1. A Former Inmate's Story - Part 2 Mon, May 07 2012 1:14 AM

   A FORMER INMATE'S STORY. PART 1. The Justice Center is the first stop for anyone arrested and booked in Portland Oregon - Multnomah County Jail. The booking process takes time, but the deputies who run intake are overall, fair and funny - but tough - and firmly in control even though you are unshackled and can sit, watch TV, go to the bathroom, etc. The first stop is a thorough search. Sometimes you then go to a holding cell if they are backed up, but often you will sit in a small group of chairs to watch TV and wait to get called to get your mugshot. From there, you move to a large, open room where you wait to see the nurse and do your formal intake. You will be asked if you are affiliated with a gang. You can manipulate the system to get fresher vegetarian meals claiming you are a practioner of the Muslim religion. Of course, if you do that you now have the attention of a federal agency that will want to 'look at your file'. After several hours and maybe a baloney sandwich, milk and cookie, you will be called, along with a group of others, to get your strip search, then your uniform and bedding. You are also given a free toiletry kit with something like shampoo, lotion a 3" tootbrush and toothpaste from China. The 2 piece uniform is a medium blue, pink t-shirt, pink underwear and pink socks. The brighter pink ones are newer. Noone gives a shit about the pink. The idea has lost it's edge. You are walked down a hallway to a large elevator and you ride up as a group to your respective floors and dorms. You are put in a 2-man cell, with painted concrete slabs as bunks, slit like windows giving you a clear view of downtown Portland. It's strange to see life going on with you locked in a jail. It can be both depressing and a great way to the pass the time. But that's all that is good with the Justice Center. From then on you are locked in a cell most of the day. You are only out for 2 hours a day (one hour at a time) to shower, get a book, make a phone call or work out. You eat in your cell. Your cellie might be a guy coming down from tweaking for months in a row and is in for possession, it could be a violent person, it could be a federal detainee involved in some high profile finance scheme... You never know for sure who you will end up, or how many different people will come and go in your cell. People come and go quickly at the Justice Center. Some get bailed out, most of the rest to Inverness, the better jail. Your wait can be a day or two or weeks. The more trouble you have given them in the past, the more fights, etc... the longer you wait. To read what happens as you leave for Inverness, skip over to the Inverness Page, by clicking the MORE JAILS IN THIS COUNTY (blue and red) icon right next to the address at the top of this page. ^^

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