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The first 24 hours of a new inmate’s arrival in jail or prison are among the most important hours in the entire period of confinement.
This early phase shapes safety, emotional stability, access to rights, and the inmate’s ability to adapt to a highly regulated environment.
For correctional staff, the intake period is a structured process designed to establish identity, assess risk, and prevent harm.
This early phase shapes safety, emotional stability, access to rights, and the inmate’s ability to adapt to a highly regulated environment.
For correctional staff, the intake period is a structured process designed to establish identity, assess risk, and prevent harm.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:0043 and a half years?
00:03I don't think there's any half.
00:0643 straight, right?
00:19For many people, just the thought of going to prison means certain death.
00:23They'd rather die than find themselves in that predicament.
00:26Some would even opt to take their life than spend even a second in a penitentiary.
00:30So, what's really going on?
00:32Where is this fear coming from?
00:33And is it based on reality?
00:35Or a twisted understanding of the prison system?
00:37An understanding twisted by countless Hollywood movies and hit tracks?
00:41I guess what I am asking is this.
00:42What are the chances that the first 24 hours of a new inmate won't become his last?
00:47Well, let's find out.
00:48The Sentencing Process
00:50Would you rather be judged by the jury of your peers
00:52or a jury of people trained in the legal system?
00:55In my opinion, juries can be too easily confused and deceived and manipulated.
01:00Being trained doesn't make one wise or honorable.
01:04I know plenty of trained people in the legal system
01:06who nevertheless don't apply the law correctly.
01:08Before you go to prison, you have to be sentenced.
01:11And before you are sentenced, you have to be tried by a jury of your peers.
01:14This process, your trial, is what determines your fate.
01:18If you are found guilty by that jury, you will be given a sentence that, in most cases, implies jail
01:23time.
01:23Depending on the severity of your crime, it could be a few months, a year, or a couple of decades.
01:28You could even be on death row.
01:30After your sentencing, there are two scenarios that would determine just how prepared you are for prison.
01:35Hi, I'm Corrections Deputy Rachel Smith and I've been with Pierce County Sheriff's Department since March of 2021.
01:42Let me give you a tour of the jail.
01:43So this is one of the units in the new jail.
01:46It's called 2 Charlie.
01:48We currently have a little over 80 inmates being able to be housed in this unit.
01:53The first scenario, could see you having already spent some time in a county jail, like the one I just
01:58showed you, because you were held without bond.
02:00If this is your predicament, then it means you already have a strong feeling for the system.
02:05And as shocking as this might sound, it is probably the best, because you will not be shocked by what
02:09you find in the prison system.
02:11At least, not in the first 24 hours of your stay.
02:13You must know that prisons are not county jails.
02:16While one is a facility created for the sole purpose of holding convicted criminals for extended periods, the other was
02:22created for short stays to hold arrested persons who might or might not go to prisons.
02:27But that doesn't make county jails any better or more appealing.
02:30Most people will tell you, especially convicted prisoners who have spent actual time, that county jails are worse than prisons.
02:36A New York Times article by a convict who had spent two decades in the prison system revealed that lengthy
02:42incarceration time did not prepare him for the two weeks he spent in a county jail.
02:46He spoke about how overcrowded the jails were, how expensive the food was, and how that expensive food tasted like
02:52ground up gym mat with some little seasoning.
02:54The truth is, if you have a high chance of ending up in a prison system for a long time,
02:59and you want to toughen yourself before you get in, you might want to reconsider bailing yourself out.
03:03Consider it boot camp for this new phase of your life.
03:06Okay, so you've been sentenced, and your fate is sealed, you got your time for the crime and now, it's
03:12time to do it.
03:12Well, at this point, you are now in the custody of the state or the federal system, you are now
03:17the responsibility of the Bureau of Prisons.
03:19So, what's the next step? Well, now is the time for something called classification.
03:25Right now, there's about 7,000 inmates in a maximum security prison in the state of South Carolina, and this
03:30reclassification could reduce that number by 4,000 inmates.
03:35Classification means exactly what it sounds like, and it goes farther than just reallocating prisoners from one risk level to
03:42another.
03:42That allocation applies to every prisoner, especially the new ones.
