What "IF??"

[VenomJockey]

With nearly 3,000,000 people incarcerated in the U.S., what happens if a major SHTF event happens? What do the guards do (half of which don't show up for work on any given day anyway)?? What are they gonna do with the inmates?? How are they gonna feed them?

https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2019.html

 

[lonewolf]

what do you mean if? its more a case of WHEN.
if its a slow event as I think it will be, or rather a series of slow events, it will creep up on them slowly as it will with the rest of the population, the first they will know of it is when the supply truck fails to turn up one day.

 

[tmttactical]

Remember the Steven King book and movie "The Stand".

 

[Dani]

I say let them starve. . . Yep, I'm cold hearted I guess. They could actually give them some seeds to produce their own food, but maybe that would be considered cruel punishment to make them actually work. Sorry but inmates have it way too easy in my book. Whatever happened to hard times being locked up?

 

[KateMTx]

I say let them starve. . . Yep, I'm cold hearted I guess. They could actually give them some seeds to produce their own food, but maybe that would be considered cruel punishment to make them actually work. Sorry but inmates have it way too easy in my book. Whatever happened to hard times being locked up?

There are so many things wrong with the "prison system" -- prisons are basically university for criminals. There's a lot of people in there that shouldn't be because there are a lot of laws that shouldn't exist. So I would feel sorry for some people who are in prison in a SHTF situation.

 

[Dani]

You are right that there are actually some who really do not deserve to be in prison because of stupid laws. . . thinking of the Bundy's right now, but there are so many more who do. The ones who are there have very cushioned lives and I am a believer they should actually get punished for their crimes. As in doing 'hard labor". They get so much more with being in prison with tax payer money than so many other hard working Americans.

 

[TexasFreedom]

This is a big scenario. But it'll be fairly simple.

Prisons are broken down by the violent tendencies of the inmates. At the lower end you have guys who did DUIs and low-end drug deals, etc. Minimal security criminals. In a lock-down situation, each inmate is locked into their cell (usually 2-beds per cell). But these guys for the most part aren't a threat to the public. Let's say there is an EMP. There are some guards who will go through & release the majority of the inmates. The few who are a real threat will be left in their cells. And the other inmates won't complain, they'll just leave & try to get home to their families. I've spent a number of years volunteering in this sort of a prison and know both the inmates and the guards.

At the other end you have high-security prisons. The worst of the worst: death row types. These inmates are in one-per-cell configurations. They have no respect for human life or anyone but themselves. Most guards would just leave for them to rot. There will be a few guards who will make sure the monsters never leave their cells.

Most guards are good guys. They are decent people with morals who are working a job. They will be as much a 'victim' of the inmates if released as anybody else in the neighborhood. They know which inmates will be ok walking down their street and which will not.

All of this is a 'worst case' scenario. In an economic collapse, it'll be just another day.

 

[user 6493]

if the SHTF we will all be to busy to worry about those in lock down,,,,in my opinion it is a moot point

 

[TexasFreedom]

if the SHTF we will all be to busy to worry about those in lock down,,,,in my opinion it is a moot point

Until the mob of inmates comes by your place. There will be some people who will go in & terminate this problem.

 

[lonewolf]

are these prisons, the doors, opened by electronic means or by good old fashioned key? if an EMP happens electronic doors MAY open on there own, if a good old fashioned key then they can stay there and rot.

 

[TexasFreedom]

Most prisons do both electronic and key. If electronics fail (which happens all the time), they default to locked. Note that most prisons also have backup generators. But there is a limit to how many failures can be anticipated.

 

[lonewolf]

so the prisoners would stay locked up whichever happened? good.
there are 2 prisons in my county, but they are both "training" prisons prior to release, both only holding a few hundred prisoners each, I believe one is due to close in a couple of years.
back up generators will only last as long as the fuel for them does.