A Whole Other World "Life in the Shadows of Prison"

By Chip Valley

This is the story of Carter, a young Vietnam Veteran who moves to a small town in south Florida where he takes a job as a prison guard at a Florida state prison that houses over one thousand violent inmates.
He soon discovers he has taken a job where the prison guards are redneck, country boys who all grew up in the same small area and do not like outsiders. He starts lifting weights and his personal life becomes more complicated as he deals with the drama, stress and violence working in the prison environment.
Carter’s career as a correctional officer takes one turn after another as he learns the routines, uncovers the deceptions, and takes on the challenges of everyday prison life. He quickly discovers that inmates lie, cheat, steal, gamble, and commit assault and rape—all daily occurrences faced by the correctional staff. Carter also learns to deal with his fellow employees as well; tough men, good ol’ Southern boys, who don’t necessarily welcome his presence. Carter must prove himself to both the inmate population and the other correctional officers before he’ll earn their respect and be taken seriously.
The job itself changes his personality, and slowly eats away at him every day he steps onto the prison compound. It is not long before he has difficulty leaving his job at the prison behind at the end of the day. He gradually becomes numb, suspicious, untrusting, critical, aggressive, and callous to all people in general to survive working in this whole other world. He subconsciously evolves into a tough country boy who learns to master the supervising techniques and skills required to handle and discipline the hardcore, violent inmates as well as his fellow prison guards, who at times can also be treacherous.
As his life at the prison rolls on through the years, Carter doesn’t realize the toll his work is taking on his home life. With a son, and a daughter he adores, he is now in danger of losing it all.
Should he leave and take the job that’s offered to him with the sheriff’s department? Should he turn down his superior officer at the prison, who is pushing him to apply for a sergeant’s position? Carter knows himself well enough to realize he’s happiest just doing his daily duties as a correctional officer.
Through all the bizarre situations the prison environment and inmates throw at him, every aspect of his life revolves around his personal life and loved ones. Suicide, murder and chaos are always right around the corner in his work environment. Home is always the best therapy in his life with his little princess and his little prince.
But no one can stay in the same place forever, and soon Carter finds this truth applies to balancing his personal and professional life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brighton Publishing LLC
• Release date: May 16, 2014
• ISBN: 9781621832331

Chip Valley

Chip Valley has worked the majority of his life in Law Enforcement. Growing up his family moved all over New England and eventually to Florida. Every time he attended a new school he would have to fight a bully to establish himself with the other boys.Chip played Baseball and Football and as a teenager enjoyed riding motorcycles and driving fast cars. He also worked construction on Disney World before it opened its doors to the public. A Vietnam Veteran, black belt in karate and a father of two beautiful children he still enjoys motorcycling, music, weightlifting and cars from the sixties. He was inspired by family and friends to put some of his past tales on paper and write the original story of “A Whole Other World."

Book preview

A Whole Other World

Life in the Shadows of Prison

Chip Valley

Brighton Publishing LLC

435 N. Harris Drive

Mesa, AZ 85203

www.BrightonPublishing.com

ISBN13: 978-1-621-83233-1

Copyright © 2014

eBook

SMASHWORDS EDITION

Cover Design: Tom Rodriguez

All rights reserved. This is a work of fiction based upon true-life events. All the characters in this book are fictitious and the creation of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to other characters or to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to all the correctional officers, law enforcement, firefighters, and military personnel who have lost their lives in the line of duty. May they never be forgotten for their ultimate sacrifice, and for our society to prevail.

Introduction

Even though this book is fiction, many correctional officers and inmates will be able to relate or possibly relive the events that occur in this whole other world.

During the 1970s the Florida State Prison System was much less complicated. There were no female correctional officers assigned on the compound and no cameras. No bloody razor ribbon, AIDS, or sexual harassment, and very few reports were written. Usually a newly hired recruit wouldn’t be issued a uniform for a couple of weeks, and no formal training was provided for a couple of months. The prison administration wanted to make sure they could hack it before investing money in them.

