fontman
07-11-06, 07:37 AM
Life is routine in the Camp Pendleton brig
By: WILLIAM FINN BENNETT - Staff Writer
CAMP PENDLETON ---- For seven Marines and a Navy corpsman accused of premeditated murder in the death of an Iraqi man in April, conditions inside the Camp Pendleton brig are improving.
The men are no longer shackled, as they were when they were first incarcerated in mid-May.
They are no longer forced to take their meals by themselves in their individual, isolation cells, and they now have regular access to the brig's exercise and recreation facility.
As they await hearings that will determine whether each moves on to face trial, they are experiencing a daily routine familiar to the brig's 129 other male inmates.
That includes reveille at 5 a.m. and "Taps" at 10 p.m. Meals are served at regular times, and weekends are when friends and family can visit.
The prisoners remain in the one-man cells they were assigned to when booked into the 34-year-old facility.
Each cell is 8-feet-by-9-feet, with a 10-foot ceiling, and is furnished with a bed, mattress, toilet, sink, desk and storage locker. The door is 4 feet wide and made of steel mesh that allows for fresh air and sunlight.
Their shackling as maximum-security inmates when they first arrived at the brig drew nationwide attention and raised the ire of the men's relatives and attorneys. It also quickly became a hot topic on talk radio.
Marine Corps officials explained the shackling was the norm for inmates classified as maximum security and was done according to the secretary of Navy's and Department of Defense regulations for military prisoners.
In mid-June, after a review of their status, the men were reclassified to medium-custody, and the shackles came off.
Last week, each was granted greater privileges that now allow them to eat with the general inmate population and use the primary recreation facility.
The lessening of the restrictions came as result of their good behavior and a regularly conducted review of each inmate's status, said Chief Warrant Officer 3 John Polansky, the man who oversees daily life at the brig.
"They have a pretty positive attitude," Polansky said of the group some refer to as the Pendleton Eight. "They cause no problems and are respectful and follow the rules," he said, adding most are receiving regular visits from friends and family.
The prison complex was built in 1972 in a small valley surrounded by chaparral-covered hills in the middle of the 250-square-mile Marine base.
In many ways, it functions as a small city. It has chapel services, a canteen, full medical and dental services, a library, a recreation yard and food preparation.
Inmates who aren't in maximum-security confinement provide the labor, working up to 40 hours a week performing carpentry, cooking, screen repair, welding, laundry, landscaping and recycling.
Polansky says he likes making a difference in the lives of his 153-member staff and the 137 inmates and detainees he oversees.
"I hope they get something out of it," the affable 23-year Marine Corps veteran said Friday.
Many of the inmates do, he said, once they finally come to grips with their crimes and how their behavior landed them in trouble.
There are now 78 prisoners serving time and 59 detainees in pretrial confinement behind the gray, concrete walls of the prison surrounded by a high, chain-link fence topped with razor wire.
Most inmates are housed in 30-man bays reserved for the general population. An additional 63 isolation cells are used for those with disciplinary, medical or mental problems, and about 20 of those cells are now occupied.
Most of the brig's inmates are there for relatively minor offenses such as drug use, larceny or unauthorized absence, he said.
About 15 percent of the population is serving longer sentences for offenses such as rape, assault or armed robbery, Polansky said. All the inmates are males. The brig for females is at the Miramar Marine Corps Air Station.
Sentences of up to seven years are served at the Camp Pendleton brig. Inmates facing longer terms do their time at a military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.
After reveille sounds, inmates are given a few minutes for personal hygiene before heading to breakfast.
At 8 a.m., it's off to work for most of the men. Lunch is about 11 a.m. and the work day ends about 3 p.m.
A head count is conducted at 3:30, and at 4 p.m. inmates can take part in Bible studies, go to the brig library or attend choir practice or counseling sessions.
Inmates get one hour of exercise in the recreation area, where they have access to free weights, basketball, volleyball and jogging. In the evenings, they can watch television until the order for lights out is issued at 10 p.m.
Saturdays, Sundays and holidays are visiting days for inmates' friends and family. Visitors must adhere to strict guidelines prohibiting such things as any clothing that promotes drug use or is suggestive in nature. Clothes can't be too brief, too tight or too revealing, and no bare feet, cut-offs, flip-flops or tank tops are allowed.
Brief embraces are permitted when visitors arrive and leave, and holding hands is allowed as long as visitors and inmates keep their hands in plain view.
Unlike civilian prisons, where violence is often rampant and fear is a constant companion, brig life is relatively stable, Polansky said.
"There are fights between prisoners occasionally, but they don't use weapons like in civilian jails," he said. "I have done inspections of (various) military jails and prisoners always say they feel safe."
Prisoners also are subjected to random and frequent drug tests, he said.
The higher level of discipline in military brigs is largely because of two factors. For one, there are more guards per prisoner and less of the overcrowding found in civilian prisons. At the Camp Pendleton brig, for example, there is one guard for each four to five inmates.
