One of my pp's is in the prison of USP Pollock, I have been writing to him about a year and I realized they are locked down many times ... sometimes even a month ... well the first question, is really that prison so hard? What causes a general block?

Other than that, this guy is very often in the hole. He always says it's for reasons of no great importance, but I do not think that's true ... then ... I would like to know what are the main reasons to be in the hole?


If anyone can clarify my doubts, will be helpful, thanks

First hi and welcome,second sorry I can't help,I'm sure their will be a kind soul on here to answer your questions

Yes prisons can be on lockdown regularly, for any length of time that the administration sees fit. It can be because a count doesn't clear (because an inmate is in the wrong part of the prison) so the whole prison will go on lockdown until all are accounted for. Or it could be for a general shakedown, which in Texas can last 2-3 weeks and happens at least twice a year. Or anything in between.

As for him being sent tothe hole for nothing important - it may not seem important to him, but he must have broken one of the rules to have been sent there. It sounds like he sees it as a occupational hazard rather than a punishment.

Originally Posted by sunray's wench

Yes prisons can be on lockdown regularly, for any length of time that the administration sees fit. It can be because a count doesn't clear (because an inmate is in the wrong part of the prison) so the whole prison will go on lockdown until all are accounted for. Or it could be for a general shakedown, which in Texas can last 2-3 weeks and happens at least twice a year. Or anything in between.

As for him being sent tothe hole for nothing important - it may not seem important to him, but he must have broken one of the rules to have been sent there. It sounds like he sees it as a occupational hazard rather than a punishment.

K's prison is on lockdown now for the general shakedown I got a letter today I think he said 30 days but not sure because they were on lockdown before this as well as someone was stabbed.

Pollock is always on lockdown. They lift it then it seems like they go right back on. A lot of gang activity there. And if it's not gang activity it's some race issue.

As for him being in the hole, well, that's his own fault.

One of my pen pals in Kern Valley is always on lockdown....... and A is in the hole for fighting ;-(

Originally Posted by fee

K's prison is on lockdown now for the general shakedown I got a letter today I think he said 30 days but not sure because they were on lockdown before this as well as someone was stabbed.

Sometimes the Warden will run the shakedown if they are already locked down for another reason like that, so it could end up being a whole month for K before they come up again. They did that a couple of years ago at Hubby's unit. He thinks they will go down next month as Michael and Beto are already down and they tend not to have all 5 units down at the same time because the COs have to cover absences etc between the units. Contrary to popular belief, it often takes more staff to work during lockdowns.

Reira: depends on the prison and who is in it of course but 3 years into this I notice that yes- there can be weeklong (or longer) lockdowns out of what seems like the clear blue sky to us, but that's because ALL of them will be locked down even if ONE of them is causing the problem. I've also noticed half day or day long ones that can surpise you. It took me a long time to truly understand this, not because I can't believe what causes it, but because out here we are not used to being told to go to our room for however long and not be told when we're gonna get to come out again! Seems unbelivable. But that's what they live.

As my pp just said to me on the phone half an hour ago about the cell shakedown and lock they went through yesterday: "If I have to live like this it's nobody's fault but my own. I put myself in here."

My PP says that lockdowns happen frequently in the Federal prison system. Sometimes it can be because of staff training or construction work - nothing to do with an inmate incident. He was locked down all last week.

Originally Posted by Reira

is really that prison so hard? What causes a general block?

Other than that, this guy is very often in the hole. He always says it's for reasons of no great importance, but I do not think that's true ... then ... I would like to know what are the main reasons to be in the hole?

As the others said, it seems that this prison is really often on lockdown. Maybe you should read this link because it gives you an idea on how often they are on lockdown, the thread is only from March to now. They talk about FCI, USP Pollock and the "camp", I have no idea what the difference is but anyways: Pollock FCI on Lockdown - Prison Talk

As for the hole.. one of my pps is also in the hole once in a while and always states that the staff makes a drama out of nothing, but of course he obviously broke some rules in there.. contraband or whatever. And I am sure my pp knew that he did something "wrong" too but he doesn't want to admit that he's a bad boy lol.