03:46In simpler terms, if you're a cold-blooded killer, you'd be sent to a maximum security facility to meet your
03:51peers.
03:52But if you were, say, a first-time offender, with no prior criminal record, you would be sent to a
03:57medium security facility, or even a low security facility.
04:01And if you're a gang member, this process is also used to ensure that you aren't sent to the wrong
04:06facility.
04:06For example, if you belong to the southern prison gang, Sureno, the classification process would ensure you aren't sent to
04:13a prison run by your rivals, the northern prison gang, Nortenos.
04:16Because that's basically a death sentence for you.
04:19There have been people who died during this process, because of one error or another made during the classification process,
04:25it's government run.
04:26And you know how government run systems can be, there's enough room for errors.
04:30So, if you thought your first 24 hours were going to be terrifying, know that the terror begins before the
04:35clock even begins to tick, hours before you are even in the system.
04:39Now, in the US, there are two ways this classification process can happen, the state process or the federal process.
04:46Now, if your sentence falls under state jurisdiction, you will be sent to a county jail.
04:50Remember, this is after your sentencing and not before, so there's no bond here, you're basically on the stairway to
04:56incarceration.
04:56Now, if it is federal, you'd be sent to a detention center that will function as a holding cell prior
05:02to your transport to the federal prison the system chooses for you.
05:05And their detention centers aren't any better than county jails either.
05:08The one you're looking at right now is MCC New York, and the footage is from March 2023.
05:14Now, this process can be tedious and incredibly long.
05:17For some, and if there are complications, you can spend up to a week or more before transport.
05:22In the best case scenario, it will take just a couple of days.
05:25But when the moment of truth arrives and your classification process is concluded,
05:29you and a couple of other prospective inmates will be filed onto a bus or van or even a plane,
05:34depending on where your prison is and how high your risk level is.
05:38It's going to be a long ride to hell from here on out.
05:41The first 12 hours.
05:43Timothy Chappelle was being transported from the north jail to the downtown central jail facility
05:48when he kicked the passenger side window and broke the barricade.
05:51The likelihood of this happening to you is incredibly low, especially if this is your first time en route to
05:56jail.
05:57So manage your expectations.
05:58You'll still hear the occasional escape, but it is very unlikely, especially in a first world country.
06:03Now, instead of plotting an escape that'll never happen, you should use your van ride to prison as an opportunity
06:07to make friends, forge alliances,
06:09or familiarize yourself with the system you're about to plunge into head first.
06:13The one thing you don't want to do is stand out to the guards.
06:16You also don't want to annoy any future inmate because they will not forget.
06:20And God help you that they aren't violent.
06:22If you make friends, good for you.
06:23If you don't, there's no loss.
06:25You have your whole sentence to forge allies.
06:27By this time, you should have arrived at your prison gate.
06:30Now, it is time for the next phase.
06:31You are ordered to disembark the transport van as prison guards begin to usher you into the facility.
06:36Now, movies often portray prison guards armed with guns escorting would-be prisoners into the facility.
06:41Let me make this clear.
06:42Prison guards do not carry guns.
06:44Guns are not even allowed on prison premises for obvious reasons, except under extreme circumstances.
06:50As you and your new colleagues get escorted onto prison premises, you will be met and escorted by unarmed guards.
06:55Now, you might be wondering, but what's stopping me from trying to escape or something?
06:59Well, the answer to that would be to look up.
07:01There are guns in the prison towers, so anyone outside acting funny might become the tragic punchline of a very
07:06organic joke.
07:07But on the prison's outer perimeter, it functions as an external line of defense.
07:11Within the prison, the only guns that exist are kept in the armory, and they are used in the extreme
07:16case of a prison riot.
07:17Moreover, you'd all be in chains, and you'd all be moving.
07:20So there's not enough time to start any trouble.
07:22And even if you did, there's enough guards who'd been trained to squash the exact scenario you're attempting.
07:27From the bus, you'd be escorted through the prison facility,
07:30not to your prison cells, but to another holding unit within the facility, where you will undergo yet another tedious
07:35process
07:36called R&D, Receiving and Discharge.
07:39This is where your mugshot will be taken, your details typed in, cross-checked, and your fingerprints scanned electronically,
07:45and received into the prison's database.