And though many of the prisoners Polansky oversees have been convicted for serious offenses such as rape, assault or robbery, they were trained as Marines. The sense of duty and respect for authority they acquired in the military stays with them, even in the brig, Polansky says.
"Once a Marine, always a Marine," he said.
Bad behavior by an inmate is dealt with in a variety of ways.
All inmates are supplied with a booklet outlining their expected conduct, and each is informed that any attempt to circumvent regulations leads to punishment.
Besides the three primary rules ---- do not escape, attempt to escape or help another to escape; do not possess contraband; and do not engage in disruptive behavior ---- prisoners must salute all enlisted personnel.
The prisoners also must begin and end any statements to enlisted personnel with the words "sir" or "ma'am" ---- about 15 to 20 of the guards at the Pendleton brig are women. The inmates also must also request permission to speak.
Punishable offenses are broken down into five categories. Category I offenses include being unsanitary or untidy, loitering and running. Those types of infractions are punishable by anything from a reprimand to the loss of 30 days' recreation privileges or 12 days of extra work duty of up to two hours a day.
More serious offenses or a pattern of unacceptable behavior result in an investigation by a staff member uninvolved in the incident. The inmate is allowed to make a statement with the assistance of legal counsel.
An officer then reviews the report, before referring it to a board composed of at least three members. The board conducts a hearing before referring its findings to a commanding officer, who decides the appropriate punishment. That officer may reduce or reverse the board's findings.
The threat of punishment is not the only tool used by the Marine Corps to strengthen discipline in the brig. Rewarding good behavior is often an extremely effective tool, Polansky says.
For example, general population inmates are broken up into eight groups that receive points for things such as good behavior, tidiness and their performance in sports.
The group with the highest score for the week is awarded privileges such as getting to choose the TV programming in all of the 30-man bays, selecting an extra movie for the weekend or being allowed to be the first served at meal time.
Good behavior can reduce the amount of time prisoners must serve. Based on efforts to improve themselves and follow the rules, they can earn up to eight days per month off their sentence.
After more than two decades in the Marine Corps, Polansky said he is getting ready to retire and pass the brig duties to someone else.
Polansky said he had tried to instill the importance of being "fair but firm" with his staff. The Department of the Navy's Corrections Manual states that "discipline, not harshness, is the heart of the correctional process."
"If you're not firm, you are taken advantage of," Polansky said. "You have to be consistent ---- when you are consistent, everybody knows what is expected."
Contact staff writer William Finn Bennett at (760) 740-5426, or wbennett@nctimes.com.
By: WILLIAM FINN BENNETT - Staff Writer
CAMP PENDLETON ---- For seven Marines and a Navy corpsman accused of premeditated murder in the death of an Iraqi man in April, conditions inside the Camp Pendleton brig are improving.
The men are no longer shackled, as they were when they were first incarcerated in mid-May.
They are no longer forced to take their meals by themselves in their individual, isolation cells, and they now have regular access to the brig's exercise and recreation facility.
As they await hearings that will determine whether each moves on to face trial, they are experiencing a daily routine familiar to the brig's 129 other male inmates.
That includes reveille at 5 a.m. and "Taps" at 10 p.m. Meals are served at regular times, and weekends are when friends and family can visit.
The prisoners remain in the one-man cells they were assigned to when booked into the 34-year-old facility.
Each cell is 8-feet-by-9-feet, with a 10-foot ceiling, and is furnished with a bed, mattress, toilet, sink, desk and storage locker. The door is 4 feet wide and made of steel mesh that allows for fresh air and sunlight.
Their shackling as maximum-security inmates when they first arrived at the brig drew nationwide attention and raised the ire of the men's relatives and attorneys. It also quickly became a hot topic on talk radio.
Marine Corps officials explained the shackling was the norm for inmates classified as maximum security and was done according to the secretary of Navy's and Department of Defense regulations for military prisoners.
In mid-June, after a review of their status, the men were reclassified to medium-custody, and the shackles came off.
Last week, each was granted greater privileges that now allow them to eat with the general inmate population and use the primary recreation facility.
The lessening of the restrictions came as result of their good behavior and a regularly conducted review of each inmate's status, said Chief Warrant Officer 3 John Polansky, the man who oversees daily life at the brig.
"They have a pretty positive attitude," Polansky said of the group some refer to as the Pendleton Eight. "They cause no problems and are respectful and follow the rules," he said, adding most are receiving regular visits from friends and family.
The prison complex was built in 1972 in a small valley surrounded by chaparral-covered hills in the middle of the 250-square-mile Marine base.
In many ways, it functions as a small city. It has chapel services, a canteen, full medical and dental services, a library, a recreation yard and food preparation.
Inmates who aren't in maximum-security confinement provide the labor, working up to 40 hours a week performing carpentry, cooking, screen repair, welding, laundry, landscaping and recycling.
Polansky says he likes making a difference in the lives of his 153-member staff and the 137 inmates and detainees he oversees.
