Albemarle Correctional is the bottom of the barrel in terms of everything to do with this prison! They make it as difficult in every conceivable way as possible for both the inmates and their families. Although all Covid restrictions have been lifted, Albemarle still only permits one visit, 1 hr per month, sitting 6 feet away from your loved one.
I have gone through the list of questions and will elaborate on each subject as it pertains to Albemarle.
Drug Rehabilitation Programs – If there are any at Albemarle, clearly, they are not working since I hear about this inmate and that inmate overdosing, going crazy, being taken from the block hyped up on whatever they have gotten their hands on, all the time. Quite the opposite, Albemarle seems to have a real problem with illegal drugs making their way into the prison.
Mental Health Programs – I have not really heard anything about any mental health programs being offered so, I am not sure on this one.
Library Quality – I think it has a good variety from what my loved one says but could certainly use some more updated content.
Warden – I have heard nothing of the Warden, and I certainly hope he / she does not actually know what is going on in there and just letting it all slide.
Recreational Program Choices – Is this a serious question? There are ZERO recreational “choices” beyond being allowed outside onto the yard where there is no shade, no shelter, and no access to either water or bathroom facilities of any kind, rain, or shine, which is where they stay until the guards on duty decide otherwise.
Educational Program Quality – Unsure due to my loved one having an incompetent case worker who has done nothing to help him in this regard. He has sent multiple requests to his case worker, with no response. I imagine it quite difficult to garner education when the very people that are supposed to help cannot even bother to respond, let alone do their job!
How Officers Treat Inmates – This one is a LONG one…. The officers treat the inmates little better than animals, they treat them with utter disrespect and contempt, they go out of their way to make them miserable in every conceivable way and constantly try to get them into trouble, get them written up as often as possible, they will write them up for the most ridiculous reasons! There is no cold water in the blocks where inmates sit and stew in nearly 100-degree temperatures due to not having air conditioning, but the guard areas are nicely air conditioned. The guards kee8-hourers of cold water outside of the block and the only time the inmates get any is if they open the door and do a “water call”, sometimes with nearly entire 8 hour shifts passing with no one being allowed to get water, and if you happen to not hear the water call, well… that’s too bad! If an inmate gives another inmate food from the approved canteen vendor, and the officers see, they will confiscate it and not allow either person to have it, even though they paid for it! If an inmate has an extra pillow, shirt, shoes, etc., the guards will confiscate anything they can, merely for the pleasure of making them miserable. Some of those guards should be behind bars and wearing inmate numbers themselves!
How Inmates Treat Each Other – For the most part, the inmates seem to keep to themselves and not try to cause issues with fellow inmates. It is as good as it can be I guess with 30 + men crammed into a very small block all day, every day….
Cleanliness of Facility – I cannot speak on the entire facility as I only see the initial guard shed and then the visitation room; Those seem to always be decently clean but my loved one tells me of horrors inside the block about the state of cleanliness being more than lacking.
Safety of Inmate Personal Property – Again, is this a serious question? They have no safety of themselves or their belongings. Guards routinely confiscate and throw away the inmates’ personal effects regardless of the value to the inmate. Just recently, although my loved one had never heard of this rule until the “day of reckoning” on that account, that inmates were not to keep any items on top of their lockers, the lockers are very small and some of the inmates stacked there educational papers, certificates form classes they had taken and completed, letters from family, etc. on top of their lockers, then the guards came through announcing that it wasn’t allowed then proceeded to confiscate and discard their personal property!
Phone Availability – Seems to be decent with the wall phone and each inmate being able to use their individual tablets to make calls.
Commissary Items and Prices – Depending on the product, some are very reasonably priced while other items seem extremely costly. There seems to be a decent although limited choice of items but the inmates are not allowed to leave the block to go to the Commissary, they have to fill out requests and drop them in a box each evening and then commissary is brought in the next day, and apparently they aren’t allowed to order food items and things like deodorant or pens at the same time? I am not really sure why…
Treatment of Visitors – Slightly better than the inmates although “we” could potentially be criminals ourselves so we are subject to sometimes “extreme pat-downs”, depending on the guards that are working visitation up to and including the standing of a TWO YEAR OLD little boy against the wall like a common criminal and patting this baby down while he freaked out not knowing what was happening! I witnessed this with my own eyes! Also, we are not permitted to stand under the covered entrance, we have to stand on the other side of the walkway, rain or shine, I stood there in the cold and in the rain with several other women with small children and babies, watching them get soaked because the guards didn’t care one bit to put little ones in potential harms way.
Visitation Rights – We have the right to visit our loved one once a month, for one hour and sit six feet from them for the entirety of the visit. I drive 3.5 hours one way to see him, and they will not make any reconciliation for me to visit a little longer or anything. It simply does not matter.
Inmate Privacy – And again…. Is this a serious question? 30 + men all crowded together into very small blocks, bunkbeds stacked in 4 ft increments, completely open bathroom facilities with large windows where the guards, male and female, can literally stand there and watch them take a shower or go to the bathroom. There is ZERO privacy!
Inmate Food Quality – Chicken patties with shards of bone in them, rancid milk, undercooked beans with sugar in them, tuna salad that is more like a mayonnaise soup, wilted vegetables, the list could go on and on! Makes you want to line up for a tray, doesn’t it?
Inmate Safety – Seriously? They have none. A man passed out on the yard, another inmate started banging on the doors to get the guards attention and get help for the man that had gone unconscious, it took him more than 10 minutes to get someone out there, they then slapped the unconscious man in a wheelchair and left him sitting in the haul for more than 20 minutes before calling medical. The man who raised cane to get the other one help was swiftly carted off to segregation and threatened first with a Federal Murder Charge if the other man died due to drugs, which was not the case at all, and then 2 guards threatened to kill him if the other man died! Guards with free reign to threaten to KILL inmates!
The man that passed out was later determined to have suffered a stroke and to my knowledge, is still in the hospital because of not only the stroke but the negligence suffered at the incompetent hands of Albemarle Correctional!
In summary, this camp should not only be investigated, closed, and sued by inmate families, but multiple employees within Albemarle should also be brought up on charges and given their very own prison numbers!
