I was sent to jail for a fourth DUI offence in New Jersey. I was incarcerated for 5 months from October 11, 2022 through March 9, 2023 at the Hackensack County Jail. I started my stay in N6N room 118.

The initial lockdown is a "Quarantine" for 10 days, solo in an 8' x 10' cell with Bunk Beds and with one window 6" wide by 40" long (not see through). There was no TV, no books, and I was locked in my cell for 22.5 hours per day with 1.5 hours for shower/phone/TV.

Then I was moved to N6N room 118 which is in the oldest part of the jail. My bunky was Vincent Giagrande from Hackensack. This part of the jail has two floors with about 30 rooms, two people per room. An interior courtyard has three stainless steel tables running down the length and two TVs going and one microwave. Both floors have a shower with 3 stalls in each. That's the North side. The South side is the same with two correction officers in the Bubble in the middle.

Inmates were locked in their rooms:
9pm - 7:30am
1pm - 3:30pm
6pm - 7:30pm
Lights out was at 11:30pm

Meals
Breakfast 8am
Lunch noon
Dinner 6pm

Things I witnessed:

There was a pill popper from Lebanon that no one liked. He did his time and he was released. He overdosed in Paterson within two weeks of his release. The cheaper pills had fentanyl.

There was a three-on-one gang rape. The three were thrown in "The Hole" for one weak then sentenced and sent to state prison. Fines for crimes apparently are heavier in jail than out. The victim, a poor guy from Suffern, NY, was sent to the hospital.

There was a fight over the use of the phone between two Spanish guys. Brasil and another dude who had done four years in prison in Italy. They fought verbally with strong approaches and screaming. Everyone else was locked down for the evening. First thing the next morning when the doors opened up, they both ran out of their rooms and the one that had a knife of some sort stabbed Brasil, and the big fight between them happened right in front of my cell. Corrections officers ran to them and pepper sprayed them apart. They were sent to "The Hole."

There is a lot of ink on prisoners. A gentleman named "Dave" showed up and made a lot of money doing tattoos. He used the money to buy and trade things. "Tone" (Anthony) from across the hall asked me if he could use my room because of better lighting, and I witnessed several tattoos and how they are done.

The last cell of their "cul-de-sac" had Charlie and Willy. Charlie was an older Palestinian and Willie, who looked like Willie Nelson, was from New Jersey but lived in Alaska. Willie was a very pig headed, stubborn individual who was set in his ways. One evening at lock down Willie was standing at his doorway and the female corrections officer came to shut the door. Willie called her a derogatory word and she responded very surprised, "What did you call me?" and he responded "Fuck you." She slammed the steel door to his cell so hard it opened again and Willie said the same thing again. She immediately grabbed her walkie talkie (stationed on her shoulder) and requested assistance. A big bruiser showed up and threw Willie in handcuffs while Willie continued cursing at the corrections officer as he was escorted out. This happened three feet in front of me. Willie's doorway is 8" from mine and I was right there. The next day I asked about Willie. He was sent to the hospital for ten stitches across his face (top to bottom). The corrections officer simply responded, "He's in the hospital." Rumor has it he was thrown in "The Hole" and when they took his handcuffs off he punched a corrections officer in the face. They proceeded to beat the shit out of him. Poor Willie.

In January, it was 15 degrees outside and inside the jail they were running the air conditioning full blast all night. It was fucking freezing!

When there's going to be a planned fight, inmates would say "we've got action" and the word would spread. The two people would enter the cell room. No cameras. A crowd would sort of block the doorway. They would close the door and these guys would beat the shit out of each other.

Some inmates made alcohol in the following way:
Create a flame with two batteries and a staple
Heat up water with a 110 volt outlet
Create a spark with lead from a pencil and a 110 volt outlet

Common expressions from the inmates:
"I don't belong here"
"I've been sentenced for something I didn't do"
"I have to get out of here!"

There were prisoners (Mo or L.) who were released while I was there and then were back within two months.

The Passaic county jail was closed for renovations while I was in Hackensack. Passaic is the county in New Jersey with the worst heroin problem in the state. All the inmates from the Passaic county jail were moved to the Hackensack county jail.

Here is some artwork that I did during my stay in Hackensack County Jail.