So what did it take to be a correctional officer back then? Someone dependable and loyal, who was strong mentally and physically, had common sense, and was able to supervise inmates in a prison environment. Sure, an officer had to be able to count inmates and not let them manipulate him. Basically the main principles were the same then as they are now and always will be: Protect the public with proper care, custody, and control of inmates.

The main character in this story, Bobby Carter, becomes a correctional officer in the year 1975 at a South Florida state prison that houses over one thousand violent male inmates. He discovers the job is more complex than meets the eye.

A Message from the Author

First of all, I would like to thank all of you who invested your time and chose to read my book. I hope you found the story to be interesting and an enjoyable experience. Because the characters and stories are fictional, any resemblance to persons, living or dead, is merely coincidental and not intended to portray any specific individual or incident. However, I sincerely believe anyone who has ever worked or been incarcerated in a violent Florida state prison during the 1970s will view the book in a whole other way. For your convenience, I have included a glossary at the end of my book to assist readers with the many prison slang terms I have frequently used in writing this story.

In my humble opinion, working as a correctional officer in a violent state prison is definitely not for everyone. Of course, the same can be said for many other jobs as well.

One piece of advice I would like to share with anyone interested in choosing to become a correctional officer is this: when you first walk onto that prison compound, as the gates securely lock and close behind you, if you cannot adjust to the prison environment but feel extremely uncomfortable and also experience intense fear—find another job. For the rest of you who can make the transition, it can be a unique and rewarding career (although dangerous). Always remember common sense will be your best friend in A Whole Other World.

Special thanks to the State Archives of Florida and the Florida Department of Corrections for the prison photos included in this book.

Sincerely,

Chip Valley

Reviews

As a law enforcement professional for over forty years, I recognize that Chip Valley has nailed down the harsh realities of prison life in his very first fictional novel. This work begs for a sequel. A Whole Other World II is in my sights!

Chief Thomas M. Dettman, City of Sebring, Fl., Police Department

City of Boynton Beach, Fl., Police Department, Retired

***

Chip Valley has scored an A+ with a true depiction of prison life, and environment, in his very true and exciting book WHOLE OTHER WORLD. GREAT JOB CHIP. It is one of those books that once you begin reading you don't want to stop until you have completed the entire fascinating story.

Ed Lynch is a retired Classification Officer of the Florida Department of Corrections

***

A realistic portrayal of the trials and tribulations faced within the prison life.

Randy Tifft

Regional Director with the Florida Department of Corrections

Chapter One

The Newcock

Bobby Carter graduated from Edgewater High School located in Orlando during the eventful year of 1969. It was the year of the hottest muscle cars. The New York Jets defeated the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III, Led Zeppelin released its first album, Richard Nixon was sworn in as the thirty-seventh president, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon, Charles Manson and the Manson Family committed murders in Los Angeles, the New York Mets beat the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series, Woodstock drew half a million people to upstate New York—and Bobby Carter was drafted into the U.S. Army and then deployed to the Vietnam War. That is a whole other story.

After four years of serving his country, Carter was honorably discharged. He returned to Orlando in 1973, but Disney World had opened, and everything, including himself, had changed dramatically. He still wanted to fight, so he trained in Korean karate while working as a security guard in the most violent area of Orlando, on the South Orange Blossom Trail. After earning a first degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do, Carter then made a decision that would change his life forever.

During the hot, humid summer of 1975, Carter decided to leave Orlando and move one hundred miles south to the small town of Lake Placid. He really didn’t want to leave the excitement of physically running down, tackling, and handcuffing hoodlums that he then restrained until the Orange County Sheriff’s Department arrived to arrest them. He would apprehend at least one person every night for crimes as minor as stealing hubcaps off a car, or as major as rape. But Carter’s girlfriend, Lisa Green, who also happened to be the mother of his child, Tara, had left him and moved to Lake Placid four weeks earlier.

Carter knew he deserved being left; he had been unfaithful to Lisa several times. But it wasn’t Lisa he missed—it was two-year-old Tara who was tugging on his heart.

When Carter finally arrived in Lake Placid, he quickly made amends with Lisa. Tara was back in his life, which was really what he wanted. Now there was the problem of what to do for employment. There were no security jobs or karate schools. There wasn’t much of anything to do in the small town.

