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Interview with Julie, Inmate's Sister, Claire, Jim, DK, Smyth, Ken, Charlene, Greg, GMan, Jamie, Leisha, Toby, Lisa, Consuela, Tom, nogboy, Rachel, Chris, Sandy, Ginger, Craig, Lesley, Houston and Ralph

JM: How many different blocks were there?
Julie: Alot
Inmate's Sister: dont know
Claire: As far as I knew, there were maybe 9 or 10 floors of pods. Pods were basically dorm type rooms or barracks-type rooms with bunk beds set up (about 10 sets) in it, with two toilets, two sinks, and two showers.
Jim: Three block in each pod.
DK: not sure
Smyth: 12
Ken: Don't know, several
Charlene: I don't know
Greg: two blacks to four thank god.
GMan: I have no idea
Jamie: ------------------
Leisha: a thru f on the 4th floor
Toby: oh they're to many to count
Lisa: I don't remember. On 5th floor there were 5 blocks, 4th Floor had a bunch,2nd was the psychiatric floor.
Consuela: There is alot of different blocks and cells.
Tom: Not sure
nogboy: Alot, the blocks are like a labrynth.
Rachel: 4 or 5 I think
Chris: i dont really know how many blocks . harris county is a really big place.
Sandy: not sure I was there back in 2001
Ginger: 5 different cell blocks but you dont' see any but the one your on.
Craig: There are 6 floors with Pods A-M on them
Lesley: i have no clue not sure what a block is you have to remember this is the first time i have been in jail

JM: Did they have names? If so, what were they?
Julie: They had letter like block A or B or C
Inmate's Sister: na
Claire: Every floor had an "A" pod and a "B" pod.
Jim: no names just numbered depending on the floor you are on.
Smyth: No letters.. A B C D E F G H I J K L
Ken: Don't know
Charlene: The only thing I knew I was on Baker STreet
Greg: None, Called, lonely, and self preservation.
GMan: I have no idea
Jamie: ------------------
Leisha: cell block a,b,c@ and so forth
Toby: but they start at a and go to f i think ..but that's here in the harris county jail.
Lisa: Yeah. Little Baker, and Baby Jail
Consuela: No, they were marked by letters and numbers such as 4k1 or 5d1b
Chris: the floors are catagorized by numbers and the dorms by letters.
Sandy: From what I remember there were numbers as the names of the housing unit s
Ginger: a-e is what they use for the names and then there are subsections like a1 or c4
Craig: First floor was where the Kitchen was at the second Floor and third floor was for Inmates who were sentenced. The Fourth floor was the Psychiatric Floor and was the Main Intake floor when you first came in to the Jail. It was called the "Shoe". It was the first floor you were put on prior to being Classified to the floor you were going to. Level 4a or 4b. It was called the level that you were put on when you first came in before moving to the 2nd floor for Sentenced Inmates. The 6th floor was for inmates who were looking at alot of Time in Jail and who were charged with serious accounts and charges.
Lesley: did what have names im assuming the different cell with 8 women each just numer

JM: Which types of inmates were housed in the different blocks?
Julie: To my understanding based on the crime you committed less violent was together
Inmate's Sister: na
Houston: I know that the mentally unstable and gang people were kept seperate.
Claire: I am not sure exactly how it was determined which inmates would be put where….
Jim: youngsters, sex offenders, homosexuals, snitches and state witnesses are seperated.
Smyth: According to work assignment.
Ken: My offense was DWI 3rd offense. I was housed with people that had drug and alcohol offenses. Some were there for other things like theft. Not sure why everyone on my block was there, tried to keep to myself.
Charlene: I don't know
Greg: counted diffrent, lockup's for all people who are viloater's of extreme crimes, to the ones less punishibal.
GMan: I have no idea
Jamie: -----------------
Leisha: with agg agg and everybody else just put together. and i guess theh got baby tanks
Toby: well i think they have different jails and floors here in the harris county jail just take a look at the different addresses. Inmates Housed at Mailing Address 701 or 711 N. San Jacinto Harris County Sheriff’s Office 701 N. San Jacinto Houston, Texas 77002 1307 Baker Street Harris County Sheriff’s Office 1307 Baker St. Houston, Texas 77002 1200 Baker Street Harris County Sheriff’s Office 1200 Baker St. Houston, Texas 77002 they have like 11000 inmates here.
Lisa: Well all the inmates 18-21 were in "Baby Jail".
Consuela: Most of the crazy or dangerous inmates are housed in J pod. But if any person with good common knowledge starts to become a problem the sheriffs will not hesitate to put them there for any number of days with no remorse.
Tom: We were housed by risk level which was determined by criminal history, type of crime, length of sentence, gang affiliation, sexual orientation etc
nogboy: Bad asses with bad asses, weekenders with weekenders, etc.... you go through a classification interview, before they put you in a pod
Rachel: Mine was all female, the rest I don't know
Ralph: I was in a cell with drug addicts and crazy people. The top floor was for violent offenders. Then there was a floor for sex offenders, one for gay and mixed-gender people, one for women, and then probably the rest were general population. I think trustees and inmates taking classes were at little baker.
Chris: there are all types of inmates housed in the blocks . everything from rapists to petty theives , muderers to bums and they have blocks where the keep the homosexuals segregated
Sandy: This was for women only and they had people that had not committed serious crimes but on the other side they had women that had committed murder and other things
Ginger: There were 2 cell blocks used for younger inmates and then there are some for trustees and also protective custody, and then there are the ones for general population. That's the only ones I know.
Craig: It depended upon their charges and what they had on their previous Criminal History as to what Blocks they were put in. It also depended upon what they did to be put in Jail. Psychiatric Inmates were housed on the 4th floor. Inmates who were sentenced were on the 2nd floor and the 3rd floor. Inmates who worked in the Kitchen were on the first floor
Lesley: i was in the psych ward you would have the suicidal people but you would also get anyone that was sick or handicapped or small behavioral problems or pregnant or dont forget nuts

