BravingThe Banjo, Part VIII - Polk County Jail

Polk County Jail

Well kids, 'twould appear that, once again, those of Iowa DHS/CPS, The County Attorney for Polk County, IA, and 8,416 L.A. County social workers in California aren't very thrilled with my actions of late. I am, after just a day of freedom, right back in state custody again. This time, they tossed in one felony charge, to be sure I don't get out quite so easily. 

Now, I feel it's no longer enough for me to just expose the corruption and utter lawlessness of Polk County Iowa's elected officials, now I also intend to expose their methodology as well, where destroying America's Citizen's lives are concerned, in absolute horrific disregard for the havoc they create in dealing with their fellow man, all in the name of profit and greed.

What the majority of the rest of America fails to understand is, that "the system" isn't here to punish wrongdoers and protect law-abiding citizens anymore: it's NEW function is now to produce a steady stream of revenue,and serves more to create, hold and feed off of these "criminals", than it does to rehabilitate them, or prevent them from being "criminals" in the future.

For now, I will not be presenting viable "solutions" to this particular American issue, mostly because, like so many other serious irreparable issues that America endues, I feel that this one in particular is definitely one of those that deserves nothing less then total deconstruction, then a RE-construction.... from the ground up.

In order to accomplish their anti-Constitutional behaviors and agendas, our Government has now enlisted the assistance of out lopsided one-way codes, rules and statutes on all legal levels. The net to catch people "breaking the law" is so wide now, that it has become meaningless, as well as has become absolutely ridiculous in its enforcement of these illegal "laws". A little girl picking daises on the sidewalk could be found to be in violation of the law, and made into a hardened criminal before she turns 6, should the wont be there to do so. Each and every thought, word, and body motion is, these days, almost in need of full analysis before execution for one or more minutes, in order to make sure no law is broken, these days. A judges favorite phrase is "ignorance of the law is no excuse", putting the responsibility on "We the People" to keep up with the 5,000 laws they pass every month. Whether you are guilty or innocent matters no more, and matters such as "are you employed" or "how much money do you make" are now the priority. Unfortunates who have little to no money, and no knowledge of their rights and the law are preferred targets, for these are the people who say the least, and want out of their prison the most, and therefore are the most likely to go along with whatever happens; and their court appointed attorneys, of course, allow this.  The demographic of unfortunate victims of late hardly define the phrase "Lawbreakers" at all.

These  unfortunates have fallen victim to an entirely new brand of crime spree, meant to not only accomplish the time honored act of fleecing certain less success-oriented citizens of these United States; it has been used, of late, to accomplish other more arduous tasks of our current Administration as well, such as disarming the American People (by finding them criminal in other things, then taking their weapons or land/property in a search), or to put away those who would expose their corrupt acts and lawbreaking, and hold them there indefinitely, or at least long enough to make them rethink what they do. They are also destroying families,and justifying other major criminal acts, usually being committed by those placing them in their prisons to begin with.

There are, that I know of, 3 different ways to accomplish this, being a CURRENT victim of all 3 methods. First, is the ruse of the State taking over charges that are filed, then dropped by the victim filing those charges, in an effort to claim that a crime committed by the offender is now a crime committed against the state, effectively (and claimed) to "pick up the ball" where it was dropped by the victim, for whatever reason (such as being intimidated by the perpetrator, for example). Whereas this used to be used in legitimate circumstances, it is now being widely abused to get people THEY want off the street, using the dropped charges as reason to continue as the State.

Another way to do this is to add charges along the way to trial, or as you're being brought in on a minor warrant charge. This, of course, makes it more difficult for the person accused to get bailed out of jail before trial, and holds these people for a lot longer, supposedly to "protect" the American people.

A third and final way to do this is to just make up a charge entirely... then drop it right before trial, in order to jail those people that are a pain in their side. All three of these methods have been utilized against me personally, in order to keep me from exposing crimes committed against my state's citizens; and extra bonus, makes the jails and prisons, and well as the state of Iowa, more cash in revenues. 

Now, before I lose my readers entirely, and get pinned with what some might call a "persecuted" point of view, I feel some much needed statistics may be in order. First, we in America are, currently the #1 country in the world... for the most citizens jailed per capita.

Locally, in the county I am currently jailed in, there were, last year, 15,076 inmates booked into the county jail last year, in 2015.  By the time January 26th came along, and I was arrested? I was number 1,110 booked in. You get that "Bullshit" feeling yet, where the number of criminals in just one county in Iowa are concerned??

Folks, Jails and prisons are a business, and laws, statutes and codes are the catalyst for that business. Rights are traded in at the time handcuffs are slipped on your wrists, and continue in until the you pay your fines and court costs. It isn't about fixing the problem, it only continues to add to it.

 Another thing that's important to mention as well, is that most of America isn't aware of the severity of this problem; or simply knows, and doesn't care. As long as it doesn't affect you and yours in the next class up, it's all good...right? "Good riddance to bad rubbish; let them look after their own."

