OK, so I've looked for this answer all over (I've even printed out the 22 page institution supplement that details what I'm writing about) but I just can't find the answer to one little problem. Short of emailing the prison direct (which I don't want to do because I already did that for a different question) I'm not sure where to go. So, can anyone give me details about visiting a prisoner in a United States Penitentiary. One where the main reception/way in is a separate building to the actual building that houses the prisoners (separated by a big gap and a twelve foot fence). Are the prisoners brought to a room in the reception building or are the visitors taken into the main prison building (am thinking the first option) but then, how are the prisoners transported when the actual main gate of the prison complex is on the other side of the complex and no-where near the reception building. Connecting tunnel? This is driving me nuts so any help would be much appreciated. I really don't want to 'make it up' but if I have to, I will. x
Here are some more images: I'm guessing inmates that are kept in segregation cells visit in single rooms and don't visit in that common room with the row of seats.
Excellent guys! Thanks!! I've just this minute found out that there is a subterranean tunnel that connects the main prison building to the lobby/reception on the outside of the fence. I'm thinking the visitation areas are in the lobby building and the prisoners are fetched down the tunnel and into a secure area. I also found the pic of Ted Kaczynski in the visitor room but I have not seen the other pictures so they are fab! And yes, in case you didn't guess, I'm talking about the ADX in Colorado. Thanks guys, your help is very valuable to me. x
It depends on the particular layout of the prison. Typically however, no. Usually the entrance is part of the main building. From there you check in and take a seat and wait. Eventually you are called and you go through a metal detector. From there you are led into a small room (sally port) where the door locks behind you before the other door can have its locking mechanism released. After that door opens, you are led into a room that has rows of seats like in pictures three and four above. Though phones are not visible in all the pictures, I've never seen a supermax without them for two-way communication with visitors. No connecting tunnel in any I've been in, though I see that you heard there was. What prison if I might ask? Inmates are led to the visiting area under guard. Neither party is in the reception area or the prison housing units but a third area which is almost always a multi-purpose area designated for visiting.
Important note: convicts are handcuffed before they are transported anywhere, even inside the prison. You don't see it in movies, but when they're in the visiting area they have cuffs on.
@yagr I'm looking at ADX Florence. The whole correctional facility has four main areas, maximum, medium, low security and something called boot camp. I'm researching the part at the back which I believe is the medium security, the ADX part. On the maps pics and google earth, the main prisoner housing is totally separate from the lobby area, separated by a space and a fence. There looks to be a corridor leading out from the prison and into the ground which lines up perfectly with the same kind of design on the lobby building. The only other way into the prisoner's part of the building is a car ride around the back to the double gates. Now, I can't imagine driving the prisoners to the lobby or driving the visitors around to the back gates, in fact, I can't imagine the visitors being allowed into the main prison, just in case something happens. But I can imagine that the tunnel (which is listed on many online pages now I know it's name) leads from the prison to a secure half of the lobby which the prisoner then enters into a small, penned in box and awaits their visitor on the other side. Now, from the few pics I've seen, it looks like there is some kind of mic/speaker in the actual glass for the prisoner/visitor to talk through, rather than the usual telephone handsets. Kinda like the ones you sometimes see in banks and post offices these days.
Must be new technologies in use; I've never been to ADX. The phones are typically used because they can be recorded and simultaneously monitored.
I can answer this for you because I worked at a correctional institution. The prisoner is brought to the building and depending on the security level, they either sit behind a glass and talk on a phone, or they can actually sit with their family members. If they are able to sit with their family members there are usually vending machines that the family members can buy things for the prisoner to eat and drink. When the visit is over the prisoner is taken into a room where their clothes are thoroughly searched and the prisoner is strip searched before heading back to their cell.
I'm guessing the rooms are monitored with video cameras so that would record all conversations too. ??
Got the info about the vending machines from the USDOJ Institution Supplement for Visiting Procedures No. FLM 5267.08C that I managed to pull of the net. See, I do thorough research but sometimes, the research throws up a question that you just can't find the answer too no matter how many rocks you turn over.
Cutecat22 - might want to head over to prison talk online forums for specific questions or even a general overview. They have a subforum on supermax's I'm certain.
Actually there are some places that visitors only get to see the prisoner through a television screen and talk to them over the phone as well. I guess this means we need to know what security is your institution? Minimum, Medium, Close, or Maximum? http://prison.laws.com/penology/types-of-prison/security-levels-in-prison I've worked at all but the maximum, though the security of the inmates in "the hole" are considered maximum.
From what I've managed to find out, the whole facility is divided into a four areas. The largest is the lowest security, with the most freedom to walk around in outside yards. Then there are two more separate blocks behind, each independent of the others, with their own lobbies/receptions and then each prisoner bit surrounded by fences and guard towers. One of these is the max security and one is the medium security. Then there is another area that's known as the bootcamp. Not sure what happens there. OK, I can't attach a pic grrr