Just when I think the cops at the Maine State Prison are starting to get away from their childish and asinine antics they replace one w/another. Their newest game is to try and make prisoners on their way to the chowhall [sic] bump into them or brush them as they walk by. So they can write them up or lug them to seg. for assault on an officer.
There is a yellow line down the center of the runway. You must stay to the left of the line when going to or from the chowhalls [sic]. Some officers who are under the direct order of Capt. Cutler will stand on the line when the runway is full of people, daring anyone to make contact.
Sgt. Fries, Sgt. Doyle, and officers Duperre and Perry have come up w/a new game. These four are known by prisoners as Cutlers [sic] henchmen. They are known to set people up when they can’t bust someone for legitimate rule infractions. They will plant razor blades, tattoo guns even drugs in a prisoners [sic] cell, or say they found it during a patdown [sic]. One Sgt. who no longer works here whos [sic] name is Brownell would tell you he’d set you up if you made complaints on him and was known to carry a plastic case w/razors in it. This kind of thing has gone on for years.
Anyway, back to Duperre and Perry. They will stand in the middle of the runway about 2 feet apart and make every person walk between them. The space is so small that you have to literally turn sideways to go through. Capt. Cutler and Sgt. Fries will stand behind them and have been heard by numerous prisoners saying, “If they make any contact w/you drop them!”
I have noticed small changes here and there throughout the prison. Some officers have begun to act more professional and are obviously trying to go along w/what the new administration has in mind.
Others like Fries, Doyle, Duperre and Cutler will resist to the end. They believe it is their job to punish and make prisoners more miserable than they already are. They often comment on what they feel we shouldn’t have, whether its property or the right to practice our religion or even to be treated w/respect or dignity.
To them we are scum. We are the living waste of society and should be treated as such. We are at their mercy and they love it; and who are they anyway?
Like us they are failures as well. Many of them are ex-military men who at one time in their lives dreamed of being war heroes or one day retiring as a high ranking officer. Some had dreams of being state troopers or careers in some other branch of law enforcement. Maybe they weren’t tall enough, or physically fit enough; or they may have lacked the intelligence or the ability to think clearly and make a rational sound decision when under pressure.
Now each day they put on that uniform and look in the mirror. They are forced to acknowledge that all they are is a high priced baby-sitter. They see the cloth patch they call a badge and are forced to admit that they are the bottom and lowest in law-enforcement; and in their frustration they lash out at us.
They need the world to know that we are below them. They need to beat us down to boost their esteem. They need us, so that when they go home at night they can tell their families about how the world is safer because they are responsible for keeping the bad people in their cages.
My question to these officers is this. Why would you want to taunt, bully or abuse the animal in its cage; knowing that one day it will be released into the world?
Would it not make more sense to encourage one to want to change and become a useful and productive member of society? Instead some of these officers are promoting and creating an atmosphere of frustration, hatred and mistrust.
Until the administration is willing to weed out and get rid of these antagonizers [sic] and opposers [sic] to change, these problems will continue.
-Melek Ta’us-
7-4-11
Voices From the Cracks 