I wish to express my appreciation for those of you who take the time to read my story. Anyone wishing to become involved, to get to know me better or help me through this injustice: I'm looking forward to hearing from you via daryl.wheatfall@hotmail.com or Polunsky #999020/Mr.Daryl Wheatfall/3872 FM 350 South/Livingston TX 77351/USA.
12-04-2012
Lockdown (3)
Once again, I'm upset. A lot of negative things are going on around me & I'm not happy. How can I be living inside this madness? On March 29 Polunsky Unit came off lockdown. When the guard came around to check if I was going outside, I told him no. You would think, after being confined inside this cage for so long, I should want to get out of it, but after working on my book the day before, I was tired. This unit went on lockdown on March 12. This time we, prisoners, were confined for 16 days because population prisoners were searched. Four months from now only death row will be on lockdown. Death row is looked upon as the worst, the name alone is enough to tell people we deserve the treatment being forced upon us, prisoners. They caught a guy with a phone a few days after this unit went on lockdown. This is why the shakedown team started at the front of the building this time. I was glad to get it over. I get so tired of coming back into this cage seeing my property everywhere! These guards have little regard for my property & when something is missing I have no idea who was inside my cage! A group of guards entered my section & began pulling prisoners out of their cage placing them into the shower or outside on the rec yards. So while I'm in one of these places, a guard is going through all of my property, I mean going through everything! Most guards don't enjoy doing this, but it's their job, they try to get it done as quickly as possible. But some of them love going through prisoners' property! Now guards are taking prisoners' stuff they shouldn't be taking. The guards took the radio of the guy next to me, claiming it was altered, but he said it wasn't. Anyway, there's no use of me complaining about this. Lockdown is what it is, so I'm looking forward to sharing what took place the next time it happens. Actually, we're facing 2 more lockdowns this year!
As for the lockdown: the guards are growing tired of shaking down as much as we, prisoners are. This may explain why they weren't too destructive. We came off lockdown February 6. This time it wasn't that long because prison population wasn't searched. Death row has to be searched 4 times a year, only twice for population. I don't agree with this. These people are taking everything that can be taken away. What now? Ear plugs! You can't believe it? I would find it hard to believe if I wasn't made to live through this B/S. Unit officials are saying ear plugs are a security risk. How? A few guys were using them to make blow darts, shooting them like missiles at the guard as he is looking into the cage. This hasn't happened often, but this is their excuse for taking away ear plugs! And what is their reason for taking away pillows? They are trying to save money by not making pillow cases. Did you know that no death row prisoner is allowed to have a multi-outlet nor nail-clippers, shaving razors, pencil sharpeners, color paper? Oh yeah. And have I told you I'm only allowed to buy one typewriting ribbon every two weeks?There're a lot of other things that have been taken away for some stupid reason! The only reason why this is being done is to create discomfort, frustration, making life as unbearable & displeasant as possible. This is what a lot of people don't see. It's important for you to see these people & their mentality for who they are & what it is...Some of these officials & guards are just evil & filled with hate!
Lockdown began on January 30. These people have totally lost their focus that they are dealing with human beings by the way we're treated: we're confined inside these cages for 24 hours & tortured with bad food inside brown bags. We shower every other day waiting on a gang of guards to arrive to begin taking away or throwing away my property, while we, prisoners are placed in showers totally unaware of what guard is going through a prisoner's property. Some of my stuff was thrown away but I didn't know until I was searching for it. I am totally turned off with these people going through my property every 4 months.
What's going on at this end? The same old thing. .. The other day the guards pulled me out of this cage to search through my personal property. They didn't mess up my stuff too bad. It's about time for this unit to go on lockdown. This is what I am waiting on. This place has gotten so bad. Many don't leave their cage anymore because they don't want to deal with lazy ass guards who go out of their way to create controversy just to prevent a prisoner from going to the shower or rec. It is so sad that guards are allowed to get away with this. What's truly pathetic is that it's the ranking officials that are telling them to do this. The guards leave prisoners inside the dayroom or on the outside yard 4 or 5 hours, destroying the routine of rec by violating rec policy. It's so sad now prisoners are being showered at 12 in the morning. Otherwise they are left inside the shower for one hour or an hour & half! Who wants to deal with all of this when one is trying to focus on more important matters? I went to commissary the other day but lately they haven't got the items I want. It's bad enough we have to deal with the price changes from week to week, can you believe prisoners have to pay $6 for one T-shirt? Prices here are outrageous. Aterwards I was told I had a visit, something I wasn't expecting. It was my friend Blackie, who I've known since we were kids. He was the one who informed Marjan that my father had passed away. He explained that my brother had called & told him. They agreed to come to me together but my brother didn't show up and we're not sure what he's going through. It was nice to see my friend, I hadnt seen him since February 2011. We talked about the past, then his family. I couldn't believe he has a daughter in college & he has been married for 21 years, which is as long as I have been behind these walls... It's raining right now, prison officials have just locked down the unit. No one is sure why but I believe it's because of the weather. Every time it starts to rain hard & begins to shoot lightning across the sky, unit officials lock the firm down. The last time the rain was very bad, it messed up my radio. I couldn't listen to it for 2 weeks. And my typewriter is also messing up: I can't use my small letters anymore.
I've been informed that my father has passed away. I'm OK, he hasn't been a part of my life in years. His passing away hasn't changed anything in my life - the way he was involved in my life didn't change anything. I didn't feel like I had a family anyway. No one in my family informed me that he was dead. If it hadn't been for Marjan, I wouldn't have found out. Being inside this madhouse I don't feel like my real family exists & this is sad, you see. Right now, it's raining outside & the discharge of lighting is making it difficult to listen to my radio. I don't like this because the show I'm listening to was about sport and my favorite football team. Over the weekend the Houston Texans won their play off game. They are looking at a difficult game next week. If they don't win, it's over for them, but if they win they'll have a chance to go to the next round & if they win they'll go to the Superbowl, which is the Championship of the National Football League. Have you ever taken time to watch American Football?