Prison isn’t like the movies

Prison sucks.

At least that’s what one inmate said Friday as I was one of a dozen or so students who visited Deerfield level 1 Correctional Facility as a student trip organized by journalism professor Timothy Boudreau.

Walking through the general population prison yard was unlike any experience I’ve had.

The girls in our group were greeted by hundreds of men in blue and orange jumpsuits with tattoos, bandannas, dreadlocks and doo rags hollering, hooting and yelling. One was even singing an Akon song.

I never realized the power (though that may not be the right word) six girls can have over an entire yard of inmates. As we passed a baseball game, even the inmates watching on the side immediately shifted their focus.

I remember an inmate chanting “CMU” and another screaming “I’m innocent” at the top of his lungs.

Although the place seemed bad, most the inmates I talked to either said it wasn’t as bad as you’d think or that it wasn’t nearly as bad as a higher level prison.

This was, after all, only a level 1 facility.

Most of the inmates here are at the end of their sentences and just want to finish doing time so they can leave. Many have been transferred from higher level prisons and put here because of good behavior.

As opposed to a level 5 prison, where as one guard put it, “prisoners in a level 5, are the type of people that will take whatever sharp object they can find, drill it into your temple and feel no remorse.”

I asked one inmate in the woodworking area if it’s true what they say about dropping the soap in the shower.

“You really won’t see much of that until about a level 3,” he said with a laugh. “As far as in here, I’d say about 1 percent of what you see in prison movies is accurate. I’ve seen numerous occasions where people have been hospitalized though. Theft and fights over whose going to use the shower is about as bad as this place gets.”

I talked to one inmate in the cafeteria who actually enjoyed the food.

I asked him how the food was and he told me it was delicious and their menu really fit his vegetarian needs. It was hard to tell if he was joking under his thick dreadlocks and aviator sunglasses.

I also talked to one inmate who uses the guitar to pass the time.

Looking like a bearded ’60s biker he said, “I play the blues and some classic rock. This place is boring as hell though. I’ve been here for two and a half years, but that’s nothing compared to how long I’m going to be here.”

With a population of roughly 1,800 inmates, Deerfield is its own subculture and many prisoners feel comfortable in their natural element.

As I left, I enjoyed many freedoms within minutes that they don’t have. Like hearing the sound of a car’s engine or being around girls.

Life in prison is rough, but like any separate culture we have our ways and they have theirs.