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The combination of the gun rights for ex-cons discussion on another thread and my having watched a few shows about prisons the other day while I wrapped Christmas presents has me posing a question for the group. Come SHTF in a big way where govt. services can no longer be sustained going forward, what is to become of the current prison populations? The shows I watched seem to indicate it is difficult to keep prisoners under control now, let alone when SHTF starts unfolding and the guards start fading away to deal with their own family obligations. Rioting prisoners that take control of a prison would then exit the prison very well armed from the prison armories and given their violent nature would wreak havoc on the surrounding communities after they took out the guards. Purposely releasing them would most likely yield the same results. Given it is politically incorrect to suggest that a SHTF scenario could cause govt. to crumble, these possibilities likely haven’t been discussed, or at least not down to the level of the folks that work at prisons.
You know the question I am asking. What do you think will happen?
The gang members will still act like gang members, which is what they do anyway when they get out. Most will simply survive as best as they can and try to get home to their families.
There are two state prisons and two jails in this county. I know a few that work in all. Basically it will be:
See ya!
…and they will take the keys with them.
One way or the other cons will get out and then do like Vep said, go home.
Robin
I hope and pray that at the point of leaving to go tend to their family’s the prison guards have enough sense to load the armory in their trunk and take those weapons with them,I believe they will do exactly that ,they deal with sycos on a daily basis can’t see them not thinking they will be targets of escaped prisoners,and they pro ally will be ,these people been locked up for a long time ,will be out for blood,anybody’s,they aren’t going home,most won’t even have one to go to if they wanted to,there gonna go find the nicest ,closest,most comfortable looking home thy come cross,god have mercy on the occupants,if their not prepared,they have been without women,good food and drugs for some time,that’s what they will be after first,then if the homes they invade have weapons,it will be bad ,that might sound dramatic to one of you ,maybe all ,don’t know,just what I would expert in a total societal breakdown because all the evil locked inside the heart of mankind will have no bounds,if they think its the end of the world then for them it is,they will act accordingly,I think all that restrains evil at all is the looking twords the punishment,the determent prison maybe death pro ally prison more than death,they know that possibility goes along with that life style,most of them don’t care if they live or die but they are afraid of prison espically the ones that have all ready been,they get institutionalized can’t take care in the free world wind right back in,I have known many kinds of people seen them do unimagined things ,people in prisons ,mental institutions, local jails,all at once leet go,or left to starve to death,someone will have decisions to make,we better pray they have common sense and a really good plan in place.
From what little I know, one of the problems is prisons today is the lack of treatment for mental illness. Had an uncle who worked in a prison back east, and he said that was a major problem.
If those prisoners were to get out during a SHTF situation, they would ravage the countryside. Also surprisingly, they would tend to use the prison as their base of operations. For many of them, the prison is home. So they would have a heavily fortified base of operations.
Also with the gangs, would they try to settle scores with one another during the initial event?
Opinions on this will be all over the place and each one of them partially correct because there are all types of personalities within the correctional systems. Back in the 70’s I knew people that found their way into jail. They all did stupid stuff and most, of them were not a threat under normal circumstances, one of them tryed to fire bomb a house and he was not a person you’d be paticularly scared of. I did meet a wack job that was arrested for having a lady frozen in the freezer about a year after I was there and it was obvious he was dangerous.
I also worked in a state mental hospital back then in the criminally insane ward, where many patients were given 1000 cc of thorazine to keep them from being out of control in violent fits.
A segment will go home, some (probably lots) will loot along the way, and others will be like characters out of a Mad Max movie.
Great. Just shows me how little prepared I am for some of the most obvious eventualities. My family and I live about 1 mile from a large Prison Medical Center that has a nice little walking path that passes by it connecting parks and neighborhoods. Never even gave a thought about it until this topic. It’s hard to be aware of everything, but geez, now I feel really stupid.
What will happen to the inmates? What do I think will happen?
Well, I know this sounds horrible and all, but what I think will happen, and what will happen are two different things.
What will most likely happen is that the Bad Guys will get out and revert to type. Those that were bad to begin with will be worse, with a SHTF “no rules” scenario… until put down like the mad dogs they are.
The others – the percentage of nonviolent offenders? Well, one can only hope that they do only what they have to do to survive and make their way home peacefully. Do I think that will happen? No. I hope it does, but down deep I know different. When faced with a “tribe up with us or die” situation that the really bad Bad Guys will present them with, they will tribe up… and then be cut down shortly thereafter…
What would be best?
Well, nobody has stepped up and said what we’re all thinking, so I’ll do it…
Shoot em.
It sounds mercenary and heartless and cold and evil… and I’m not going to argue any of that… but shooting them in their cells before they get a chance to escape and wreak havoc might be the most humane thing, all the way around…..
Edit: Just think of it this way, y’all…
Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet.
The wicked flee when none pursueth..." - Proverbs 28:1
Well, all of this is really kind of a moot issue, IMHO. Government’s, especially one with the material resources stockpiled like the US Federal Government, really don’t just evaporate overnight, they just get meaner, harsher, and more desperate.
History gives a hint at what would most likely happen.
If things got bad, most likely the prisons would go on lockdown, and the inmate population would be used as a slave labor force. At some point they would serve as a recruiting ground for live bodies to fill uniforms.
If a prison got overrun by, say, a rebel army, then they would either be shot in their cells, liberated and set free, recruited to fill the ranks, or any combination thereof. The approach of an enemy army is generally the only time guards abandon prisons, and then it’s a toss up on what they will do.
Malgus came closest to the answer I thought would come. The guards & staff at the prisons know which ones are whacko, which ones are violent gang bangers beyond rehabilitation, and which ones are semi-decent folks who they might trust to release. I think if it all collapses, they will dispatch the 1st two groups and release the 3rd. They may have a duty to protect the prisoners, but they have an even higher responsibility to their communities to prevent havoc from being unleashed upon them.
Mtb,
It might happen at one or two prisons but I don’t believe it would be wide spread. The guards are not murders who are going to shoot prisoners without being attacked. In a lot of places Vep could be right.74, you are probably right that it will be handled differently dependent upon local circumstances and mindsets. It is a variable that people need to keep in mind if they live near prisons. What I don’t see are guards purposely releasing people that they know will wreak havoc on their communities. At a minimum there would be tight lock downs in reaction to staff not showing up due to tending their own family needs.
I would just lock them up and walk away , cold , but they are there for a reason . American prison structure does more to make them a better criminal vs. rehabilitate . I would feel better about doing that , than releasing them into society , which at that point will have enough problems to deal with .
Depends on the SHTF. If it is an economical collapse there may still hold them down in the prisons. But if it is a civil war, EMP, or even a cyber attack we will see the prisons will open up and all the criminals will be on the streets.
I talked to a guy who does counciling for prison guards. He made the point that many long term prisoners are not the same people as when they committed the crimes. People change over time.
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