A BETTER CLASS OF CRIMINAL what our prisons really teach us to be

The first time you hear that door slam behind you,when it all comes together and you know you are no longer a freeman,that is the time when you have to be at your finest.What lies ahead of you,none of the stories or any of the movies featuring prison life could prepare you for.The first time I was jailed was in 1977,I was a twenty year old expert on everything.the charge?
MURDER.
The reason I was charged and not another?Simple,I was responsible,it was my actions,and then inaction,that caused that man to die.it was by my hand,and mine alone.There never was a question of who had done it,there was as it would turn out,seventeen people who viewed the last seconds of that man life,and I have never before today talked of that incident,and it is not my wish to drag it all up again,my family certainly does not wish me to even be this public,and I am positive that the deceased family wants no more publicity,as not all of it is kind to the victim.I mention this only as reference to my claim of being an expert on prison life.Perhaps at another time and place I will go into it,but this is not the forum for that type of tale.It was self defence,I was totally exonerated after an exhausting six week trial.
I did however spend eighteen months behind bars awaiting the outcome.Eighteen months to brood on what I had done,eighteen months of self incrimination's and speculations.Eighteen months of believing that this was to be my life for the next twenty five to life.Eighteen months of meeting the very best of the worst!
If that had been my only time behind bars,it still would have been enough to give me the background needed for this endeavour,how ever,it was only the beginning.I manged to stay out of trouble (meaning I was never caught and convicted ) for for close to ten years.
I offer no excuses,I do not blame my childhood,I do not blame the creep who( this as NEVER been revealed to a single living person until now!!!) sexually abused me when I was very young teenager( yup-the jokes and stories about boyscout leaders....LOOK OUT JOHN,your day may yet come)
I do not blame the death of my son,nor the death of my wife,I do not blame my addictions,and I certainly do not,like so many do,blame it on society.
I blame it all on myself.I can honestly say though,I would never had achieved the success I did as a criminal if it were not for my time behind bars!
Rehabilitation,the magic word,the reason you give for the practise of jailing those who have broken your laws.
Rehabilitation:
To restore to good health or useful life, as through therapy and education.To restore to good condition, operation, or capacity. Thus says a dictionary.
Let's examine it closer:
"restore"....."therapy" and "education",remember that word,education,we will be examining just what that means in the prisons you send us to.
I have used the terms you and yours as if I felt outside of the mainstream,as if YOUR laws were not my own,and that is exactly how a con feels after even a short stay behind bars.The world becomes divided between US and YOU.
WE develop a whole new way at looking at things that those who have not done time can not fully understand.I am not saying this is a good thing,in fact any thing that helps divide society is be definition a harmful event.I will just say one more thing that jail does,it:
CREATES BETTER CRIMINALS!
In 1989 I received a six month sentence for mainly bad cheques,a pretty minor thing,and since it was my first criminal CONVICTION I was placed in a minimum security work camp.
My employment just previous to being jailed( my legal employment,which was mostly a cover for my "illegal" activity) was that of a bouncer/bartender in a rather seedy hotel in the local "red-light zone"So it was no surprise that I meet many of the same people in jail that I had associated with on the street.
There was another "class" if you will of criminal I encountered in that first little stay.The "Professional"
Yes it was a minimum security facility,but it was also the stopping off point for some rather serious people who where finishing out their terms there as a way of returning them to society after a LONG prison stretch,some as many as fifteen years for such things as bank robbery,kidnapping,manslaughter and drug smuggling.
I had at that time adopted a strategy for survival of recognizing in any situation,just who was on top of the food chain,and then blending in with them.I have always had the ability to be a chameleon,to blend and fit into any role I wished to play,and although my crimes that had brought me there were minor,I made the conscience decision to gravitate towards those whose crimes where the most serious.It was a decision that would serve me well over the next fourteen years of my criminal career.

The one thing I gained that first little stint in the minimum security correctional was a line of credit that I would never have achieved without it.Oh.I don't mean that I could now walk into a bank and get their best rate,or any rate for that matter.When you have just been convicted of thirty nine counts of embezzlement and fraud,the only thing a bank wants from you is for you to leave the premises!
No,I walked out of that prison a man without a home,without any money(I do not count $19.56 as money)there was no such thing as any counselling or any other form of assistance.You had a home,possibly a job and family support group when you came in,but for many,when they are released it is into the streets to make or break,so is it any wonder the re-offence rate is so high?