07:47When all of this is done and finished, you will be given a prison ID card with your picture, name,
07:52height, weight, and serial number.
07:53In some prisons, you will be required to have that ID card on you at all times.
07:58In some others, all you need to know is your serial number.
08:01After this is the next, more eventful part of R&D, and it is the inspection and cavity search.
08:06A group of officers will line you up along.
08:08You might or might not be patted down.
08:10Then, you'd be ordered to strip your clothes.
08:12In most cases, these guards won't touch your body, whether or not they have a glove on,
08:16but they will check your eyes and nostrils and ears.
08:19You will definitely be ordered to open your mouth and lift your tongue as they shine a torch to search
08:24for contrabands.
08:25Then, they'll move down to your nether regions, where you'd be asked to lift your privates as they check them
08:29thoroughly.
08:30Or, as thoroughly as one can do with a flashlight.
08:33Then, you'd be ordered to turn, bend, and spread your arse cheeks as they shine that same torch down your
08:38hole looking for contrabands.
08:40If you're a pro at something called suitcasing, they won't find anything.
08:44It's not like they are excited to look at tens to hundreds of buttholes daily.
08:48And if you're new to the system, you won't be thinking of hiding anything there.
08:51So, don't get excited and know there will be no shoving of hands into your hole.
08:55So, don't look forward to it.
08:56Again, in most cases, no guard will poke his hands into any hole, but you will lose your dignity.
09:01After this, you will be given the standard issue clothing that's a bright orange in the US.
09:05Might be a jumpsuit, might be a two-piece.
09:07There's a unique kind of joy in finding out for yourself.
09:09Then, you'd be taken to a medical examiner whose job is to check you and determine that you are in
09:14decent health.
09:15Then, a psychological examination will also be conducted.
09:18Do not expect anything thorough.
09:19At this point, it might all be a formality.
09:21No one's gonna say, hey, we just figured he is mentally unstable for prison.
09:25Let's reconsider.
09:27Everybody's mentally unstable for prison.
09:28It is prison.
09:29You're still gonna get into that prison cell.
09:31Now, if you think the guards will prepare you for what's to come during this process,
09:34if you are expecting some form of orientation to get you ready for the actual prison experience,
09:39then I hate to disappoint you because none of that is going to happen.
09:42It's not that the guards hate you, they just don't care.
09:44It is not part of the process.
09:45You are a big boy, a big girl.
09:47You'll figure things out.
09:48Moreover, that's the job of someone else entirely that we'll mention as we progress.
09:52If you're lucky and you made friends on the bus who have been through the prison system,
09:56they'll prep you for what's to come.
09:57If you're unlucky and haven't made any friends,
09:59then keep your fingers crossed because you're in for quite the ride.
10:02Now, by this time, you've probably gone almost 24 hours without food.
10:06More than half that time was spent through one documentation process or the other,
10:10and now you're 12 hours into your first 24 hours in prison,
10:13drowsy, hungry, and thirsty, while also struggling to stay sharp and alert.
10:17The guard is gonna shove supplies in your hands as you embark on your way to your cell.
10:21Now, your time has started to count.
10:22All of what you just went through was not even the prison itself.
10:25It was just a preamble of what's to come.
10:27With your sheets, toothpaste, pillowcase, shoes, and towel in hand,
10:31you head toward your prison cell, most likely bewildered.
10:34In some prisons, you're allowed to find a prison for yourself.
10:36This is usually in mid- and low-level security prisons across states,
10:40and it helps racial clusters, religious clusters, and even gang clusters.
10:43You might find a good roommate quicker this way,
10:45but in most of the other prisons, especially federal MACs,
10:48you will be assigned to a prison block and cell.
10:50It gets even tougher from here on out.
10:52May the patron saint of testosterone and adrenaline be on your side
10:55because you're gonna need all of her for what's to come.
10:58The other 12 hours.
11:00Congratulations.
11:01It's official now.
11:02You are in.
11:03A bonafide inmate.
11:04There's no doubt about your criminal status.
11:06Like I said earlier, in a medium security prison or low security prison,
11:10you'd be given a prison cell and block right off the bat.
11:13But in maximum security prisons, you're moved to something called the SHU.
