I was just thinking… how do people in jail get haircuts? I’m sure they do not allow the inmates to keep sharp scissors in their cells to give themselves/their cellmate a trim when necessary. On the same token, it would be hard to imagine certain inmates getting “haircut duty” to cut the hair of other prisoners - it would seem hazardous to allow ANY prisoners to handle sharp scissors. I doubt the guards do it… but that could be it. Or maybe they dont use scissors at all, and only use electric trimmers? Maybe the answer to this question varies from minimum security to maximum security institutions. Anyone have first hand knowledge? 
Prison barbers. Trustees using barber tools like electric clippers, in a certain section of the prison, with all instruments having to be accounted for each shift end. That’s why most prisoners have skin head cuts or basic short trims, nothing fancy.
Skills amongst prisoners are a tradeable commodity, wether it’s being able to write well, repair broken cassette players etc, have specialist knowledge of the legal system/prison sysem rules or barbering.
Many prisoners cannot afford to make use of the barber because of their drug habits, typically drugs in jail are up to 3x more expensive than on the street and of much lower grade.
To get around this they will have extremely short hair or shaven heads.
This has the added advantage of changing their appearance so that when they are released and are caught on camera committing further offences they are less likely to be identified by prison staff who get to see the police produced wanted leaflets.
A barber has a pretty good number and will not endanger this income by allowing scissors in his care to go missing.
All tools are issued to inmates on a tally system.
Each tool had a number and location engraved upon it.
When the tool is issued the tally is placed on a board next to that inmates name.
The inmate is then wholly responsible for what happens to that tool and its condition.
If it is damaged deliberately the inmate will be placed on report and will more than likely have to pay for it, and out of prisoner wages that is a big chunk.
If the tool is lost, the area in which it was used, such as a workshop, will be locked down, no inmate is allowed to enter or leave. Staff will be taken from other parts of the prison to assist in a search, metal detectors are used and sometimes dogs.Since many inmates carry drugs upon them during the day (since their cells could be searched at any time) they really do not like tools to go missing, it often means that they will have to flush their drugs.
If the tool does not ‘magically’ turn up, which it nearly always does, then the whole jail will be locked down, prisoners are confined to cells.
This will result in the stoppage of all visits whilst the search takes place.Since most drugs come into jail through visits you can imagine how popular the person who lost the tool is going to be.
Every single cell and every place in the jail will be searched, some jails go to greater lengths than others depending on their security rating. Highest grade prisons will use endoscopes to search in waste outlet plumbing, drains will also be accessed, rooves will be checked, even flower beds are inspected.(there are other search methods but I’m going to leave it at that)
Most inmates are moreorless human and during the course of their sentance will acquire small items such as ornaments, maybe a few more cassette tape than allowed, the odd plant - whatever, they will have a number of harmless things that are not on the permitted items list, when that tool search takes place each, and every item they have, will be checked against the list of permitted items and anything not complying will be confiscated, certain items will mean that the inmate will be placed on report and he may have his remission reduced.
If drugs are found the inmate could stand to lose over a months remission and the possibilty of early parole too so these are often ditched.
If an inmate wants to steal a tool he would take someone elses item but nothing gets missed by other inmates - ever - and often a note will appear in one of the ‘suggestion’ boxes dotted around the accommodation units.We gather a lot of intelligence this way.
From an inmates perspective, generally speaking, it just is not worth stealing tools.
If a weapon is wanted by an inmate they can improvise quite effectively with everyday items, break a mop/brush handle and you have a lethal stabbing weapon if you do it right, we had one inmate owing lots of drug money out who was stabbed with a toilet brush - the head was broken off and the shaft being relativeley soft plastic was sharpened by grinding against a wall.Another favourite is to remove a couple of blades from a disposable razor and embed them in an old toothbrush handle using a little heat from a cig lighter, this will be used to stripe the face of another inmate to encourage debt repayment.
