Dallas County Jail

Jail Layout

Interview with Charles, m ray, Leon, Jean, Accountant, Lil Will and Cam

JM: How many different blocks were there?
Charles: There are several large jails with many different housing layouts.
m ray: all the jails in dallas co are set up different
Leon: In Suzanne Kays Detention center there were between 40-50 separate 24 man cages or tanks.
Jean: In Lousterit, they have eleven floors. Each floor has a gender. The bottom five floors were men, 6, 7, 8 was women, 9 was the infirmary, and 10 and 11 were men. In each of those floors, they are a mixture of one big room with bunks or they are individual cells. It depends on what tower you go to. They have so many facilities there that they're trying to incorporate. Some of those floors will have nine girls to a cell. Not really a cell, but a big walk way with a TV and table, and each of those girls will have an individual room with a bed and toilet. Some floors are like that, and others are general population - a big loud mess. It's so loud you can hardly stand it.
Accountant: Not sure, it was very surreal to me.
Lil Will: Some are tanks some are cages some are single cells.
Cam: 13

JM: Did they have names? If so, what were they?
Charles: Jail names are: Lew Sterrett North tower, west tower, South tower (coming soon). Decker Jail, George Allen Jail, Susan Kays Jail.
m ray: yes west tower,north tower, suan kayes aka new holland, decker which is a old hotel,or govt center and there in the process of buliding a south tower
Leon: No, they were numbered.
Jean: No, they were just numbered.
Accountant: Not Sure.
Lil Will: Old jail new hollands kays goverment center lew sterek
Cam: They are all called tanks and not blocks..You have you regular tanks and your aggravated tanks..Aggravated tanks were for inmates that have either been charged for an aggravated offense or are currently incarcerated for an aggravated offense.. Violent crimes with weapons, or an offense that placed a plaintiff and fear of serious bodily injury and or death are considered to be aggravated cases..Once you have been charged with an aggravated case you will always be sent to an aggravated tank even if you are there on a different offense..Example 8 years ago i was charged with an aggravated case and i was incarcerated on a credit card abuse case in 2005 and i was sent to the aggravated tank. The atmosphere is a violent one if you are not careful and are not familiar with how things are in that particular tank..when you first arrive it is very wise to find someone you feel comfortable with and ask them how the tank runs..In some tanks they have an assigned cleaning duty that goes by date and cell..This duty is made by a majority vote from all inmates in the tanks..If you fail to follow it, it could cause a big fight with not just one inmate but from all of them..

JM: Which inmates were housed in the different blocks?
Charles: Inmates are classed several ways. In general, you will be housed together if you have trustee status, crimes against children, aggravated crimes.
m ray: depending on what type of crime u commit or ur past record wheater ur violent or not sh* like that
Leon: The officers put problem people in the same tanks. The trustees were housed together also.
Jean: It was just by wherever there was an open bed. For the guys, though, like for sex offenders and gay guys, they try to separate the guys. They don't do the girls like that, though.

I got along with everybody, but that's because, like I said, I've been through the system once or twice, and I don't take shit from nobody. I ain't scared to fight no black person. They didn't really mess with me, but I saw them mess with a lot of people. Really and truly, when you get to jail, like for the girl that goes to jail with a DWI, she'll be scared to freaking death.
Accountant: Not Sure.
Lil Will: They put punks together, aggravated inmates together, and trustees and just general population.
Cam: All murder cases (inmates) that are not high profile cases were in the same tanks as people that are either currently charged with violent crimes or have been charged with a violent crime in the past.. Example..Most aggravated robbery, murder, aggravated assault and serious violent crimes (inmates) are in the same tank..Misdemeanor cases (inmates) are in other tanks..Then you have your inmates that are eligible for trustee status do to the lesser criminal charge..

JM: What do you remember being the nicest and worst parts about the different blocks?
Charles: Single cell tanks are nice because of the obvious reasons. The main towers have the most perks, best maintenance, etc. Decker is dirty and run down, but its minimum security, has large windows too look out, lights you can turn off and you can walk the whole wing you are housed in (no cell doors). george allen jail is the old county jail. Its very out of date, very dirty and run down. Lights never go out and its very loud. George Allen is the older bar type pods.
m ray: there really isnt any nice part about it except u can get away with pretty much anything its the nastesty place every staff infection runs rapid through that b*
Leon: I was in the trustee tank most of my time. The trustee tanks were pretty laid back as everyone there worked together. It was also very noisy there all hours of the day and night. It was very hot also. In the regular tanks a lot of inmates stayed up all night then slept all day.
Jean: Well, most people are scared to death so they won't really consider anything nice at all. What you do is you finally get in a place so you can get a shower, get in your bunk, and take a nap. It normally takes 48-72 hours to get out of that holding area, so you're exhausted. You gotta go strip down and get searched, and do all that shit, and then carry your own mattress and bed clothing, and you do all of your own work. The mattresses are terrible.
Accountant: The entire jail was filthy, there were no good/bad blocks...
Lil Will: Single cells are ok, some tanks are good if you get a good cellie but you cant ever tell.
Cam: There was never anything nice about the jail..The worst was the fact that many of the Jailers that are assigned to work that floor did not care about your concerns..Many of them would tell other inmates about other inmates personal mail and visitors and in some cases even instigate a fight between two inmates by revealing some very personal and private information regarding other inmate..