Orient Road Jail

Major Robert Lucas took the class on a tour of the Orient Road Jail. It was definitely different than I expected. I have never been to a jail before, but I honestly thought that television and movies portrayed it the way it actually is. I was expecting tiny cells made from iron that are always locked. I was definitely wrong.

Our first stop was booking. That was unbelievable to me. People were walking around free. Before Major Lucas explained what was going on I though there were just a lot of visitors. I had no idea that everyone in that room (except the employees obviously) were actually all people that were recently arrested. It was incredible to me how different the jail actually was from what I was expecting. Another thing that was different to me was the phones. Major Lucas told us that as long as they behave, those who were “arrested” are allowed to be on the phone for as long as they want. As long as they are local phone calls, there is no limit. It is so weird how different jail is from television shows.

Walking around each annex and listening to Major Lucas and the other officers speak, I couldn’t help but draw the comparison of Jail to Preschool. Obviously it is very different, but the principle is the same, if you misbehave you have to sit in a holding cell (or time out). Honestly it is a little humiliating.

When we visited the cells that carry the inmates who are serving time for a felony there was actually one inmate on suicide watch. I found it pretty inappropriate that Mr. Lucas took the class in that room and shared her story. I doubt he did anything wrong, but it seems to me to be a little unethical. While I understand she is an inmate, she is still a human being and I would think her mental issues should be kept private.

But the jail wound up to be a completely different experience than I was expecting. The inmates had a lot more freedom than I thought they would get, and the stereotypical scene of a jail is very far off.