On a sunny Wednesday morning, Carter took Lisa and Tara to a nearby state park for a cookout. After eating hotdogs and chips, they walked on a nature trail and spent some time bonding with each other. Before they left, Carter met a park ranger who told him there was a state correctional prison about twenty-five miles north of Lake Placid. The ranger had heard they were hiring prison guards.

The next day, on a Thursday afternoon, wearing blue jeans, t-shirt, and sneakers, Carter drove his pickup truck north to the state prison. As he pulled into the prison parking lot, he was overwhelmed by what he observed. Two fourteen-foot-high chain-link fences topped with barbed wire glistened under the bright Florida sunlight. The fences and an asphalt road encircled the entire perimeter of the fifty-acre state prison compound. Beyond the inner fence he could see several large concrete buildings and hundreds of male inmates, all dressed in blue state uniforms. The inmates seemed to swarm everywhere.

Without hesitation Carter jumped out of his truck and walked toward the closest building behind the outer fence. The words Main Control Room were painted on the building in large black letters. As he walked across the road, he noticed the front cubical section of the main control room building appeared to be encased in bulletproof glass.

When Carter stepped within six feet of the glass, a nine-inch by twelve-inch metal flap flew open. A tall, white-haired male correctional officer, standing inside the glass, yelled, What do you want?

Carter replied, I want to be a prison guard. After Carter passed his driver’s license through the metal flap, the white-haired sergeant electronically unlocked the fence gate next to the glass and told Carter to push the gate open and enter.

Carter stepped into a fully enclosed chain-link passageway, as the sergeant yelled, Close the gate behind you. Carter shut the gate and entered the control room building. He found himself standing inside the control room building next to bulletproof glass. Carter looked at the sergeant who was standing inside the glass cube, and it made him think of a large fish aquarium.

Prison main control room and Sally Port entrance

A distinguished-looking giant of a man, who must have been six feet seven inches tall and weighed two hundred and sixty pounds, was standing about thirty feet down the hallway in front of Carter. He said, I’m Colonel Jefferson. Come into my office, boy, and he disappeared inside.

At six feet tall and one hundred and eighty-five pounds, Carter started to feel kind of average as he walked down the hallway. When he entered the colonel’s office, he observed Jefferson sitting behind a large desk. Jefferson told Carter to have a seat and then looked directly into his eyes. So you want to be a prison guard?

Carter replied, Yes, sir.

The colonel then asked Carter several standard questions that would fit the character of a prison guard, but the number one question the colonel wanted to hear him answer was this: If an inmate attempted to escape, could Carter shoot him? Of course, with Carter’s military background he easily answered, Yes, and added, It wouldn’t be my problem because it would be the inmate’s fault for forcing me to do my job.

Jefferson smiled and hired Carter immediately. He gave Carter a civil service test to complete, and Carter aced it. Jefferson told Carter he was assigned to the 4:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. shift, with Tuesdays and Wednesdays off, and he would be starting that very night. The colonel then escorted Carter to the briefing room to wait for his job assignment.

Carter quickly learned that prison guards were professionally called correctional officers. Nineteen correctional officers and six correctional officer sergeants, all wearing brown uniforms, filed into the briefing room over the next fifteen minutes. Carter would later learn that the inmates referred to them as the Goon Squad. They were all large men, standing at least six feet tall and weighing a minimum of two hundred pounds. Not one of them spoke a word to Carter.

Captain Kelly, the 4:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. shift officer in charge (OIC), appeared at 3:45 p.m. He was a large, middle-aged man with a military haircut. His hair was silvery grey and his uniform was smartly pressed. He seemed angry with the world as he started to read from a duty roster, assigning the correctional officers and sergeants to post locations within the prison compound. When they had all departed one by one, Carter was the only man left. Kelly’s demeanor reminded Carter of an army drill instructor and made Carter feel like a recruit in boot camp again. Kelly stated in a loud, authoritative voice, Carter, A-dorm.

As Kelly started to exit the briefing room, Carter asked him, Where is A-dorm?

Captain Kelly immediately turned around and looked furious as he bellowed, Find it!

