Jailhouse Blues

If you are not upset at the latest foolishness that we have read in the newspaper about the corrections problems in Baltimore City, you are not a concerned citizen. What we have all read, has been going on for years. I am retired from the Baltimore Police Department. I have been in the city jail, the Maryland Penitentiary, and the House of Corrections in Jessup. The only thing an inmate gets when they go into the corrections system, is a criminal education. When I was in the Homicide Unit in the early 80's, we would send uncooperative witnesses to the city jail until they were ready to talk. It did not take long before we got a call that they would talk to us. I have seen first hand the living conditions in the city jail and the penitentiary. It is the filthiest and most demoralizing places you can ever imagine. I was in the jails on many occasions interviewing witnesses and picking up prisoners to take back to the homicide office. In 1981, while a sergeant in the Homicide Unit, I had the occasion to go to the penitentiary to investigate a murder. I was accompanied by two detectives from the unit. The murder occurred on death row. When we got the call to go to the penitentiary, we were amazed that a murder would occur in an area like death row. When we arrived, we had to turn in our guns before we entered the prison. We were taken to the area of the prison that is death row. Death row consisted of about 40 cells at that time. There were two tiers with approximately 20 cells on each tier. When we approached death row, we were told by the prison guards that they did not go on death row. We were told that food and other needs were given to the death row inmates through an opening in a large steel door. We were told by the prison guards that we should go in and get what we wanted as fast as we could. The murder we were sent to investigate was of a black man that was beaten to death. Apparently other inmates beat this man to death and than hung him in his cell to make it look like a suicide. We entered death row with one prison guard. We were directed to a cell on the second tier where the deceased had been cut down from the alleged suicide. It was obvious from the start that this was a murder and not a suicide. The prison guard with us appeared to be very nervous. I have to admit that we were also nervous, but the guard worked in this area all the time...he should not have been scared. He kept telling us that we needed to hurry. He told us that no one would come forward and tell us anything and he was right. We took our photos and did what we normally do on a murder investigation. The body was than removed from the cell and taken to the prison hospital where it would be picked up by the medical examiners office.It was an experience that I will never forget. We were actually standing amongst the most dangerous people in the prison. We made no attempt to try to interview anyone and no one volunteered to talk to us. I saw some sites that I will never forget. As I was looking around, the prison guard kept telling us that we needed to get off death row soon or there might be some problems. He told us that although the death row inmates were calm at the moment, they could turn on you in a split second. Our presence on death row, did not seem to bother anyone. It was as if we were not even there. Inmates moved about and even laughed at us when we were taking photos and sketching the crime scene. I remember seeing an inmate in a open cell at the end of the tier selling candy, crackers, and other small items. When we were finally out of death row, I asked the guard about the guy selling stuff. He said it was a very interesting situation. He said that they allowed that prisoner to sell the items. The guard said that when the guy first started selling stuff, he would get robbed every night when he walked to his actual cell. The guard said that the guy finally got smart and handed off his earnings to friends before he closed up and headed for his own cell each night.Investigating that murder on death row is something I will never forget. We did not charge anyone with murder and the death is still an unsolved homicide.The corrections systems in Maryland are totally out of control. The inmates are running the prisons.