Suffolk County Sheriff's Department

Jail Blog

 Today, we visited the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department. We learned numerous informational facts pertaining to the day-to-day life in jail and the effects of serving time. After touring the facility, we met an unfortunate, but extremely intelligent young man named Jet Vidri. He shared with us his life story, how he ended up in his predicament, and lessons on staying clean. He spoke marvelously and our heart went out to this poor man, who sadly learned his lesson the hard way.  We met a strapping young lad who shared similar attributes to a younger version of Hulk Hogan. Overall, we learned a lot and took a deeper look at the consequence of crime. Myself, I found this as a great experience. The effects of jail really hit me particularly when the guest speaker, Jet, openly answered questions. I truly felt bad for this man and hope I will never end up in the situation that he is in. This experience was life changing and emotional. – Mike V.

The visit to the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department changed my perspective on jail life. It was intense to see the inside every day life of a inmate. The basketball court surrounded by concrete walls with one open end, so a inmate could get very little but some fresh air.  The interview with inmate Jet Vidri gave me a different perspective on drugs and violence, his life story was amazing and honestly me sad at points. His incite and mature outlook on his situation is amazing to see, going from an O G (Original Gangster), then a drug dealer. Then going to jail twice. His life is on the turn around and it was reassuring to see someone bounce back from such harsh background’s of gangster life.      -Frank T

On our first day we visited a jail, which is different than a prison. A jail is where someone goes after they’ve been booked to wait to go to a trial. A prison is where a criminal serves time. We got to walk trough a prison unit and see what the inmates ate for lunch, where they hangout and where they shower. Everyone seemed generally unhappy and angry that we, free people, got to walk around in their space. When the man giving our tour picked up a tray of food the inmates were yelling and being very defensive of their only food. Jail changes a person’s whole mentality. They are stuck in the same place everyday, with no real choices. They go through the same routine everyday. It sucks. Lucy C.

The part of the trip that impacted me the most was when we got to meet the inmate. Before I met him I had a solid image of the average inmate, but after talking to him my whole outlook on jail and the kind of people that end up in there changed. He was extremely open and gave us honest answers to some very tough personal questions. After talking to him I know that I would never ever want to end up where he is right now.      Joe V.

Suffolk County jail was an eye opening experience for me. I have only seen prison life in movies or on TV, but never in real life. When I first walked into the building it seemed nice, marble floors, high ceilings, statues. After walking a short while I realized that this was a completely different world. In our society we have people that make good choices, and ones that make bad ones. In this jail, everyone has mad a poor choice. New Hampton School is sort of like a small town, a community; in the jail there were units. A unit is a mini floor that holds about 60 people with a lounge and tables; this is where some people live for five or six years.     –Keppler M.

Seeing those people sitting behind their doors, locked up for probably 3 years. Never see anybody for a long time. It was a shocking but also happy knowing that those people are locked up. It makes me sad though that people like Jett who are in there regretting everything and work-doing programs can’t go out of jail earlier. I just experienced that I know where I never want to end up.           -Constantin v.B.

Going to the jail was an experience that I would not want to go though alone. Being able to talk to one of the prisoners that is locked up there was a great deterrent to breaking the law. It was very surprising to hear what the prisoner that we talked to. He told us his story and what he realized had to change about his life.   Andrew G

I got the experience of a lifetime when I went to the Suffolk County jail. We got to tour the facility and I was able to see what the prison life was like. The thing that impacted me the most was when we got to talk to one of the inmates. He told us about how quickly you can go from the good kid to the one that ends up in jail. He had always received good grades and been a good student but then when he hit college he began to be someone he was not.  It proves how quickly a person can change and go from good to bad. Not only did he change from good to bad but also after going to prison twice he found who he wanted to be and became a good guy again.

                                                                                    Alyssa G.

 Visiting the Suffolk County Jail I received an experience that I shall never forget. Knowing how many inmates and the amount of new inmates that are staying in and coming into to jail amazed me. Then when we talked to the inmate he showed me how much regret he feels and how long two year seems when you have to be in jail and not leave. The inmate we spoke with sold drugs only for fast money and now he has been in prison twice and he seems he has have found a sort of peace within himself and I felt moved by that.  –Will K.