cafeteria. He relays his story about meeting Correctional Officer aplenty that knew my Offender and how good a guy he is. I will admit, at first glance, he would seem to be a pretty good fellow. However, having seen to many want-to-be confidence artists, I automatically know that it is just an act to get on my good side. The violations that he has racked up show the real man.

After about an hour in what one would assume to be the most hostile environment for Law Enforcement ever, the hearings begin. Within thirty minutes we are called to go before the Board.

Now, if you are familiar with me, you would know that I do not like going to court...at all. Well the Parole Board is just below going to court in the hatred meter. Despite all the hassles, I actually think that doing the Parole Board is much easier than going to court. This is due to the fact that we are given a script (literally) to read from and we say nothing else. The Board will then hear from the Offender they then render their decision. Usually.

In my case, my Offender turned on the waterworks and pleaded for mercy. The head of the Board cut him off and told us to wait back in the Cafeteria for the verdict. A few seconds go by...then a few minutes. The Parole examiner came out and told us that the Board could not come to decision and we would have to schedule for the case to be heard again later.

I was dumb struck. The 4 previous cases that were brought before the Board had less violations than this Offender and none of them left the facility with me (they all left several hours later on a bus). I spoke with the Examiner for a few minutes to try and figure out what we needed to do and to kill time whilst Casey pulled the car around (having to go back through all the previous security again).

Once my Offender was back in the County jail and Casey and I back at the Office, we then recounted the tail to our fellow Agents. All of whom were also dumb struck, except Work Mom who said, "What the F#&%." While snatching the file out of my hands and looked over the violations. "D&%$ boy! That should have been a slam dunk! What did you do?!" I honestly do not know what comes over me sometimes, but I said, "Well that's apparently what happens when I follow your instructions." And again the conversation went down hill, and in a hurry. I really need to work on the Brain-mouth filter around her.

Not all hearings end like this. This last time I went to the Board, I spend 5 hours in the cafeteria waiting for an Offender to voluntarily come to prison (this was not my offender and was doing the case for a fellow agent). He never showed. But, I did get to watch another Offender get very upset about having his 6 month Parole revoked. When told that the he would be spending Thanksgiving and Christmas as a guest of the State he got very mouthy. When the Correctional Officer came over to escort him out of the Cafeteria (so he would not get the other Prisoners stirred up) he gave the Officer a flat "No". With out a word more, 6 other much larger Correctional Officers come out of no where and stand behind the Offender. All of whom were wearing the same "Please Fight. I'm Bored to tears" look on their faces. The Offender turned to see this show of force and immediately complied with every order given. I could not help but smile, and there were a few chuckles from some of the other Prisoners.

In the weeks to come I will hopefully get a reschedule date for the Parole Board and get a re-offending Offender back where he belongs.

Semper Fi Deus

Goose