"I hope they get something out of it," the affable 23-year Marine Corps veteran said Friday.
Many of the inmates do, he said, once they finally come to grips with their crimes and how their behavior landed them in trouble.
There are now 78 prisoners serving time and 59 detainees in pretrial confinement behind the gray, concrete walls of the prison surrounded by a high, chain-link fence topped with razor wire.
Most inmates are housed in 30-man bays reserved for the general population. An additional 63 isolation cells are used for those with disciplinary, medical or mental problems, and about 20 of those cells are now occupied.
Most of the brig's inmates are there for relatively minor offenses such as drug use, larceny or unauthorized absence, he said.
About 15 percent of the population is serving longer sentences for offenses such as rape, assault or armed robbery, Polansky said. All the inmates are males. The brig for females is at the Miramar Marine Corps Air Station.
Sentences of up to seven years are served at the Camp Pendleton brig. Inmates facing longer terms do their time at a military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.
After reveille sounds, inmates are given a few minutes for personal hygiene before heading to breakfast.
At 8 a.m., it's off to work for most of the men. Lunch is about 11 a.m. and the work day ends about 3 p.m.
A head count is conducted at 3:30, and at 4 p.m. inmates can take part in Bible studies, go to the brig library or attend choir practice or counseling sessions.
Inmates get one hour of exercise in the recreation area, where they have access to free weights, basketball, volleyball and jogging. In the evenings, they can watch television until the order for lights out is issued at 10 p.m.
Saturdays, Sundays and holidays are visiting days for inmates' friends and family. Visitors must adhere to strict guidelines prohibiting such things as any clothing that promotes drug use or is suggestive in nature. Clothes can't be too brief, too tight or too revealing, and no bare feet, cut-offs, flip-flops or tank tops are allowed.
Brief embraces are permitted when visitors arrive and leave, and holding hands is allowed as long as visitors and inmates keep their hands in plain view.
Unlike civilian prisons, where violence is often rampant and fear is a constant companion, brig life is relatively stable, Polansky said.
"There are fights between prisoners occasionally, but they don't use weapons like in civilian jails," he said. "I have done inspections of (various) military jails and prisoners always say they feel safe."
Prisoners also are subjected to random and frequent drug tests, he said.
The higher level of discipline in military brigs is largely because of two factors. For one, there are more guards per prisoner and less of the overcrowding found in civilian prisons. At the Camp Pendleton brig, for example, there is one guard for each four to five inmates.
And though many of the prisoners Polansky oversees have been convicted for serious offenses such as rape, assault or robbery, they were trained as Marines. The sense of duty and respect for authority they acquired in the military stays with them, even in the brig, Polansky says.
"Once a Marine, always a Marine," he said.
Bad behavior by an inmate is dealt with in a variety of ways.
All inmates are supplied with a booklet outlining their expected conduct, and each is informed that any attempt to circumvent regulations leads to punishment.
Besides the three primary rules ---- do not escape, attempt to escape or help another to escape; do not possess contraband; and do not engage in disruptive behavior ---- prisoners must salute all enlisted personnel.
The prisoners also must begin and end any statements to enlisted personnel with the words "sir" or "ma'am" ---- about 15 to 20 of the guards at the Pendleton brig are women. The inmates also must also request permission to speak.
Punishable offenses are broken down into five categories. Category I offenses include being unsanitary or untidy, loitering and running. Those types of infractions are punishable by anything from a reprimand to the loss of 30 days' recreation privileges or 12 days of extra work duty of up to two hours a day.
More serious offenses or a pattern of unacceptable behavior result in an investigation by a staff member uninvolved in the incident. The inmate is allowed to make a statement with the assistance of legal counsel.
An officer then reviews the report, before referring it to a board composed of at least three members. The board conducts a hearing before referring its findings to a commanding officer, who decides the appropriate punishment. That officer may reduce or reverse the board's findings.
The threat of punishment is not the only tool used by the Marine Corps to strengthen discipline in the brig. Rewarding good behavior is often an extremely effective tool, Polansky says.
For example, general population inmates are broken up into eight groups that receive points for things such as good behavior, tidiness and their performance in sports.
The group with the highest score for the week is awarded privileges such as getting to choose the TV programming in all of the 30-man bays, selecting an extra movie for the weekend or being allowed to be the first served at meal time.
Good behavior can reduce the amount of time prisoners must serve. Based on efforts to improve themselves and follow the rules, they can earn up to eight days per month off their sentence.
After more than two decades in the Marine Corps, Polansky said he is getting ready to retire and pass the brig duties to someone else.
Polansky said he had tried to instill the importance of being "fair but firm" with his staff. The Department of the Navy's Corrections Manual states that "discipline, not harshness, is the heart of the correctional process."
"If you're not firm, you are taken advantage of," Polansky said. "You have to be consistent ---- when you are consistent, everybody knows what is expected."
Contact staff writer William Finn Bennett at (760) 740-5426, or wbennett@nctimes.com.