Inmates often see each other as the enemy not the staff who they usually regard as just doing a job.
one other thing, too - drugs or the tools that are found can also be charged as a new criminal offense. I’ve seen that quite often (like the stone head who arranged for a drug drop to be made through his letters -forgetting that they’d be read by staff…; or the serial killer from Mid MI who was about to be released, but then they charged him with a new criminal offense for a contraband item he’d done prison restriction for a few years earlier - it was a garrot made with a shoelace and a button, it added enough years to his sentence that he probably won’t be getting out).
I had a friend who worked in a super-max prison.
In a super-max prison, inmates are never allowed out of their cells without being fully cuffed, both hands and legs. They are led to a small room with a beauty-shop style sink and a stool bolted to the floor. The inmate is shakled to this stool, and the haircut is given to them, sometimes, forcibly. Long hair is not permitted in a super-max prison because they might hide contraband in the hair. My friend had one inmate who was Rastifarian, and refused to cut his hair on religious grounds. He was refused permission to keep his long hair, and had to be forced into the barber shop, along with losing the chance to go to another prison and possible parole. (You cannot be parolled from super-max. You have to be transferred to a lower-security insititution and be parrolled from there. You cannot be transferred if you have conduct violations, and must wait until those violations’ sanctions have ended before making another try at a move.)
Wow thanks for the great info, casdave (and others!)
I was also thinking about shaving… i’m surprised they allow the prisoners to keep razor blades (unless they dont and that one illegally acquired them).
Among my many contributions to corrections, I wrote the harcut policy for the prison I work in. Yes, we have to have a written haircut policy and, yes, the original is four pages long. So I know more about this subject than any sane person would want to.
Anyway, inmates are entitled to one haircut a month. They are however scheduled for two a month (based on their bed location). Haircuts are given by inmate barbers who are paid by the facility. We also recognize the reality that many inmates “tip” their barbers for better haircuts with cigarettes or such but we prohibit this.
Inmates are not allowed to get lines or designs shaved on the heads. This is to prevent gang haircuts. Inmates are allowed to grow their hair to long lengths but must keep it tied up. We have inmates with twenty inch long dredlocks.
The barber shop has clippers and scissors which are kept on a careful inventory. There is an officer present to make sure nothing disappears. Each housing unit has a set of electric clippers which inmates can borrow by turning in their ID card. Inmates can use the clippers to cut their own or each other’s hair.
Inmates are issued one disposable razor. They are all issued a razor even if they don’t plan to use it. On Wendesdays and Saturdays they can turn in the old razor for a new one (the old one is checked to make sure the blade is still in it). On Saturdays when we take the noon count, we do a razor and ID check and every inmate has to be holding up his razor and ID card when he is counted so we can identify anyone who has lost either item.
On my first week on the job I was working at Dannemora prison (which is a hardcore max jail). Being the new guy I was given all the scutwork on the block. At that time we issued razor blades rather than disposable razors and I was told to hand them out as the inmates returned from their meal run. So I sat there with as line of a couple hundred convicted murderers walked by and gave each one a razor blade, thinking to myself the whole time “there is something seriously wrong with this picture.”
This kind of struck me as funny. I’m not saying that I think killing/hurting is funny, but it would be funny stupid (not funny ha ha) if the prison staff actually let inmates keep scissors to give their cellmate’s haircuts. I can just picture it:
Inmate 1: “You’re looking kind of shaggy, let me give you a trim.”
Inmate 2: “Really? You aren’t still mad about me stealing that pack of smokes.”
Inmate 1: "Oh no, that’s in the past. Any way just lean back, shut your eyes . . . " SLICE!
hehehe Dignan that’s exactly what i was thinking. Or this scenario - prisoner A wants to kill prisoner B for … stealing his cigarettes. Prisoner A volunteers for haircut duty, and waits for the day when B comes to get a haircut. B sits down in the chair, and A takes the scissors and slits B’s throat, or jabs them into his head.
Or “haircut duty” could be something suicidal prisoners volunteer for, so they can get the scissors and cut their wrists/throat.
Of course, they need haircuts somehow i suppose… so now I know how they do it hehehehe
One policy I’ve seen at every prison I’ve worked in, is that barbers cut hair on a “first come - first serve” basis. We prepare a list of names in the order they arrived and when an inmate’s name gets to the top of the list, he has to go to the next available barber. So the customer can’t pick his barber and the barber can’t pick his customer. This keeps things moving and discourages illicit requests for payment.
