I have worked the "graveyard" shift at a prison field unit in Russell Co. for almost five years now. If you can imagine a building designed and built in the late 50's, housing 114 medium and minimum custody inmates you will have some idea of where I work.

Late at night when all is quiet and the inmate population is asleep, strange things occur on a regular basis. Amid the normal creaks and groans of a 100% masonry building things happen that cannot be explained by changing weather or random gusts of wind.

A case in point:

On a clear warm night about two years ago a fellow officer and myself were working dorm patrol. The night was uneventful until about 3:00am. From our control position between the four inmate dorms we had a clear view of the entire upper floor from the main gate to the kitchen entrance. At about 3:10am the sound of running water could be heard coming from the kitchen. Expecting to find a broken pipe I entered the kitchen area to investigate. What I found was the faucet in the main pot washing sink running full blast. With several turns of the handle I turned off the water and returned to the hallway. Knowing that my partner had made the security check of the kitchen I asked him if he had turned on the water for any reason. He denied having turned on the water and went on to say that he was sure that there was no water running when he made his check earlier in the shift. We just laughed it off and went on with our duties. About 30 to 45 minutes later we again noticed the sound of running water coming from the kitchen. This time we both investigated, finding the faucet in the pot sink running full blast. After turning off the water a second time my partner and I made a hasty exit and returned to our posts in the main access hall. One other thing I need to mention. At 10:00pm all the security gates are locked and no inmate is allowed out of the dorm area until 5:00am. All were present in the dorms at 10:00pm count. The only people with access to the kitchen area was my partner an myself

jboyd