11:17Basically, it stands for Special Holding Unit,
11:19where high-risk inmates are moved to for consideration by the captain of the prison.
11:24Now, if you think this is something that'll take a few minutes or so, think again.
11:27It could take as long as two days or until the captain feels it's time to see you.
11:31And if you've not asked what the SHU looks like, well, you should.
11:35These are super max level conditions, but it is no better across federal maximum conditions.
11:39It is basically a single man holding cell where you stay in for 23 hours a day with only one
11:44hour of recreation.
11:45It is hell.
11:46But let's imagine you do not have to be sent to the SHU.
11:49Let's imagine you are either in low, medium, or an unproblematic max.
11:53Now is the time for the guard to escort you to your prison cell.
11:56Now, if you're expecting to be catcalled, intimidated, or screamed at by prisoners who see you as fresh blood, lower
12:03your expectations.
12:03No one is really gonna waste their time on that.
12:06There are chances that it could happen, but those chances are low.
12:09And the reason why they are low is that you'd be going to your prison cell most likely during count.
12:14Count is prison lingo, for when prison guards literally stop everything happening in a prison
12:18and do a routine head count of everyone on prison premises and in custody.
12:22Now, count times in prison are not a precise science, especially from a convict's point of view.
12:27Sure, they start at the same times each day, 5 a.m., 11.30 a.m., 4 p.m., 9
12:32p.m., and midnight.
12:34But when each one might end is anybody's guess.
12:36So, it's basically a slow-burning hell.
12:39However, whatever you are doing, even if you are in R&D taking a mugshot, you will have to stop
12:44and get counted.
12:45So, luckily for you, everyone everywhere will be too engaged to notice you as you quietly and dreadfully walk
12:51to what is about to be your home for the next few years if you're lucky or few decades if
12:55you're especially lucky.
12:56That's the window. Those lines up here. That's connected to the vents. You know, it's kind of rigged.
13:05That's where we hang our clothes at. Those are shower bags where we put our shower stuff in when they
13:12let us out for shower.
13:13This is glamour, and you won't get this kind of glamour until you've spent some time in the system.
13:18If you are lucky, you have been paired with an inmate that wants no mischief and might actually become your
13:23friend.
13:23If not, then, well, sorry, that's all I can say. You will learn to love them.
13:28They will definitely ask you who you are affiliated to or with. And if the classification process was done correctly,
13:34you should have zero issues at this point. But, let's say your inmate is the quintessential nice guy.
13:39Then your prison stay is about to get a little easier than the next guy because they'd be giving you
13:43much-needed survival tips.
13:45But before all that, you'll take one long look at your one-bedroom-contained shared apartment.
13:50It's small. 48 SQFT. Your bed space in the corner. The bottom. Your toilet is staring right at you.
13:56This is now your life. But before you can even properly process your predicament, your stomach rumbles.
14:01You are beyond hungry. If your roommate was edible, you'd eat him whole. And I'm not kidding.
14:06Now, it is time for lunch. And I know that you aren't expecting special meals or special treatments,
14:11because the food is, and will be, crap. If it's morning, you'll be eating a breakfast of cereal, hot or
14:17cold, and milk.
14:18For lunch and dinner, you'll find variety in the crap they give you.
14:21Chicken, hamburgers, hot dogs, lasagna, burritos, tacos, or fish patties.
14:26And it's gonna be one hell of a fish patty if you ask me. But the food is not the
14:30real problem here.
14:31Although, in America, most prison meals are cooked and served by the prisoners themselves, which can lead to some tense
14:37prison politics.
14:38What you have to deal with is where you will have your meal. Because if you didn't know, that could
14:42be a life or death decision.
14:44There've been true life accounts of people who were stabbed to death for sitting on the wrong table.
14:48So, if you don't have a roommate that will carry you along to where you can eat in peace,
14:51you have to stand and watch, recognize the hierarchy, read people, identify cliques, spot the danger zones,
14:57and find a table that's neutral where you can sit and eat in peace.
15:01In prison, the best soft skills you can have is communication and a firm understanding of human psychology.
15:07Now, is there a chance someone will approach you while you are having your meal to start trouble?
15:11There is. But it is incredibly small.
15:14You see, in those first 24 hours, no one knows who you are.
