Money Hidden in Prison Yards

[jeff of pa]

The Wenatchee daily world. (Wenatchee, Wash.), 24 March 1909.





https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/...t=&proxValue=&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=8


Defunct prisons in the United States by state


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Defunct_prisons_in_the_United_States_by_state

I don't know if any of these Prisons on the List had a Yard.
at this point I haven't even looked though the PA list.

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[h=1]Defunct prisons around the World[/h]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Defunct_prisons

 

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[Honest Samuel]

Prison Yards are off my check list.

 

[Dave Rishar]

I'm not sure how many other people here have gone detecting in a prison yard (defunct or otherwise), but I have. When I was doing my graveyard response and movement gig, I'd get tapped to sweep the yards on slow nights because I made the mistake of telling the shift sergeant that I knew how to run a detector. This turned out to be an excellent way to get frozen and/or soaked while hearing one or two beeps an hour.

Seriously, I would have been happy to dig up can slaw. At least it would've been something to dig.

A very historic prison might be a different story. At least there wouldn't be a lot of trash.

 

[jeff of pa]

Yea I just remembered Lenny & squiggy (KG & Ringy)of Diggers Did One & found a Tooth Paste Tube
Don't remember much more except I think they Valued the tube at $15.00
I miss the "Diggers"

 

[RichieRich]

In Eagle Id there was a prison farm where the warden used to let the inmates go to the bar at night. They had to cross the river and be back in time for work in the morning. We have detected some of it with little luck to date. If they ever turn the soil we will hit it again.

 

[Jason in Enid]

I saw something once about prisons running metal detector sweep of the yard. I remember seeing lots of shanks but dont recall them digging up cash, although I'm sure its probably there somewhere. Drugs, weapons, phones, cash, all of it gets smuggled in, so its hiding in there somewhere.

 

[Dave Rishar]

I saw something once about prisons running metal detector sweep of the yard. I remember seeing lots of shanks but dont recall them digging up cash, although I'm sure its probably there somewhere. Drugs, weapons, phones, cash, all of it gets smuggled in, so its hiding in there somewhere.

It might depend on the facility, but we seldom saw metallic shanks at ours. When we did, they were nearly always for use inside the unit, not the yard. Those typically made from toothbrushes (only a few inches long, specifically to preclude their use as weapons) with the blade from a disposable razor grafted onto the end. Usually though, shanks were made from wood or Plexiglass. The inmate would grind a point or an edge onto it using the floor of his cell, then transport it out to the yard for hiding. They'd be hidden by driving the point into the ground and stepping on the back. Sadly, those are almost impossible to find unless they're used. The reason for this is precisely because they can't be found with a metal detector, they're ready for use at a later date (and generally, the yard is where a weapon will be needed), and if found, it can't really be traced to a specific inmate since it's in a common area, so nobody gets in trouble for it.

Cash was not allowed inside the fence, not even for staff. Inmates could purchase commissary officially by having money on their account, which is placed there by friends and family through DoC. On the black market, goods and services are purchased with (surprise!) goods and services. A common form of "currency" were "pre-Franked" (postage paid in advance) envelopes, since they were useful to most inmates and were not contraband, meaning that they could not easily be confiscated. I'm not sure what good cash would be to an inmate, since if we found it, it would be an immediate trip to the IMU and possibly a downgrade to their classification.

I never found any cash though, not even once. Not in cells, not in yards, never. I found pretty much anything else that you might imagine, but not so much as a dime.

As for sweeping the yards, it was a miserable way to spend the night. I only remember digging up bits of wire from the fence, and only a few per night if that. Based on their condition, they'd probably been there since the fence had been installed. They were always too small and rusty to be useful as weapons.

Prisons differ, but unless it's a very old one, I wouldn't bother. You know the joke about detecting on old homesteads, right? If someone doesn't have a pot to pee in, don't expect to find many pots on their property. Inmates don't own much.

 

[Peyton Manning]

Yea I just remembered Lenny & squiggy (KG & Ringy)of Diggers Did One & found a Tooth Paste Tube
Don't remember much more except I think they Valued the tube at $15.00
I miss the "Diggers"

why do you miss them? they are still on

 

[jeff of pa]

why do you miss them? they are still on

Only in reruns.

Their Reruns are Boring

 

[Peyton Manning]

I'll have to check, my dish dvr has two ( i think new) episodes

 

[Slingshot]

Henri Charriere AKA Papillon (Butterfly) recounts in his book about his incarceration in the French Guiana penal colony, and later when on Devil's Island, how the prisoners kept cash in metal tubes which were stored in their anuses. Prison money may be tainted in more ways than one.

 

[fmrUSMC_0844]

Nice. The only defunct prison as of now is the one in Sugar House. Now its a high school. Seems appropriate.

 

[jeff of pa]

I'll have to check, my dish dvr has two ( i think new) episodes

If that's the Case Comcast isn't airing them

there is a movie called "Diggers" listed on OnDemand but
something tells me not one hole is dug unless Someone in the Movie dies

 

[Peyton Manning]

Jeff, I watched one tuesday and it was new. even had new graphics in the open

 

[jeff of pa]

I wish I could find it

 

[Swaveab]

Jeff and Jeff. Diggers aired from 2012 to 2015 and there are no new ones listed from nat geo.