Cook County Department of Corrections — Local services in West Chicago Township

So I guess I'll say something serious. Believe it or not jails do have standards by which they must treat and house inmates, especially when you consider most are pretrial and thus have not been proved proven guilty of any offenses (remember "innocent till proven guilty).

Cook county is one of the most sued jails in the country and for good reason. Massive overcrowding, inmates being held in buildings that have been condemned for both health and safety issues, understaffing leading to rampant violence, horrible medical care of even the most basic ailments, the list goes on. Also, jails are required to provide basic hygiene items (soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, toilet paper, etc). Your lucky if you receive even 2 of these at cook county. Their goal is to force you to buy such necessities off their comissary (a "canteen store" system available to those with money on the books). They take basic items, mark them up about 400 percent, and sell them to a desperate and literally captive market. Underwear, socks, t-shirts, and small food items as well as hygiene. If you have no money and cannot get any sent to you, you could be stuck wearing the same pair of socks and underwear till your released. Prisoners of war get treated better.

I get the desire to joke about this place, but there are many decent people who end up their over decisions and indiscretions that most of society has committed at one time or another. Anybody could end up in this place. And you must remember that most of these people will return to society one day. Do you want them to return as productive members of society, or angry resentful people whose experience with the "corrections" system has taught them only violence and hate?

"The best way to understand a society is to examine how it treats it's...

They took my belt, my shoelaces, and what was left of my dignity and tossed them in a plastic tub like last week’s lunch meat. Welcome to Cook County Jail.

You don’t come here for the ambiance, the spa treatments, or the turn-down service, unless “turning down” means getting told to shut up by a guy named Big Worm at 3 a.m. But hell, this place has something no boutique downtown hole could ever give you: truth. Raw, filthy, fluorescent-lit truth. And the coffee? Liquid existentialism. Two gulps and you’ll question every decision you ever made.

The mattress was thin as a bad excuse, and the toilet had more personality than most baristas I’ve met. But the conversations? Electric. Existential debates with a guy who stabbed his cousin over a sandwich. I’ve never felt so alive.

The guards? Some were cold, some were mean, and one of them had the eyes of a man who saw the end of the world every morning and still came to work. Respect. They kept the chaos spinning like a DJ in Hell’s basement.

Cook County isn’t a jail. It’s a museum of bad decisions, a church of regret, a place where time slows down just enough for you to hear your own heartbeat telling you, “You’re still here, goddammit.”

I left with a hangover of the soul and a newfound appreciation for socks. Highly Recommend, would get...

I have to say I have heard some pretty bad things about visiting the jail but my experience was unlike others. I live out of state and was there a couple of weeks ago to visit and the staff at Division 10 was extremely nice and very helpful. The 2 guards that was there at the gate on Friday 8/9 was super nice and very helpful which lead me to return on Saturday 8/10 so a great big thank you to those 2 guards but my biggest kudos must go to the guard on the inside of Division 10 who went above and beyond to make sure my visit went well. I was so overwhelmed and so thankful to her that I didn't pay to much attention to her name but if my memory is correct her last name was Vadailla or something like that but hopefully she reads this and she will know a big thank you goes out to her from the Texas visitors she helped make a grandmother's day. She made our day. Thank you so much officer V for finding us when we went to the wrong visiting part and for being jst so very nice because not everyone would have done all that you did. Officer V is a beautiful black queen and the cook county Jail should be proud to have such an outstanding employee....