I was working at a county jail where the Sheriff allowed the woman who worked in the kitchen to take a female trustee to the beauty salon to get her hair cut and dyed. The Sheriff also bought her a hair straightener and they had hair gel, make up , and finger polish. It was crazy what these 4 sentenced felons got to do. The other inmates were not allowed this.
What about fingernails and toenails? Do the barbers do manicures and pedicures? Or do the inmates get nail clippers?
I know it’s getting close to Christ’s birthday, but did this 11 year old zombie need to be resurrected?
I have two questions, based on your experience.
-
How often did the razors end up being used as weapons? (or for some other illicit purpose)
-
What percentage of prisoners actually shave everyday?
Very few razors are used as weapons, even in higher security environments.
Modifying a shaver takes time, it has to be stored for use and there is no way that a prisoner found in possession of such an item is going to be able to explain it away.
Prisoner cells and persons are searched regularly, and a prisoner who is intending harm on another will have some backstory which will usually come to light well before the attack.
Vast majority of prisoners shave, Muslim prisoners tend to groom their beards. It is not common to see prisoners who are totally unkempt, in fact it is a pointer to staff that a prisoner who has lost interest in personal grooming has mental issues.
Just wait till Easter.
::hijack::
I never thought that prisoners get allowances. How much $?
::hijack::
Shit. I hope Little Nemo’s still among us. No offense, casdave.
Don’t know about prison, but in the county jail there is a barber (civillian, not an inmate or inmate worker). The inmates had to put in a request slip to see them just like they do to see the dentist or go to the clinic. The haircuts were not free. The amount was taken out of the inmates account. If they had no money in the account, they didn’t get a hair cut.
Don’t know about prison, but in jail the inmates would ask for a nail clipper from the pod deputy and have to sign it out. Same as for razors.
They would take the blade out of the disposable razor and replace it with the foil from the gum they bought from canteen. The razor blade would be hidden under the foil on an unchewed stick in the pack.This is why the razors have to be inspected very closely when they turn them back in.
Wish I’d never known any of this. But backing the wrong guy in an election can get you yanked off the road and working in the jail for a year when your guy loses.
Still among you but no longer among prisoners. I’ve retired since I first posted in this thread.
Anyway, to answer your questions, prisoners do get paid. But it’s very small sums. You might work a three hour job and get paid two dollars.
Razor blades are converted into weapons but every prisoner knows that breaking open a razor to remove the blade is a serious crime. They know they’ll be in a world of shit for doing it even if they don’t use the weapon. And we keep track of the razors we issue.
So the obvious solution is to steal a razor from another prisoner so he’ll be the one who gets in trouble for losing his razor and you’ll be able to keep your razor intact. Prisoners all know this (and we explain it to the new guys) so everyone makes sure to guard his own razor very carefully.
On a side note, if you’re really mad at somebody, you steal two razors. Then you get a popsicle stick or something like that. You tape the two razor blades to each side of the stick so they’re spaced a couple of millimeters apart. Then you slash your enemy in the face with that. The two blades will cut out a strip of flesh and leave a disfiguring scar.
See? You learn all kinds of useful things in prison.
I was only assigned to the jail for a little over a year as my “punishment” for supporting the wrong guy in an election. But some of the shit I saw was amazing.
The first time I saw a Ramen pizza I almost panicked. It looked just like a Dominos pie with sausage (Slim Jims) and everything. I thought “how the fuck did he get that in here! How am I going to cover my ass that a contraband pizza got delivered to a pod!”
Turns out every ingredient they used could be found on canteen and somehow made into a pizza looking slop dish.
Some facilities offer rehabilitation, and a common job training is cosmetology/barbering. All implements are strictly inventoried. If a student’s checked-out tool kit comes up short, he or she will probably lose their place in the class as well as receive administrative punishment.
Hair clippers are valued not necessarily for the blades to make weapons. The motor itself is often used to construct a tattoo gun.
~VOW