Quiet Riot
What do you get when you take a bunch of men, give them loads of free time, a pinch of opportunity and a tablespoon of desperation? Riots.
On August 6, only a couple of weeks ago, the American news reported that a prison brawl had left 14 criminals dead in Mexico. Early that morning, the biff broke out between two groups of prisoners in a jail in the city of Matamoros. They used homemade blades and weapons to attack each other.
Explanations of this event have centered around the country's thriving drug trade, although a severely flawed prison system is seen to be provoking Mexico's cycles of violence. Some prosecutors even told of prison officials at one Mexican prison in Durango state permitting inmates to leave the jail at night to carry out revenge killings against rival drug syndicates.
When watching the documentary by Louis Theroux, it was made clear that in American prisons racial segregation is the norm. Articles on the Mexican prison riot last week did not state whether racial tension played a part in the events.
My Uncle is a correctional officer at Silverwater jail in Sydney. He showed me some shocking footage from a security camera that somehow made its way to YouTube.
Although the footage is from a couple of years ago, it is still absolutely unreal to watch. In this brawl Asian and Aboriginal groups fought, although the reasons behind the attack were unclear. It is interesting to note that the initiator was concealing a homeade shank. Also, that the prisoners stay away from the Officers and do not harm them. My Uncle explained that they have a sense of respect for the officers, as well as knowing better than to lay a hand on them because of the severe consequences of harming an officer. And the fact that this footage made it to YouTube, well, only in this day and age, right?
I found this topic rather interesting, prompting me to research further into prison riots. 
Coincidentally, the most violent prison riot ever recorded was the New Mexico Penitentiary riot on February 2 and 3, 1980. 33 inmates died, with more than 200 treated for serious injuries. None of the 12 prison officers were killed, but 7 were treated for serious injuries resulting from beatings and rapes.
Coincidentally, the most violent prison riot ever recorded was the New Mexico Penitentiary riot on February 2 and 3, 1980. 33 inmates died, with more than 200 treated for serious injuries. None of the 12 prison officers were killed, but 7 were treated for serious injuries resulting from beatings and rapes.It seems that prison riots are unavoidable. And the media will always report them as they are the exceptional event, they are newsworthy.
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ReplyDeleteI think there was a riot in Tasmania recently (maybe Risdon prison) which led to a lengthy lockdown of the prison. And there are some other famous riots in Australia's history. I suspect sometimes though we don't always hear about some of the minor scuffles and other incidents. I don't think it would be in the interest of DCS to publicise these things for a variety of reasons (not least of which is the impact it may have inside prison itself and potential further problems)
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