15:17So no one is going out of their way to trouble you, except you are in their way,
15:21or you represent a gang that's a rival and word has gone round which, again, is unlikely.
15:26After your meal comes yard time.
15:28At this point, you couldn't be more glad.
15:30Movies paint yard time as this dreadful part of a prison experience of newbies,
15:34where everything that can go wrong, will go wrong.
15:36And while there might be some truth to it, it is not always the case.
15:40In fact, it is hardly ever the case.
15:42The truth is, if you know people, you'll be fine.
15:44And even if you didn't, you'd still most likely be fine.
15:47The chances are high you will, and it's not like you'd really care.
15:50At this point, you've been moving from one cell-like structure to the other for the past 18 hours,
15:55the only time you weren't in a cell, you were in a moving bus, in chains.
15:59If you are claustrophobic like me, you're probably sick to your stomach at this point,
16:03and would kill for open skies above your head.
16:05Well, yard time is your chance for that.
16:07But let's imagine you have a reason to fear for your life, or you're probably just shy.
16:11Then you can choose to go for yard time during lunch.
16:14Rush your lunch.
16:15And while everyone is still dredging through their meal, head to the yard that would most likely be empty.
16:20If you wanna exercise, exercise.
16:22If you want to laze around under the sun, do so.
16:25Just know that you have to head back to your cell, before everyone else comes to the yard.
16:29Because they will come, en masse.
16:31And if you get caught wading against the current of criminals, you will stick out like a sore thumb.
16:35Worse, you could become an easy target for a stabbing.
16:38And you know what's even worse?
16:39The guards would most likely not see your body until you've bled out.
16:42Now it is shower time.
16:44Some prisons will have single cell showers.
16:46Others might have multiple shower heads in a communal store.
16:49Whatever it is, you will want to wash up.
16:51Once again, just like yard time, you really have nothing to fear.
16:54Trust me, you can drop your soap and not fear picking it up.
16:57If you choose not to pick it up, it should be because of hygiene.
17:00And not because you fear someone is gonna take you from behind.
17:03In fact, the shower is gonna be one of the few times you have privacy, depending on how it is
17:08built.
17:08And showers generally make you feel good.
17:10It feels good to feel clean.
17:12With the shower out of the way, you head back to your cell, feeling brand new when your stomach begins
17:16to turn and swirl.
17:18This is the last hurdle you have crossed to make your 24 hours complete.
17:21Your cell is the impact zone of whatever dookie you're dropping in the loo.
17:25And only God knows how badly that prison meal is gonna smell as you let it all out down the
17:29toilet.
17:30Well, you should know that your roomie understands.
17:32And he's survived much longer with other inmates, so he'll have tips for you right off the bat.
17:37First things first, let them know you want to use the toilet.
17:39If they can, they'll step out to allow you do your thing.
17:43That's the best case scenario.
17:44If you're both lock it in, and it's late at night, he'll turn away from you, face the wall so
17:49that the smell doesn't kill him.
17:50Now, most, if not all of prison toilets, work by suction.
17:54They don't use water to flush.
17:56Your dump is sucked away the moment you flush.
17:58This means you can and should do something called, the courtesy flush.
18:02Immediately, you let one down.
18:03Flush immediately.
18:04Do it again for every poop comes down from your hole into that toilet.
18:07It reduces the smell, and is also a sign you respect your roomie.
18:11He'd do the same for you.
18:12Well, what do you know?
18:13You've done it.
18:14You probably talked to your roomie some hours after lights out.
18:16Then he crashed into sleep, leaving you with your own thoughts.
18:19People will tell you that every day in jail is the same.
18:22I wish it was true.
18:23While the routine is predictable, the humans in it are not.
18:26And if you're the rough type, you'll find out quickly enough.
18:28And even if you aren't, you should try your best to keep your head up, stay sharp, and always look
18:32out for yourself while watching over your shoulders.
18:34In the days to come, you'll learn about the commissary and the insanely expensive economics of it all.
18:39You'll be given access to a phone to call a select number of loved ones.
18:43You'll make friends, enemies, and get into it with some nasty guards.
18:46But you will be fine.
18:47You have to believe that.
18:48Well, that's all for now.
18:50Good night inmate.
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