Segregation and Property Loss: How Prison Packups Destroy Possessions and Hope

Andrew Krosch writes about segregation—one of the most traumatic experiences in prison, because of the time spent locked down and the devastating property loss that often comes with it.

My neighbor’s back. He left for a job in another unit a month or two ago. Went to segregation for one thing or another, then back here to Complex One, the S.H.U. He looks pretty pissed off. I’m pretty sure I know why.

Property Packups and Punishment Beyond Segregation

When you go to segregation, they search then pack your cell up. What they let you keep goes into storage. The time you spend sitting in segregation is supposed to be your punishment, but what happens to your property is too often the real punishment.

It’s a pattern we’re all too familiar with: Just out of segregation, looking pissed, carrying a gray tub. The property cops screwed him over. Again.

Coming Back from Segregation

For me to say what they did to my property had me pretty hot is probably the understatement of the millennium. So mad you just don’t give a fuck? That rage often leads to fights, retaliation, and more time in segregation.

When you’re released from segregation, your personal property—TV, clothes, books, canteen items—is waiting for you. You haul it back through security doors, downstairs, and into your cell. Then comes the hardest part: unpacking what’s left of your life.

Size Matters in Prison Property Rules

Each inmate has two state-issued, gray plastic property tubs, about three cubic feet of space each. Size matters—here, more than anywhere else, when it comes to your possessions and the system’s control over them.

Disrespect in Property Handling

From smashed chips to broken electronics, cops are openly disrespectful with inmate property. None of them own up to it. It’s always someone else’s fault.

It used to be that the officers in your own unit packed your stuff. Now it’s strangers with total deniability. “Not me. I didn’t do that. File a claim.” Bureaucracy protects them, not us.

Why Property Loss Hurts So Deeply

You might ask, “It’s just stuff. Is it really that big of a deal?” Yes. Property loss crushes self-worth, destroys creative work, and strips away dignity.

Over 25 years, I’ve seen countless talented artists and writers broken by property loss. Art supplies, manuscripts, and finished work disappear—sometimes years of labor erased in a single packup.

We live in a culture where possessions equal identity. In prison, that’s magnified. Losing your things isn’t just about objects—it’s about losing self-worth, safety, and motivation.

Many men stop writing, drawing, or creating altogether, fearing that one bad trip to segregation means losing it all. Property loss discourages growth and perpetuates cycles of destruction.

Also check out I’ll Never Get Out of Here with Two Life Sentences by Andrew Krosch

The post Segregation and Property Loss: How Prison Packups Destroy Possessions and Hope first appeared on Prison Writers.