I have been planning to write about the Mock Prison Riot phenomenon ever since I learned about it last summer while attending my first and only American Correctional Association conference. Below is a commercial about the Mock Prison Riot experience which is described as follows:

The Mock Prison Riot is a FREE four-day, comprehensive law enforcement and corrections tactical and technology experience, including 44,000 square feet of exhibit space, training scenarios, technology demonstrations, technology assessments and evaluations, certification workshops, a Skills Competition, and unlimited opportunities for feedback, networking, and camaraderie on a global scale. The Mock Prison Riot is the only venue of its kind where law enforcement and corrections practitioners can touch, see, and actually deploy technologies from the showcase under real-world conditions, utilizing the grounds of the decommissioned West Virginia Penitentiary to maximum advantage. All of our services are offered free of charge to attendees. Visit us at www.mockprisonriot.org.

Basically, this “experience” is one big trade show to sell products to stakeholders within the prison industrial complex. Examples like this are why I cannot think of a better term than “prison industrial complex” to describe what we are seeing in terms mass/hyper incarceration in the U.S. One of the arguments against using the term is that the 100 billion dollars devoted to corrections at the federal, state and local levels are dwarfed by the over 700 billion dollars spent on the U.S. military. To me, the fact that the PIC gobbles up less resources than the military is immaterial. The point is that the profit motive does come into the prison system and the Mock Prison riot phenomenon underscores this fact.

The paramilitary aspect of the mock prison riots is also worth underscoring. I have written in the past about my aversion to boot camp for many reasons but chiefly because of the inherent militarism that permeates the experience. The same is true about the mock prison riots.

Promoters of the Mock Prison Riots have developed the following 3D application that allows individuals to take a virtual tour of the defunct West Virginia Penitentiary:

I recently wrote about the phenomenon of touring old prisons. Well it looks like we’ve found still another use for these structures…