By Shamar Betts
Speaking about his time at the Hazelton medium security prison [November 2021- present]
Federal Prison is a completely different world compared to the county jails I’d been used to being in for the past year and a half. Segregation isn’t just divided by race, but also by what region or state someone’s from. We’re not allowed to converse, sit with, or share cells with anyone outside our race; and depending on if there’s tension between the regions we can’t even talk to someone from another state.
I’ve seen my fair share of senseless violence since being incarcerated, but the Feds take it to another level. There have been instances where 100+ people have gone to war, all over one person using a phone he didn’t have permission to use. This resulted in a nearly two-month-long lockdown. The day we finally came out it only lasted a few hours before the war started back up!
Respect overrides everything; no one cares about the injuries and deaths that may occur. Most people here are facing 20 years or more so they feel respect is all they have to live for. I’d seen death before but never at this rate.
People die from suicides, rebelling the guards, lock n’ a sack, drug overdoses, and most commonly - knives. These are not the shanks and sharpened toothbrushes you’ve seen on TV. These knives are made from the thick metal of the bunks and sharpened by concrete for days. I’ve seen inmates using knives as long as my forearm and sharp as a sword. I’ve heard the screams of someone being disciplined for stealing, and the guards not discovering the body until the end of the night at count time.
Stories like these are repetitive. When I first reached the Feds I couldn’t make sense of living in this lifestyle. I used to be afraid that I might not even make it out to tell these tales. Here I am, a person who’d worked with kids and now is surrounded by some of the biggest drug dealers and killers in the country. I never expected to get used to being around these types of people on a daily basis, and also to a point where I don’t even fear losing my life anymore. I stopped informing my friends and family about incidents that occur in here because it’s become normal, everyday situations.