JM: What do you remember being the nicest and worst parts about the different blocks?
Julie: Nothing at all I was only in one block
Inmate's Sister: na
Houston: Nicest . um they had enough toilet paper? Worst, having to deal with the stench of the street riff raff that came in on the weekends.
Claire: The other inmates were pretty cool. And they were clean. We cleaned about 2 or 3 times per day. Mostly out of boredom, I think. There was nothing that really stood out about my pod that I would consider bad. I mean, being in jail is bad enough, right?
Jim: Nothing nice. The worst was how cold they keep it. In the daytime at 7am you must get out of your bed and you cant get under the covers. Also alot of satph infection. It's also a lengthy process to get medical attention
Smyth: Nicest.. get to go to school during days. Worst.. do not go anywhere and get beat on daily without help from guards.
Ken: The best thing was that the cell block was relatively clean. It was also kept quite cool or cold. I was told that was to prevent disease. It's a bit like a refridgerator. The worst part was the beds were very uncomfortable. Virtually no sheets or blankets to speak of. The showers are nasty, but useable. The toilets are numbered and half are for urine only the other half are full service so to speak. Food was hit or miss, none of it was great. Breakfast tended to be the best meal. Breakfast work detail was the prefered time because the work hours were the shortest and work was easiest.
Charlene: It is despicable that the jail system is set up worse than animals are treated. Having drinking fountains over the toilet. How long do u think any business would opperate with facilities like these. IT IS DOWN RIGHT IN HUMANE!
Greg: Nothing is nice, your going to jail and sitting on ur butt for over 10 day's.s
GMan: There were no nice blocks...it was all horrible.
Jamie: ------------------
Leisha: the whole jail needs to upgrade
Toby: well there's definitely nothing nice about these tanks or blocks.
Consuela: There is no nice parts, so what if you get 1 or 2 minutes extra visitation, it only lasts 15 minutes if your lucky.Worst parts knowing that the sheriffs on the 4th floor beat a woman to death in the shower and made it seem accidental.
Tom: I can only speak for where I was. I was in a trustee tank and the best thing was the tv was on most of the time because groups of us were working different shifts around the clock. The worst thing was the noise from people coming and going and of course the toilet and shower situation was bad.
nogboy: The air conditioner runs day and night, always freezing cold
Rachel: I stayed in my cell so it's hard to say. No windows though so it sucked
Ralph: The nicest part is that my pod had a reputation among the guards as being one of the easiest to work. We didn't cause trouble. So the guards treated us well as long as we maintained that reputation. The worst part was that over half of the inmates in my pod were snorting and abusing psych meds. so they would get wild and unpredictable. It would get really scary sometimes.
Chris: i really do not remember one nice thing about the blocks in the harris county jail every thing about it was the worst part . disrespectful people that all think they are rap stars up banging on the walls and tables all night or the filth and scum that you have no choice but to live in.
Sandy: There was nothing nice about being in the Harris County Jail. It is the worse place to be. The food is horrible and you are treated like an animal and they count you every freakin day also it is very very cold in there and you have to try new ways to stay warm
Ginger: I only know a little about the different blocks. I do know that the trustees have tvs in their cells and they get to stay by themselves. The worst part is the over crowding. There are way too many people in there and it's terribly hard to live like that.
Craig: There was fights all the time on the 5th floor and upper floors, 6th. There was fights and people who just arrived to the jail on floor 2 B. This is where the younger inmates were at and Inmates that I knew from the Academy. The floor was very chaotic and was very loud and fights alot.
Lesley: probably seeing the segregation it was so bluntly obvious most every cell was either black or white with no inbetweens......that the cell only held 8 people so it never felt like someone was on top of you constantly i did enjoy reading a few books hadnt been able to do that in years

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