There’s a saying in the street and I’m sure you’ve heard somebody say to you. It’s simply, “Snitches get stitches”. It’s a powerful statement that implies that tattle tales or snitches deserve the consequence of getting beat up or jumped by multiple people. The community never favors a snitch and neither does the prison community.
As I spent seventeen months in a federal prison camp, I learned much more about snitching than I had ever known. Inside the camp, it’s a sneaky system used to keep inmates subdued. Below I share an excerpt on snitching from my own book called, “Subprime Felon: Inside Federal Prison Camp.” Check it out.
“[…]we all had to be careful because some of those inmates were really undercover police officers or COs. It was believed that GM6 had a major shakedown because a police officer posing as an inmate told the GM6 COs about the wrongdoings of the inmates. The result was that five inmates got fired from the assignment. That’s why inmates avoided talking about sensitive information around inmates they didn’t trust. Snitches were always looking for some dirt on other inmates to use as blackmail. Therefore, they ear hustled (eavesdropped on) as many conversations as possible. According to what the inmates told me, snitches were the cheapest way to govern and regulate the system. They were very quick to tell on a person, mainly because they couldn’t fight. I talked to two snitches who told me to my face that they had no problem snitching. It’s the passive evil way of getting back at bullying. I didn’t argue with it.
“One inmate, Danny the Jew, admitted to me that he’d snitched on inmates and had fake cell phones just in case anyone picked on him or gave him problems. He told me that it gave him power over other inmates who could fight better than him. If an inmate ever gave him a problem, he could just put a cell phone on him. If the inmate got caught, he would get a 100-series shot (which added points to an inmate’s record and could make him lose camp status), a $75 fine, and about six months in the hole. The inmate would most likely be moved to another camp or prison. I kept my distance from him, though we did get along very well. However, snitching only made inmates look like bitches to other inmates and the authorities. The CO didn’t respect a snitch because he saw him as someone who couldn’t fight for himself or who didn’t have problem-solving skills.”
If you enjoyed this excerpt, check out my book, “Subprime Felon: Inside Federal Prison Camp” available NOW on Amazon. It’s a smooth read that will keep you on your toes. Write below in the comment section about your thoughts on snitching in prison.
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