There is a distinctive complex as to how the Atlanta City Detention Center operates. And I am not talking about inferior.
On any given day the arrestees are transported into the ACDC facility by the van loads and commenced the intake process. They must endured being frisked by a police officer who searches them for any contraband or anything they could used to harm themselves or someone else.
Thereafter, arestees are told to put their backs to the wall and listen for their names. Then, they are called, one by one, so that accurate recordings of their weight and height can be included with their paperwork.
Afterward, the arrestees file into the reception area where they await further processing. Their cases are then sorted in accordance with these categories: non-bondable and bondable offenses.
The non-bondable offenses are those which are classed as non-violent acts or city cases, whereas the bondable offenses are those which are classed as mildly violence to extremely violence acts of criminal behavior or state cases.
It was in the reception area where the superiority complex was enacted: every arrestee would respond with the quickness with the mere mention of his or her name; they would be called to the identification area where they would be given a color bracelet and be fingerprinted. There were no identification bracelets for city cases.
There are four different kinds of color bracelets: white, blue, red and yellow. The white bracelets signifies misdemeanors. These cases are often dismissed in lieu of the judgement rendered on the case. The blue, red and yellow bracelets signifies any crime which has been committed by the arrestees charging them with possible intent of duress or bodily injury. The yellow bracelet is also worn by the arrestee who has committed homicide.
My particular case was a city case. Even though I hadn't anything to worry about on matters of prosecution, it was during my ordeal that my self-consciousness was inevitably brought into play. I was constantly aware of my fellow arrestees watching my ineptness as the jailers inculcated me on the proper process of what to do.
I violated a city ordinance because I wanted to challenge such laws as morally wrong, but being arrested taught be a vital lesson that I will not soon forget.
