Surviving Prison Lockdown: What It Takes to Get Through

Arnold Barnes explains that lockdown in Texas prisons requires preparation, endurance, and simple strategies to get through extended periods of confinement.

In Texas, we have annual lockdowns which last between 28 to 48 days, in which officers thoroughly shake down every cell, cubicle, and building on the unit for contraband. We also have disciplinary lockdowns, imaginatively named “23-59” (23 hours, 59 minutes), “15-15” (15 days), or whatever inspiration becomes the warden.

What Lockdown Really Means

Lockdowns are a part of doing time. This not only means no movement, but also no hot meals. You’ll be getting brown-bag meals which contain about a third of the calories you’re used to getting from the chow hall. These “Johnny sacks” as we call them habitually consist of: for breakfast, two pancakes with peanut butter and jelly in between or one egg sandwich; for lunch, one PB&J and one mystery meat/chicken/fish patty; and dinner will be the same as lunch. These five sandwiches a day are so unfulfilling that you’ll sleep late and lose weight, because it’s hard to sleep when your hungry.

Preparing a Lockdown Stash

So the one thing you’ll need to survive lockdown is a “lockdown stash.” Throughout the year, most inmates save up a stash, placing commissary items to the side after every spend for hard times. Five unsavory sandwiches a day for 15, 30, 45, or 50+ days? Lockdowns can happen at any time, so you have to be ready. A riot kicks off on the other side of the unit—lockdown! Drug overdose in the day room—lockdown! Cell phone or drugs found on your section—lockdown! You never know. All you know is that three showers a week and three Johnnies a day while cooped up in a cell with another person is hard times. I usually keep a few unread books in my possession just for these moments. Because we’re on a calorie-restricted diet, I usually avoid any strenuous exercise, instead doing lots of stretching or yoga, which I recommend. Being forced into sedentary behavior, you’ll find yourself sitting on your bunk or laying down more than usual, so constant stretching helps.

A Shared Burden

Lastly, it helps to know that you’re not alone in your struggles. Trust me, your loathing of the next lockdown won’t only be shared with the inmate population. Since inmates aren’t allowed out and are prohibited from working, correctional officers not only have to do their own jobs, but they also have to do all the jobs the inmates aren’t allowed to do during this time. Officers wash our clothes, sweep the runs, pass out water, and with the help of the commissary ladies on a 2,000-man unit like the one I’m on, they have to make 4,000 sandwiches twice a day.

Everyone hates lockdown! So remember, it’s not a matter of if, but when. And recognize that the first rule of surviving lockdown is the first rule of surviving prison.

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The post Surviving Prison Lockdown: What It Takes to Get Through first appeared on Prison Writers.