Carter jumped to his feet and flew out of the briefing room. He left the control room building and walked onto the fifty-acre state prison compound for the first time. Immediately cognizant of the environment he had entered, Carter experienced a flashback to his Vietnam tour of duty. He was in a hostile situation, but this time he had no weapons other than his own hands and feet. It felt odd, but he was surprisingly calm. He walked about one hundred yards south of the control room building. To his right he observed the medical treatment center building (MTC) and the confinement unit. To his left was the kitchen chow hall building.

Carter could sense all the inmates eyeing his every move. They knew he had no experience or training because he wasn’t wearing a uniform. Carter was what the inmates called a Newcock.

After Carter walked south for another two hundred yards, he could see five T-shaped dormitories spread out over several acres. All of the T-dorms were marked with large black letters: E-dorm, D-dorm, C-dorm, B-dorm, and A-dorm. He walked straight to A-dorm and entered a five-foot-by-fifteen-foot inmate passageway constructed of concrete, steel, and bulletproof glass. To his immediate left was the A-dorm officers’ station, which was built the same as the inmate passageway, only larger—eight feet by fifteen feet.

Standing inside the inmate passageway, Carter looked to his left, where he could see two large men wearing brown correctional officers’ uniforms standing inside the officers’ station. The taller man looked like a lean teenager with acne covering his baby face. On his uniform shirt was a silver-colored metal nameplate that bore the round symbol of the Department of Corrections, State of Florida. Next to the symbol were the officer’s first two initials and his last name: F.T. Stevens. The other man wasn’t as tall, but more muscular. He appeared to be in his late twenties and had thick, dark hair and a bushy mustache. He was wearing sergeant chevrons on each side of his uniform shirt collar, and his nameplate read T.R. Hamilton.

Sergeant Hamilton opened the door and let Carter step inside. Carter now felt like he was a fish inside an aquarium. Hamilton asked him, Where are you from?

Orlando.

Damn Yankee! Sergeant Hamilton responded.

Officer Stevens asked Carter, Do you hunt or fish?

Carter replied, The only hunting we did in Orlando was when we went out at night looking for girls.

Hamilton and Stevens simultaneously said, City boy!

Carter started to understand that he had taken a job where the correctional officers were all redneck, good ol’ boys. Now there were white, black, and Hispanic officers, but they all had grown up in the same small area and didn’t like outsiders.

The sergeant told Carter to go with Stevens into the dorm and count the inmates. A-dorm was constructed the same as all the other T-dorms. There was a left wing, center wing, and right wing. Each wing had a lower and upper floor. For example, the AL1-wing was the A-dorm’s left wing, lower floor, and the AC2-wing was the A-dorm’s center wing, upper floor. All the wings had cells that measured nine feet by twelve feet, with two inmates assigned to each cell, except the ten one-man administrative confinement cells in each dorm. All cells had two metal bunks and one metal shelf attached to the left wall, with one metal table and one porcelain sink attached to the right wall. Each of the ten administrative cells also had a porcelain toilet, so inmates could be locked into a cell twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week for administrative confinement purposes. All six floors had one television room and two bathrooms. Each bathroom had two wall-mounted porcelain urinals, two sit-down porcelain toilets, two showers, and two porcelain sinks. There was a lobby area in front of the officers’ station and inmate passageway and a stairway going up or down to the six floors in the dorm. Each dorm’s total capacity was nearly two hundred inmates.

Carter heard Sergeant Hamilton’s voice echo through the dorm over the intercom system: Count time, get in your cells and sit on your bunks, no talking count time. A red count light lit on all six floors.

After Stevens and Carter finished counting the dorm, they told Hamilton their counts through a six-inch-by-nine-inch metal screened plate embedded in the bulletproof glass of the officers’ station. About fifteen minutes later, the main control room cleared the institutional count with a total of one thousand and thirty-one inmates present.

Sergeant Hamilton and Officer Stevens departed A-dorm to assist with the supper feeding of the inmates. Carter was instructed to stay in the A-dorm officers’ station and not open the door until they returned. Carter found a book titled Inmate Manual that contained all the inmate rules and regulations. It also had the penalties inmates would