Jail Is a Very Different World Than Ours

Jail is a very different world.

On our last field trip, we visited the Hillsborough County Jail on Orient Road, and it is a field trip I will never forget.

Walking in, they had us lock up all of our things in a locker. I thought we were there just to see the public records, but what we actually saw was much, much more.

They took us on a complete tour of the whole facility.

They took us through the process of getting a DUI. I think this was such a chilling experience, because DUIs are so common among people our age.

We saw the observing area, where police will watch the DUI arrestees for 20 minutes, followed by the Breathalyzer machine.

After that is where the tour got real.

We walked from the DUI Check room to the booking room. Every door in jail is controlled with two doors, so you have to enter the little room in order to get through. The security at jail is unreal, and it is amazing that anyone ever escapes.

We entered the security room, and we could see all the criminals that were waiting to be booked. There were probably 20 in there awaiting booking, which wouldn’t be that shocking, except for the fact that it was 2 p.m. on a Thursday afternoon!

They took us through the stages that actual criminals go through. Booking, then personal items, then fingerprinting and then medical. The whole time we were standing there, the criminals were staring at us, like we were intruding on their area. A very chilling experience.

Following that, we were brought into the jail courthouse, where we saw an actual court appearance on the television. It was amazing to see how technology is used in jail.

After the courtroom we entered the cell blocks. This was the craziest part of the tour for many of us. We entered the area where inmates are actually held. They were all just walking around the block. It was very different from what I had pictured. Once again, I got that feeling that we were intruding on their area.

Luckily, we were not in there long, and then went on to explore an empty cell.

Following the tour, we were brought into the public records area, where they were under construction. I think the tour helped to show us how many different parts of jail are public records. Everything from the arrest from the cop car camera, to the arrest report to the DUI holding room, to court appearances, to security video are all public record.

I feel like it is a very valuable asset to have rights to all that information when trying to put together a story.

This trip was one I will not soon forget.