What the statistic fail to show,is just how high that rate it really is,simply because there are a high percent who simply to do not get caught,at least not in the short term.
CRIME DOES NOT PAY!!
If that is what makes you feel good,go ahead and believe it,certainly for a lot of so called criminals ,it does not.There never as been,and never will be much profit in spousal abuse,disorderly conduct and mischief charges,nor probation and parole violations.
The last time I looked,the pay rate for common or even aggravated assault is not that great.Possession of a control substance usually means you have already spent all your cash and are now partying and that usually leads to you getting busted doing something stupid.Yeah,the prisons are full of people who never made a dime from their crimes,even murders are not paid that well!(I have earned the right to make light of the situation,humour is what kept me sane when I was up on a murder beef)
I on the other hand am almost proud to say that every minute of CONVICTED time I ever spent I was VERY well paid for,and in every case worked out to hundreds of dollars earned for every day behind bars.
What,you think every Drug dealer is caught the first time out?Not the "good" ones,(PLEASE,I AM NOT ABDICATING DEALING DRUGS OR ANY OTHER TYPE OF CRIME!)I am merely examining some of the reasons for our high rate of re-occurring felonies,and hopefully putting forth some suggestion from you as well as me on how we can lower that rate.I started out by saying that one of the things I gained was a line of credit when I was released from jail.That was due totally on my chameleon abilities I talked about earlier,and the habit of the correctional system of placing"heavies" into the "light" population at the ends of their long terms.While I was in on light crimes,I knew how to talk the talk,and if need be walk the walk.Having a murder charge behind me especially one I "beat"gave me great references.Always on the look out to take the easy street,I quickly adapted myself into a "heavy"at least in the minds of most of the "lights".So,there I was,out on the street,broke,homeless absolutely no family support( that I would seek out,that is another long story best told at another time)and absolutely no clue what to do.I knew about things like the Salvation Army,but since I was pissed off at God at the time,I would not turn to them,or any other organization that would help me.
I was,at that time in great physical shape,and had good work skills to fall back on,but for the moment I was stuck.I was also a bit"habitualized" a condition often found in those leaving the Armed Forces or any other place where the structure is in place for you.You know when and where you eat,you know when and where you sleep,shower,work,every thing is decided for you.
I found myself doing what I always did back then when finding myself in a difficult situation,I drank!So how long can nineteen dollars and change keep you drunk? about three days and four new girlfriends!( I had lucked out,I had been released the same time of month as when our government here in Canada dishes out a couple hundred bucks for each child under the age of eighteen.
A welfare handout you ask?No,it's "universal"in the words of our illustrious leaders,meaning each and every child qualifies regardless of the income of the parents.I regress,and I am to lazy to edit so will stumble on.There I was,in a bar,my arms around not one but two ladies I was doing my best to impress,the money,mine as well as theirs,all but gone.
What to do?Using one of the last quarters( 25 cent coin) in the pay phone,I called upon one of those "heavies"I had meet and hung with while in that minimum security prison.Within an hour I was $3500.00 in debt but on my way to becoming one of the towns most successful and sought out weed dealers around.I soon established the reputation of always:a)of always"having"and b)always being available,and)most important of all,the supplier of the highest quality found either side of the Rockies!!
Once again,I stress,I am not advocating this kind of lifestyle nor do i think my life as a drug dealer was without consequences.It would take more digits then I have on both hands to count the number of dead or disabled that I helped contribute to.Sure,I did not stick the needle in their arm,nor was it I who robbed that gas station and shot the clerk.It was not me who stabbed my husband to death while strung out on Ritalin.I could go on and on-in each case it was I who was suppling the drugs that were the underlying factor behind all of those crimes.
Is it any wonder then that my life as been filled with pain and tragedy?That I have lost more loved ones then most?I do believe that we all get what we deserve-one way or another.My only hope now is that I can contribute enough good to society that I can once again feel proud of myself.
I have made the first steps-and this narrative is part of it,as will become clear in the weeks and months to come.
No,prison is not the answer-however-it is a necessity-we must protect society-but I do honestly believe that if we invested in more treatment for drugs,education in both academics and trades for those incarcerated citizens it would have a very positive effect and would actually reduce the costs associated with prisons in the very near term.