Because of my imposed silence, I was unable to comment on the recent riot at the California Institution for Men (CIM) in Chino, CA. Chino is an odd place, approximately 2 hours north of San Diego, which, as near as I can tell, constitutes nothing but a significant number of God-awful smelling cow farms (and I raise the stakes in summer), and 3 CA prisons: CIM, CIW (for women, including the last identifiable women of the Manson family), and CRC (rehab center), all of which I have had the pleasure to serve. CIM is a grossly over-crowded prison & reception center and the site of the last murder of a CA Corrections Officer, Manuel Gonzalez, in 2005.

Approximately 200 inmates were injured, but no staff were harmed. You would have to imagine if no staff was injured, the inmates had "other fish to fry," as it were. I suspect that for a significant portion of the 200, a riot simply constituted a "setting" for retribution otherwise unleashed because of confinement and inaccessibility. I've heard both wardens and CO's say, "They (inmates) let us run the prison, because we are so outnumbered." CO's rule inside by attitude, voice, pepper-spray, and a baton. Oh, and a whistle. The real power is on the outside, and to my observation, just waiting to come in. I still wonder what they do with those gigantic rubber mallets I saw in the armory closet at San Quentin...

My recollection is walking across a silent yard, so dry and bereft of any form of vegetation that I fully expected tumble weeds to blow by. Most times you must bang (hard) on the door for an officer to hear you and unlock the door. This is simply because it is so deafeningly noisy that you can barely be heard at a low yell. Giant "hurricane" fans are blowing in all directions, and even those who should seriously reconsider has his shirt off because of the heat. Directly in front of the control center ( a bunker of sorts that houses the mechanisms to electronically open and close some doors, generally (purposely?) dark, where officers sit with feet propped up on desks reading, writing, and whatever...) is a massive single cell, formerly serving as a "day room," and now filled with bunk beds. Home to a massive number of men.Back in the far right corner hangs a TV, and nearly every time I was in there, Jerry Springer was blasting at a pitch suitable for Madison Square Garden (could there actually be a Jerry Springer station?) Secondly, if no "offices" were available, you had to "improvise," standing in a niche in hallway to conduct your confidential psychiatric assessment. And behind the control center are the showers, hot moisture blowing from the hurricane fans into the "halls & day room." It is sad to say, but, by far, the "nicest" facility is reserved for those chronically ill and/or dying, HIV/AIDS, transvestites, and the seriously mentally ill. It was clean quiet, with a low inmate-to-CO ratio, a real medical facility, and a nurse 24/7. The ill are actually treated humanely.

All I can say to those I know working there, thank goodness you're safe, albeit terrorized. Let it always be this way, and better you than me.