Arizona Department of Corrections Visitation

If you have never had the unfortunate experience of visiting someone in an Arizona State Correctional Facility just wait. With the current laws in Arizona, it's really only a matter of time before someone you know will spend time behind bars. Even if you think that it will not happen to you, don't be so sure. I never thought it could happen to anyone I know but it did.

This blog is a documentation of my own personal experiences with The Arizona Department of Corrections. A friend of mine is currently incarcerated and is serving his sentence in the Tucson Catalina Unit which is a Level-1 yard. Level-1 is supposed to be the lowest security level with the least restrictions. It is supposed to be a place where the incarcerated are learning the skills necessary to re-enter society as law-abiding citizens. The "transition program" as some refer to it, is part of the "parallel universe" that is constantly being touted by Dora Schriro, the Director of The Arizona Department of Corrections. Operating in the "parallel universe" under what is called "The Arizona Plan" means that the state's department of corrections "should operate as much as possible like the real world to which inmates return providing prisoners with ample practice living as civil and productive adults before they return to the community".

Since my friend has been incarcerated, I have spent a considerable amount of time in the Tucson Catalina unit and I can tell you first hand that there is no similarity whatsoever between the real world and what goes on there. I have also talked to several people who have had experiences with the ADOC visitation process both in Tucson and elsewhere in Arizona. Many of the stories are similar and the problems seem to be statewide. I have also found that very few people are willing to talk about their negative experiences for fear of retaliation against their loved ones. Shame on ADOC for allowing such behavior.

The first problem, as I see it, is with the Correctional Officer's (CO's) that work in visitation. It looks as if a lot of them do not have the people skills necessary to deal with the outside world. Many of them are rude and disrespectful to the visitors. They find fault with every little thing and appear to go out of their way to make the entire visitation experience unbearable for both the inmate and the visitor. They seem to forget that the visitor is not incarcerated and does not live at the prison with the inmate - that we are not criminals and should not be treated like second-class citizens. I don't know what qualifications a person needs to work in the visitation area but it seems to me that the CO's should have to undergo some sort of personality testing along with some "people-skills" training in order to work in visitation. Instead, it seems like the CO's that work in visitation are the CO's that they don’t know what to do with. It's almost as if there is nowhere else to put them so they just put them in visitation. CO Hayes at the Catalina unit is referred to by her co-workers as the “anti-Christ”. If co-workers can't even work with her, how can visitors be expected to deal with her every weekend?

Another problem with the visitation experience is the visitation area itself. Many of them are extremely filthy. Sometimes there is no water, other times there is no toilet paper, no paper towels, or soap in the bathrooms and there are NEVER any toilet seat covers. Often times the vending machines are empty or are broken so for six or seven hours you may not get food or water. Some of the CO's sit next to you in the visitation area (that is, at the same table), interact with the inmates and visitors, stare intently and you, your children and your family and listen to your personal and private conversations. Some of the CO's let the children play and some of them want the children sitting at all times. Others make you stand in the sun to see if they can see through your shirt and others turn away infants and toddlers if they are wearing brown or blue denim (a dress code that only applies to persons over eight years of age). Still others are paranoid and overreact to every look and mannerism displayed - innocent or not. All of them like enforcing the rules but NONE of them seem to know the reason behind any of the rules. Their mentality makes any sort of reasonableness or common sense judgment-call impossible. The attitude is simply, this is the rule and that's that. The rules vary by location, are often over-interpreted and are always taken to the extreme with no justification whatsoever except for "because I'm in brown and you are in orange". The CO's always back each other up even when one is wrong. If one CO says something incorrect, the other CO's will stand by it no matter how wrong it is.

Tucson-Catalina Unit (Level-1 yard)
When I first started visiting the Tucson Catalina Unit, it was being "run" by CO Smith. She was polite and courteous to all of the visitors as well as the inmates. She observed the visitation area respectfully and reasonably. She seemed to know everything that was going on. But then she left (I don’t know if she quit or if she transferred to another unit) and along came CO Hayes and CO Glenn. I know that CO Glenn also worked along side of CO Smith but he made no secret of the fact that he did not like her. CO Glenn is one of those people who by the sheer fact that an organization issued him a walkie-talkie feels like he can now go around and be as rude and as disrespectful as possible and never have to be accountable to anyone. The only time you see CO Glenn smile is when he is on his way to the side room of the chow hall to strip an inmate out. It's appears as if this part of his job gives him great pleasure. The rest of his day, he takes it upon himself to sit in the visitation area next to the inmates and listen to their conversations. He will sit 2 feet in front of you and watch you for a full 30 minutes before he moves on. It's almost like he only knows how to watch one table at a time. He also talks to himself a lot, he will mumble something and point to the sky and continue mumbling. It is all pretty bizarre. Most of the visitors can't stand him - in fact, his nickname around there is "Creepy G" since most of the time he is lurking around, acting creepy and blatantly staring at everyone including the kids. He does not observe the visitation area like CO Smith did, he goes out of his way to make sure that you feel as uncomfortable as possible. According to CO Glenn, part of his job is to listen to the conversations that are going on in the visitation area and to be close enough to see whether an "M&M” is actually an M&M". Those are his words, not mine - that is what he told one of the visitors directly. The thing that is the most peculiar is that the Catalina unit is the lowest level in terms of security but based on my conversations with other visitors, it seems to be the one unit where you are constantly watched and feel constantly on display. There is no sense of privacy whatsoever - it's impossible to have a private conversation with the person you are visiting, inmates cannot talk to their kids about how they are doing because the kids are scared that a "guard" is watching them and that they are doing something wrong. To be constantly STARED at is a very uncomfortable feeling. It's not like a situation that is being observed and monitored - this is full-on blatant staring to the point of creepy. CO Hayes and CO Glenn are really paranoid too. They are constantly checking the coin slots in the vending machines, and checking the area around the drinking fountain. They also rifle through your belongings at the table if you leave to go outside. One time, CO Hayes confiscated a visitors gloves when she left the table to go outside and then told her that she could not wear gloves into the visitation area in the winter because they are considered a "Class A Tool". Now, don't you think that is a little absurd?

I guess the bottom line is this: As a visitor, don't expect to be treated any differently than the way the inmates are treated at any prison facility. I don't think the way the inmates are treated is fair either but there is a lot less that we can do about it. The inmates are in the custody of the ADC but visitors are not. It's unfortunate that ADC makes the visitation process so difficult all the while publicizing how important it is to the recidivism rates to maintain relationships with family and friends, etc. One would think that by the time an inmate has made it to a Level-1 yard, he would be treated with a little more dignity. Even if an inmate has not earned his or her way to a Level-1 yard but ends up on one, it is usually because the crime that was committed was considered non-dangerous. These are not rapists, murderers and child molesters that we are talking about. Most of these people are drug abusers or are serving time for some other petty crime. One would assume that the CO's at these units would be empowered to use common sense and reasonableness when enforcing rules. One would think that the CO's would follow some code of professional conduct in its treatment of visitors. The sad truth seems to be that if a loved one finds him or herself behind bars, you will be treated like a criminal right along with them.

If you have a story to share about your visitation experiences with The Arizona Department of Corrections, post your comments here. You can do it anonymously if you are afraid of retaliation. Or you can e-mail me your response and I will post a comment for you. So far I have heard from visitors in Tucson, Goodyear, Winslow and Yuma. Keep them coming - it's amazing how venting about this stuff can make you feel so much better.