One of the first things I noticed about the system at the Central Prison was that there were several occasions when inmates would be gathered in the main visit hall. When being first processed into the prison, being brought from other detention facilities; when being sent to their various jobs inside the compound (carpentry, maintenance, etc), and when being taken to court; inmates would be gathered in the visit hall.
This presented many opportunities, if you know how to see them.
The most obvious idea that came to mind was that when so many prisoners are gathered in the same place, particularly when being taken to court, they had a golden opportunity to escape en masse. The number of police never exceeded the number of prisoners, and prior to being shackled, there was absolutely nothing that could have prevented a mass charge of inmates, if they were organized.
Because the police pile the handcuffs and leg chains in the visit hall just prior to shackling us, inmates could have easily grabbed them and used them as weapons, as leg chains are quite heavy.
If there was support and coordination outside, with cars waiting, a flood of prisoners rushing the door could never have been stopped. In fact, I doubt the police would have even tried to prevent it
But, again, due to the psychological obstacles, organizing a mass escape was not feasible.
But the habit of gathering us in the visit hall presented other useful opportunities.
Visits in the Central Prison are conducted behind glass, with phones; there is no physical contact with visitors, so inmates and visitors are never together in the visit hall. However, we would be gathered in the visit hall on the occasions I mentioned, before or after visits, usually in the morning.
I noticed that there was always rubbish on the floors in the morning after a visit the day before; crumpled up potato chip bags, empty juice bottles and little cardboard cartons, dropped by the visitors.
**Opportunity**
This is how I was able to smuggle in mobile phones. A visitor would insert a small phone in a little juice carton and leave it discreetly along with other rubbish at a particular visit booth, and I would have someone pick it up the next morning when he was waiting in the visit hall to go to his job in the carpentry building. When at work, he would slip the phone into the hollowed out sole of his shoe.
Once I had my own phone, I would smuggle phones in to sell to other inmates, and used the money to support my family.
Every system has cracks in it, and you can use these to your advantage, as long as you do not succumb to the illusion of helplessness and despair.