This story was told by a person incarcerated at Twin Towers Correctional Facility.
UCI: All right, and you can begin. Got any stories?
Caller: No, for sure. I was like, “Is the conversation going to be like that the whole time, where you’re just reading off of a [unintelligible]?” No, she’s actually recording you, too, on my end. So, I hope that doesn’t make you uncomfortable. No, for sure. If I was to state my information, would that go against what you guys are trying to do?
UCI: Well, for your own safety, we will not be including any of your own information, so it will be anonymous.
Caller: Oh, okay. Oh, okay. Yeah because really, I just wanted to share a good little story with you guys. Believe it or not – so, I’m incarcerated in Twin Towers Correctional Facility.
I’ve been incarcerated for going on nine years here in this county jail, the LA county jail. I am still waiting trial. I was charged as a juvenile, but I’m being tried as an adult.
The pandemic is kinda – I think it’s worse for people out in the streets than it is for us in here. Only because that’s the lifestyle we live, despite – regardless if there’s a pandemic or not, that’s how we’re living. So, I think it’s much tougher for somebody who didn’t do any crime or has never been in jail. I don’t know if you can get what I’m saying. But here in this county jail, believe it or not – me and a partner of mine had the opportunity to work with men who are mentally ill.
So, I can say just being incarcerated with a mental illness, that’s – it’s hard for somebody who’s a general population, but for myself, it was hard for me to learn how to cope with being isolated and not having people to talk to. Believe or not, the way the system is set up, I think it’s set up to the point where they don’t want you to carry on relationships with people on the street.
So, I mean, it’s hard for us, and I can only imagine how it is to have a mental illness and be stuck in a cell by myself. Or being looked upon with a stigma, right?
So, me and a friend of mine had the opportunity to work with mentally ill patients, and this was maybe 2017. It’s now 2022. We published a book. The book caught a lot of attention.
We created an edition here in the county jail. And really, it was because there was no bridge between the treatment for mentally ill patients and, I’d say, DMH, the Department of Mental Health, and the sheriff department.
It was really no in between. I think it was very hard for men to get treatment the way that they needed it. And it was very hard for the sheriff deputies to understand what they were dealing with because they’ve never dealt with this before.
So, we had the opportunity to live here with guys who are battling schizophrenia, bipolar, depression. I mean, we have guys who tried to commit suicide. Everything from anxiety to severe mental illness. A lot of them are heavily medicated. So, it was just like something new. I’ve never dealt with mental illness.
Believe it or not, general population, it’s [unintelligible] come across a man who’s dealing with severe mental illness, but I think mainly because we don’t understand, right? And that’s kinda what we’re taught. So, I think coming here was a complete difference.
Now, let me see, what was it 2020? 2019 was when the pandemic hit. They seen how well this program was operating and working with mentally ill patients that they didn’t shut it down. It was amazing. The county recognized it for such great work, right? And they seen that it was working.
And so, despite the pandemic, they picked it up and were willing to expand it. So, we now oversee a little over 80 men. It is getting a little recognition out there, but really, I’m calling today because I believe that it needs more awareness. People need to know that there is something going on.
And maybe it’s not put in place by the sheriff department or by Department of Mental Health, but it is being put in place and allocated for men who are incarcerated for people who are incarcerated.
And I think that’s unique in itself. It’s unique. I hope I’m not sounding arrogant. But yeah, so I just – I really appreciate you guys’ opportunity.
And I came across one of the guys here who have this paper with your guys’ information on it, and it was talking a little bit about the PrisonPandemic Program you guys started. And I thought, man, maybe that’s a good platform to try to put what we’re doing here on the map.
What we’ve done so far, it has caught some good attention. I think we really do have a solution that could work, not only for people who battle mental illness, but homelessness. I think we can really be implemented everywhere. And the idea is using guys who are in prison or mentally [unintelligible].
Anybody, really, with long-term sentences who can take accountability for their actions. I think they could be used because they’re still valuable. I think the system kinda looks at us where we make mistakes or make choices, and they’re not bad choices. I think we cause a lot of pain at times.
But there is a lot to do with the way we think and the way we’re brought up. That’s not an excuse, but I think that’s the key, right? That’s the key when we find those men who are not willing to make excuses but take accountability and really try to redeem themselves with any kind of opportunities. So, I know I kinda ranted on. Am I allowed to share some platforms that we’ve been on?
UCI: Yeah. Absolutely.
Caller: Okay, so believe it or not, Channel 7 picked it up and came through here and did a small segment on – it was a late-night segment, so I don’t think some of these people have seen it. But we did a – we were part of a podcast [redacted]. It’s a nonprofit organization that advocates for a lot of radical hospitality. So, they have something where we talk a little bit about the book we wrote and about the care we implement here in the county jail.
Recently, we attended a conference of law enforcement. And we were able to share a little bit about the program, a little bit about how we implement compassion. We do encourage medication compliance. So, I think, really – I would hope that people would go and check it out. They can see that one at [redacted].
