robert ward

The Department of Corruption  

Robert Ward 515599 CCI

 September, 2016

    When I stepped foot in Columbia Correctional Institution on Sept.11^th, 2015,I knew that the Department of Corrections was a wolf under sheep’s clothing. I was sitting having lunch and a CO asked me why I’m in a max. I told him I disrespected staff at county jail and Dodge.”You don’t want to do that here, we will break it out of you real fast.” From that point I knew the problems were about to begin. When I was in Dodge Correctional Inst, I had been told if we wanted to change and get help, the Department of Corrections would offer us the chance to do that. Well, I was tricked. At CCI they do “offer” some programs but they are so short staffed, there’s no way they can run the groups. So we are stuck in a max facility with little or no help.

    Another point that should be known, is the Wisconsin DOC does so well of a job breaking people they want to change in the system. When the DOC breaks “their own” rules, it’s swept under the tug. When an inmate or inmates want it brought to light, there’s going to be Hell to pay. When an inmate breaks a rule it definitely will be announced. Once you stand up and say ”hey, stop treating us unconstitutional”, you named yourself a target that they will try to break so you won’t want to tell or expose them. I’ve seen people break first hand. I have even broke. By writing this book and revealing the truth, I’m slowly mending myself, but the scars will never go away. The DOC broke a young black man the age of 26 so bad, he ate his own bodily waste. He was naked with no bed and nothing in his cell in the middle of winter for at least 4 months. His mother came for a visit, she called up here and asked the captain: “What did you people do to my son? “

    We are not humans to the DOC, we are only numbers feeding their families. Don’t take my word for it, there are so many lawsuits that corroborate with that statement. Our health care, our food, our living conditions also prove that. our health care is so poor. A real good friend of mine named CJ was never going home and he knew that, so he wanted to live as comfortable as he could. Wasn’t a trouble maker and had a select few he hung around. He went to the hole for refusing to take a drug test. 90 days in the hole for that. One day he was having chest pain. And staff knew he had heart issues. He told the sergeant he thinks he is having a heart attack. The sergeant said drink some water and lay down. That was bed time. The next morning he was dead and this sergeant is still working like he did nothing wrong.

       I just had an issue with my knee. It became swollen and very sore for no apparent reason. I put in slips and slips to be seen for two weeks. No answer. By this time I was afraid because now my whole left leg was swollen. I could not feel my toes. I told staff I swallowed 30 pills so did not have to deal with the pain anymore. I was taken to HSU to be seen. I told the nurse I did not  take pills, I said that so you could look at my knee. She looked at my knee and got on the phone to tell the hospital I was on my way in because it seemed like I had a very large infection and I was given antibiotics to get it to go away and my knee drained. If I had not done that with the pills where would I be today? Probably not writing this book. I would be another victim of deliberate indifference to a severe health issue.

       I want everyone on the outside world to understand our system is not working. The system is creating monsters and killers.  Anger and hate are being bred here and all other prisons>people are going home with more mental health issues. People are going home with nothing. Which leads people to do things to survive. Our family and friends are not safe due to the Department building monsters. When you try to get it to people’s attention the system tried to quiet you. They read  your mail and throw it away if it needs to be, they put you in AC because you are a “threat to security”. They mentally break you to stop you.if they can’t break you, they will put in someplace like AC so you will have a hard time to do what’s necessary to try to make changes. Even the courts make it hard for inmates to get change. We have to go though all these steps and jump through these hoops to even begin the process of change. And most of the time the change that is needed is very serious  to “our” health and security.

          If we are humans shouldn’t we be treated like humans? I would think so. But tell that to the DOC.  I was given 150 days in the hole for refusing to cell up with a homosexual. Why, because they were going to teach me a lesson for not Complying with their rules, and there were other cells for the person to go to. If they didn’t send people to the hole for small rule violations there would not be enough room in general population to house all the inmates. People in the hole are mostly celled up with another persona and one of them is sleeping on the floor right next to the toilet. It creates tension between inmates.  We ask why not put bunk beds so you can house us all, but no one wants to answer any questions .If GP is getting too full what they do is a major institution room search and throw people in the hole for small items like too many pictures or hygiene items or whatever they can use to open spots in GP. They create more hostility than there should be. I know you have heard the saying “don’t rattle the dog’s cage”. Well that’s exactly what the DOC does.

      By letting our government and people in power do these things, we are saying it’s okay for humans to treat other humans the way they are treating us. We need to speak up and help change the injustice we live with every day. I am going home in the near future. But there are people who have to deal with this mistreatment for the rest of their lives and there is no reason why anyone should be treated so inhumanely. Change never some fast but we need to stand up and be willing to do what is takes to get justice. By reading this book I hope you hear the pleas for help that each and every inmate is trying to get out. We all deserve to be free from unjust acts against us.

 Robert Ward 515599 CCI