Shakedown
What started off as a typical day, well as typical as a day in prison could be, quickly took an interesting turn. Shortly after 8:30am, during my first GED class, the fire alarm sounded. We did not hurry to evacuate because the alarms have been going off all week due to testing. However, once the alarm continued to sound we knew this was not typical. My boss, the head of the education department, eventually peeked his head into the classroom and told us we needed to leave the building. We quickly packed up and headed toward the main entrance. For reference, the GED classroom is in the basement of the building. In order for us to exit, I had to climb one flight of stairs to get to the main floor. As soon as I entered the stairwell I knew there was something strange happening. When I finally reached the outside of the building, just outside of the green sea of prison uniforms, I saw a van approaching the building. Then out of the van, an army of guards exited and told us to line up in a single file line. That is when the fun began.
Over two hundred female inmates, lined up, in the frigid cold, waited to be searched. One by one we approached the guards to be patted up and down. We were asked to remove outside layers of clothing and then step over to the pavilion. All of this in temperatures that hung around 55 degrees. The officer who searched me was actually pleasant. She went through all of my belongings and even sniffed my dry-erase marker and highlighter checking for drugs. Unfortunately, I was a boring search because I only carry what I am permitted to have. Upon completion of my search, I then headed over to the pavilion with the other ladies where we stayed for almost two hours!
Two hours in the freezing cold with two hundred inmates is not what I imagined I would be doing with my life. LOL! But in true inmate fashion we made the best with what we had. There were great conversations and laughs. We even got lucky because there was an aerobics class outside right before the shakedown and they had a radio. That was all it took to lighten the mood. It wasn't long before the dancing began. One woman put on a show, so much so that one of the older ladies on a cane gave her the walking stick to use to dance. That topped it all off.
Shortly after the show we then saw a bulldozer arrive with a plastic trash can attached. We all knew what that meant. The search had continued to the inside and the officers were about to trash stuff. When we finally were able to return to our rooms, we all found huge messes. I personally had my sheets and blankets removed from my bed. All of my books had been taken out of the box and they were all scattered across the bunk above me. It did not look like my locker had been opened but I really could not tell. Once everyone was back in their rooms people began to chat and yell about the things that were missing. Everything from makeup to MP3 players had been confiscated and the ladies were not happy.
The events of the day completely changed the mood and energy in the building. Everyone spent hours searching for their missing items and filing complaints. Although I did not suffer the loss of any items in my room, I still felt violated. The small amount of privacy and dignity I had was challenged. It was a huge reminder that I am in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) and they can pretty much do what they want, when they want and there is nothing I can do about it. However, in the words of the late great Whitney Houston, "no matter what they take from me, they can't take away my dignity."
