The Chippewa Correctional Facility Blues

On March 20, 2013 Dennis Brooks, Corrections Program Coordinator, provided a presentation to the Lake Superior Elders.  It was a stormy day, however, ten elders made it to this session.  I drove in a snow storm to attend.  It was clear on the way home.  Dennis started the presentation by providing us with a disclaimer, disclaiming that anything he says is in no way a reflection of the Michigan Department of Corrections.  He went on to say that he found the prison system to be the most negative atmosphere he has ever experienced and he has to walk through eight locked doors to get to his office. There are 2,300 inmates housed at this prison facility.  Dennis puts his life on the line every day he works at the prison. 

What he provides are babysitting services.  The rationale behind the services he provides is to wear out the prisoners so they won’t get into so much trouble.  Extracurricular activities are offered and classifications for prisoners determine whether the prisoner is placed in a work setting or school.  They get paid to be in the work and school program.  If I remember right, it is a little over one dollar a day. College courses are not offered; but the prisoners are permitted to obtain a GED. He works at the lowest security level which is level two.  Level one was closed down a while ago with very little notice in the attempt to save money.  There was a discussion about the top heaviness of the prison system. It costs $35,000 to house one prisoner for one year.  Dennis agreed and reported that the prison system in Michigan uses a lot of state’s budget. 

Chippewa Correctional Facility Staffing includes:

Administration: 24

Custody Staff:  322

Housing Staff: 22

Business Office Staff:  7

Food Service Staff: 18

Warehouse/Quartermaster Staff:  6

Programming/Education Staff:  28 

Dennis described the sleeping quarters at the area he works at. Eight men share a room with four sets of bunks, the bottom bunk is considered the Cadillac of bunks.  There no doors and the walls are 4 feet high (that didn’t make sense to me).  Roll call is conducted three to four times a day.  Dennis to add humor and make sense of what prison life is like compared the life of a prisoner to the life of a housewife.  Prison life looked more favorable such as they get their laundry done for them, whereas a housewife washes her own and everybody else’s in the household.

Then later on he explained that they only get to walk around the yard one hour per day and the yard is very small.  The prisoners are sequestered to their rooms a lot during the day.  Their diet consists of 1,200 calories per day and there is a two week menu that repeats itself.  For example, hot dogs are served on Tuesdays.  There is a garden on the property; however, the prisoners do not eat what is grown in the garden. Dennis didn’t know why they didn’t eat the produce grown in the garden.

Since the inmates did not take care of themselves properly before they were incarcerated, they have a lot of medical needs after they are incarcerated.  The inmates pay a $5 co-pay for medical services.  Dentists and doctors visit the prison once in a while.  The inmates cannot arrange for dental services until they are due for the next cleaning; however, the slots are often filled so they have to wait until one opens and it may take a couple of years to get their teeth cleaned. They are supposed to obtain services every six months; but the system does not allow it.  There is a nurse on staff 24/7.

A Jay Pay (spelling?) account is set up for the inmates to take care of their needs and some of their wants within reason.  The inmates get paid for work services and some have family members and friends on the outside who have put money in their accounts. They have access to computers to place their orders. 

Various other topics discussed were the religious services such as Wiccan and the segregation between African Americans and Euro-Americans, a very distinct division. There are gangs and they symbolize what gang they belong to by wearing handkerchiefs of different colors.  They change the colors on an ongoing basis so they cannot be tracked by the guards or other gangs.  Speaking of the guards some take their problems out on the inmates by treating them horribly. 

“The inmates are very creative with some of the things they try to get away with and if they channeled that energy into good things just think what they could accomplish,” Dennis stated.  That’s so true.  Another point he made was about the nice personalities of pedophiles.  We would be okay with having them over for dinner, they are that nice.  They have to be to get children to do what they want them to do.  There are prisoners who are incarcerated more than once, they are given a letter starting with the letter “a” by their name and/or number that represents how many times they were in prison. The highest one he was aware of was a “g.”

Some of the services are conducive to what the needs of the inmates are such as cage rage which Dennis provides to the prisoners.  Most of the needs of the inmates are met and many of the inmates grin and bear it when they are mistreated because some of the guards are power hungry.  He treats the inmates with respect at all times.  Dennis added humor to the presentation as much as possible; but also reminded the elders that being in prison cannot be equated to a walk in the park.  Some of the inmates are not trustworthy. Some of the guards are not to be trusted also and take advantage of the prisoners. One of the prisoners actually killed his girlfriend twice and he was recently paroled. He strangled her and then shot her. The prison system in this state leaves a lot to be desired and some of the costs need to be in question.  It is a system set up to create a lot of high paying jobs and these jobs can be somewhat dangerous as a person said once boredom is associated with instantaneous dangerous situations for the employees. As far as I understand, it can be the same for the inmates.