For those of you new to this blog, I highly recommend reading the previous 7 posts of "Braving the Banjo". If nothing else, give them a good once over, skimmy style. You'll quickly realize how much, and how often they torture, fleece, and jail the lower class, as well as cast their nets wide in order to keep the cash coming in.

Let's get a good look now, at what the  average "criminal" goes though, start to finish, in the local county pokey of  Polk County, Iowa, where I and so many others are concerned. Before we begin, lets start by noting that the defendants in this jail (with the exceptions being the "worker pod" inmates) are charged room and board of $60 per day incarcerated; and the county receives about $142 per day to house each inmate as well ($300 a day for those awaiting the Feds to come and get them from the county, which could be upwards of 2 years, depending on who you are and how badly they want you).

LOCAL phone calls to others (debited from "money on your books") is taken at rates of  $3 for local calls (for 20 minutes), 21 cents a minute for non-local and long distance, and when you call long distance or local collect, it's one dollar a minute for a 10 minute call. Commissary (extras they don't give you) can't be gotten for upwards of 2 weeks, and prices are marked up as high as 400% (i.e. radios and headphones- $46; pencil erasers are 24 cents)

First, a complaint is made to the local police, and an arrest warrant is then issued. The police pick up their subject(s), and transfer them to the county jail. Most will transfer out of this jail to prisons, but some have endured stays as long as 4 yrs.

Upon your arrival here, the "booking" process can take as long as 36 hours.  The physical process takes all of maybe an hour, even including your initial "court appearance, fingerprinting, photos, medical interview, and the actual "booking in" itself. The rest of this time is spent in an all-cement 6'x10' area with one-way glass, with as many as 12 other people awaiting "booking".

There is no clock, no pencils or paper are allowed, you get a blanket, no pillow, no phone calls and your lights are in the 24 hour "on" position. Sleep, if achieved, comes in brief, cramped and uncomfortable spurts at best, and meals are about all there are to look forward to, as well as those times that the doors open and people come and go. For those guilty of a crime, this treatment is common and expected. For those who count in the ranks of the innocent, this is certainly hell times two.

Those lucky enough to get a hold of a friend or relative in their arrival or just after booking (where you receive a free LOCAL  call) may get bailed or bonded out, yet from cash down at the window, this process has taken as long as 6 hours. The actual time, from word of release to the outdoors? Takes about four minutes.

During the course of my two weeks here, I've seen 50 C.O.'s (Correctional Officers), 10 in Red shirts (called in for trouble-making inmates), 6 Sergeants, 2 Lieutenants, and 1 Captain. In this time, I've also seen, maximum, around 100 inmates. Tops, 150. The entire jail holds around 1,500 inmates, so it stands to reason that if I've only seen a 10th of them, that I've only seen about a 10th of the employees as well, putting the total number of those around 700. So why, if there's only 2 prisoners per employee would processing  inmates in/out take almost 2 days?  I refer you back to the $142 per prisoner per day for that.  There's that corporate feeling. The longer you process, the more money you bring in.  And lets not forget that "bill" you get for your pleasure cruise, at $60 a day. Lets do the math here. That's $202 a day...times around 1,200 prisoners a month, just the room and board is around $29,000,000 a year. Add to that the $142 a day per head in federal funds from our nation's taxpayers? $93,075,000. For one county of 99, and one state in 50. And that's if there's only 3 million in population, as in Iowa.

Now for some for the more harsh facts about jails and prisons. Law books and a library are available, but the waiting list is long. Often, by the time you get there, it's too late.  You are, of course, able to use your court appointed attorney for things (usually all us "victims" can afford), but getting them to do anything before your day in court is like pulling teeth. If you're in jail, as well as your own attorney, you receive no special consideration. The only identity you can claim in jail is "criminal pain-in-the-ass" who is trying to be difficult. If you get depressed, they won't even blink, the red shirt team will gladly strip you of your clothes and toss you into your own cell with nothing for 24 hours or more. Folks, I don't think it's understood that we are picked on the most, not only because of our inability to do proper battle, but also because we don't and often aren't allowed to stand up. The point is, you lose all the "rights" you may have, all respect you're due, and your good name the minute the cuffs come out. As a prisoner, innocent or not, you become guilty and sub-human instantly.

In case you aren't aware of it, how life is; all scopes are pointed down at ,the worker ants. We're the ones who built our civilization from the sewers up, who fight all the hardest and deadliest battles, in the streets, in the courts, and for our lives. Our families are destroyed and our children snatched from us, our fees, fines, interests and costs are astronomical, and our freedoms are attacked and deprived us most. The upper crust of humanity considers us to be no better than toe jam; they give us all the blame, and we roll over, shut out mouths and take it. They think us too dumb to understand and too weak to fight.

But our time, as well as theirs, is coming to an end. As ours comes to and end survival instinct kicks in. No longer shall we accept our forced upon roles of "victims" and "products" of the broken system. Used for our lowly paid, hard earned wages. Used as "statistics" to change things to be better for them and worse for us, and further their careers, in both business and politics, and increase their revenues. The time we endure the shit with our mouths firmly shut has ended. In case you're unsure as to who it is we'll step on and over to survive? I suggest you find a safe place to step back and get out of the way.