A common weapon in the correctional setting is easily made with the sock and a lock. By placing the lock inside of the sock and letting it slide down to the toe, one has a long handled blackjack variety of bludgeoning implement. And this is a demoralizing choice of attack tool, especially while it is spinning. And it goes beyond appearance. It not only looks formidable, gravity and momentum make it formidable.
Lock in a sock – the rhyme makes this memorable. But is the lock in a sock still that if there’s no lock? That remains true. A club by any other name is still dangerous. In fact any heavy object will do. Even if the name is inaccurate to a degree, when faced with a weighted item in a sock, the danger still remains.
Indeed, one can by the stroke of a pen and through policy outlaw all padlocks in any facility. But other heavy objects may be inserted into the sock and just as dangerous to prisoners and staff. What are some things that might be employed?
• A bar of soap is common enough in any institution to serve as a sock weight.
• One can imagine the damage of deodorant in a sock as a bludgeoning tool.
• A tape player is small enough to fit to the toe of a sock and still weighty enough to do damage.
• Stones and/or hardened dirt from the yard serve as weighty alternatives to the lock.
• A toilet paper ball may be used, as well. When toilet paper is moistened, compressed, dried, and added to in this fashion, this formally soft item can become heavy and hard.
When we think of all the different weighted items, it is dizzying. It seems that where there’s a will there’s a way.
The realism of contraband control is important to retain. There’ll always be danger, no matter how well we search. Peril exists, no matter how many restrictions are imposed by policy. Again, if combination and padlocks were to be removed from the permitted property list, an alternative would be found. Out of sight might mean out of mind. But out of sight does not mean out of danger.
Still, vigilance and awareness are crucial tools and quest to mitigate the contraband that poses danger for prisoners, staff, and the public.
Have you ever found an alternative lock in a sock weapon at your facility? Tell us in the comments below.