We also- we did a conference with UCLA, so if you go to YouTube, you can actually look that one up. You can go to UCLA / – am I allowed to say my name? I know you guys cut that out, so. I don’t know if that’s okay.
UCI: Yeah, we can cut it out if you would like to.
Caller: Wait, say that one more time?
UCI: Did you say you would say your name?
Caller: Yeah, so it’s UCLA / [redacted]. It’s actually my last name.
UCI: Okay. Yeah, so, we’ll probably just cut that out.
Caller: Yeah. Okay, but that’s what I’m on, YouTube.
UCI: But thank you for sharing.
Caller: No, for sure. And so, I think what you guys are doing is great. It is tough. I think the experiences that people are feeling during the pandemic, that’s exactly what we feel throughout the years.
And it sucks because the world is getting a little bit of taste of what we do in our criminal justice system, in our prison system, in our county jails. And I don’t think so many people really actually know how these jails operate. And it’s very important that the community gets involved.
Because – I hate to get into the politics of things, but people’s money is going into these places, right? And when you start involving money into the way we treat people, whether it’s good or bad, I think you’ve really got to see if you’re making a positive or negative impact, right? You’ve really got to see, are you breeding violence, or are you changing the way people think about violence; right?
Or even right now, a lot of people that are mentally ill, they’re being incarcerated. And I know they had this initiative for LA, “Care First, Jail Last”. But I think it’s very, very important that we start considering how to get involved. Because these are men who are – hopefully, they’re going to be released someday.
And when they are, if you’ve been investing in these facilities that are breeding the type of thinking that you don’t want in your communities, then, it’s kinda like your fault. And I hate to put it like that, but I think it’s very important that the community starts getting involved and asking people to take accountability.
I, myself, I’ve made some bad choices in life, and I think it’s gotten me where I am today. But ultimately, I am sorry. I see the impact I can make with positiveness, and I can only imagine how much of a negative impact I was making. It sucks to realize this way, right? So, I think it’s very important that the community gets involved and start asking people who are sent to prison, people who are in county jails, to think about taking accountability for their actions.
Even if it’s on such a small scale of very petty crimes to even the worst-case scenario of violence, I think it’s very important that we start asking each other to take accountability for our actions. And we shouldn’t be afraid to ask people to think about what they’ve done and how much of an impact they’ve had. Because it goes beyond just the victim, right? And that’s something I learned recently.
I learned that there’s a lot more of an impact that we make around us. Sometimes, you look at just the victim, but really, what about the people that are around during those incidents?
What about the community? How much have you had of an impact on them for any little violence or any kind of crimes you commit? So, I think these things are very important.
And I think coming to jail, and experiencing this isolation and experiencing all these things, you really have time to think about that. But sometimes, we don’t because we’re in these environments of the jail that are already full of negativity and full of crime, full of violence, full of culture, right?
So, you’ve got all these different departments and jails, and there’s cultures set. It’s sad to say, but I came to jail, and I learned how to be bad. I don’t think, necessarily, I was a bad person when I was in the streets.
I did make some bad choices, but when I came to jail, I really was taught how to survive in the environments, and the only way is doing negative things. So, I think these are things that we’ve really got to think about, and –I hope I didn’t go off track.
UCI: Oh, you’re okay. We’re mostly focused on COVID-related stories, but we appreciate any insight you have. So, thank you so much for sharing.
Caller: Oh, for sure. And I, actually sent – so, I had wrote you guys a letter, and I sent it out. I sent it with a couple articles that were done on what we’re doing. Some more information on those conferences that we attended.
And I hope maybe you guys should check them out, and maybe there could be some future collaboration, or – I don’t know. I’m not too sure what it is – where this whole PrisonPandemic is originating. From what kind of courses? I’m not sure. Maybe you can answer that right now.
UCI: Well, it’s just a project that originated at the University of Irvine. So, it’s a student-led project, and we’re all involved in it. And we’re actually posting everything on a website, on a public website. That’s where all of these audio recordings go and your letter as well if we – we’ve definitely received it or will receive it. And it will be posted on the website.
Caller: No, for sure. That’s cool. That’s cool. Well, I really appreciate the opportunity. I actually – the jail has given me the opportunity to hang it on the walls, too.
And I’ve been seeing the positive feedback. Not only amongst men who are incarcerated, but I think some of the culture, the sheriff department culture, is receiving it and changing the way they behave, too. So, maybe I’ll try to put together some pictures and things like that of the art murals that I’ve painted on the walls. And maybe – hopefully, we can encourage them more like that.
Hopefully, more people are incarcerated that are artists can raise it up. And at least start considering it. That’ll be cool.
UCI: Yeah, absolutely.
Caller: Yeah, for sure. Well, thank you so much for the opportunity. I appreciate it.
UCI: Yeah, thank you so much for participating in our PrisonPandemic Project. Do consider telling your friends about us to see if they would like to call in as well.
Caller: Okay, for sure. I’ll definitely let everybody else know to check it out. That’ll be cool.
UCI: Well, thank you so much. It was great talking to you.
Caller: All right, you take care.
UCI: You as well. Bye-bye.
Caller: Bye.
