Yesterday, we looked at a great piece of property that we knew, ahead of time, adjoined a state prison. The one where they house death row inmates. In other words, maximum security.
Now, let’s suppose SHTF happens; every man for himself, so to speak, complete collapse, grid down, etc.
What happens at that prison? Lockdown, certainly, but perhaps a glitch of some sort that throws open the doors.
So here’s the question:
If it’s the latter, certainly we’d be well-prepared already. And I’m not afraid, for several reasons. First, crime is more concentrated in urban areas, so it stands to reason that most inmates are from those urban areas and would like seek to return there. Having been in prison, they aren’t going to be in the best shape for living in the woods, even if they were country boys to begin with. Besides, I’d have to assume they’d be in a big damn hurry to get far away from the place in which they were incarcerated.
But, what if everything shut down, locked up tight? A county jail I know of once had such an event that lasted about 12 hours. I have no idea if anyone—COs—could get out, but I know that no one could get in. It was a big security issue, obviously.
But if everything shut down, and there was no way out, then what? What would you do? What if, just across from the lake on your property, there was a huge secure building and people were stuck?
On the one hand, most of these are criminals, in it for the long haul or only able to leave when they die. Some have shorter sentences, yes, but all the prisoners have been convicted of very serious, or even capital, crimes. Some, of course, would be COs and administrative staff.
On the other hand, people on “the outside” have had the choice to prepare for SHTF; the prisoners have not. Of course, they lost many rights upon conviction and sentencing, but is automatic death included? Those who had the choice to prep and didn’t, well, I might feel sorry for them, but it’s on them—my job is take care of my own family, as is theirs, and they chose not to do so. The prisoners? I don’t know.
What would you do? Could you live with yourself knowing that people were stuck and dying, with no way to even try to help themselves?
Robin Writes 
What a great ethical question. Some people’s knee jerk response would be that they (the prisoners) are really bad people and have to suffer the consequences. You rightly pointed out that there are levels of “badness” and that not everyone in the prison are prisoners. I would hope two things: 1) The prison system has prepared for a crisis where goods could not be brought in for a period of time and have stockpiled accordingly; and, 2) I would be open-hearted and help in whatever way I was able.
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I would be more concerned about an escapee coming onto my property than the likelihood of some general end-of-society meltdown. But, you raise an interesting question about the so-called SHFT: what do we do if if happens? I think the question becomes more urgent if you live next to a prison, yet it’s still important in general terms. Almost everyone will be in trouble. Those who are prepared won’t have enough to care for them all without jeopardizing themselves. So who, then, do we reach out to?
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Oh, it’s a concern, definitely, but not really likely. Just as in everything else, prepping is important. Weapons, security, etc. would be in place. I’ve asked that before, too, the “who do we include.” This is why I prep for 3+, just in case I’m unable to turn away, say, adult kids or grandkids…
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I would have to help. I couldn’t stand knowing there were people in there possibly dying. BUT, I’m a person who is against the death penalty. Personal reasons. My heart couldn’t stand it. I’d help them if I could.
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I’m not opposed to the death penalty, but I think I’d have to do something too. For the reasons I gave – yes, mostly it’s their own fault they’re there, but this would be an unprecedented event and I think everyone should have a fair chance.
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