Under Lock & Key

I’ve been housed at 3 of the 4 control units that are available and open to prisoners in the State of Florida:
1. Florida State Prison, 7819 NW 228th street, Raiford FL. 32026 (1285)
2. Charlotte CI, 33123 Oil Well Rd, Punta Gorda, FL 33955 (1500)
3. Union CI, 7819 NW 228th Street, Raiford, FL 32026 (1300)

I am currently being housed at Florida State Prison control unit. There are about 1,285 prisoners housed here. Only part of the prison is a control unit and that’s the main unit. Out of the 1,285 prisoners, about 750 are Black, 390 are Latino and the remainder are white. Prisoners are sent to control units in the state of Florida for a variety of things: assault, attempted assault, cell phones, escape, too many disciplinary reports, and anything else they choose. Because it’s said in Florida that close management isn’t a punishment, it’s a program. But we suffer daily in the control unit.

I don’t know when any of the control units opened, and I don’t know if they expanded them since they opened. However, the state of Florida is in the process of opening another one which is a Supermax control unit. The rumor is that the control unit is going to house thousands of prisoners and once you get released off of the supermax part it’s mandatory you spend at least 5 years on their compound. They are now transferring a few officers over to the new control unit. It’s also being said that you do not have to come out for showers or rec because it’s going to be a roll around shower head that steps in front of each cell door, and the back of the cell has a door that opens to a fenced in rec yards. That’s about all the information I have about this new control unit.