Alcatraz Last Resort Prison

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Alcatraz was a famous maximum high-security federal prison from the 30s that was created on Alcatraz island in 1910-12. The prison housed over 1,000 criminals from 1934 through to 1963. Alcatraz originally was designed to be unbreakable and inescapable, due to the remote location and top security everyone was under the impression that they could send their worst criminals to Alcatraz and never have to worry about them again. The prison consisted of 4 blocks A-block, B-block, C-block and D-block, not including a barber shop, visitation room, hospital and library. The halls held 9 feet tall with cells lining the walls, the cells held minimal privacy or closure only consisting of a metal box frame bed a desk and a toilet. The infamous D-block located farther back in the prison was for the worst of …show more content…
B-block is where most would go at the beginning of their imprisonment, later on most of them would be moved to other blocks like C-block if they were awaiting trial or A-block for further imprisonment. If the prisoners were lucky they might of been able to work to pass the time but would rarely be given that opportunity to. During the first days of Alcatraz people commonly called it the “Last resort prison.” As the prisoner had little to no hope of leaving. The security for the time was impeccable at Alcatraz started from the blueprints, Alcatraz was secured to be inescapable from the beginning starting with the cells. All cells were built to be sure that none of the walls included immediate access to the outside world, all of the doors were made of steel and massive granite blocks built the exterior of the prison. During the day the prisoner would be accounted for thirteen times, multiple guard towers surround the prison and at the end of every meal all of the utensils were accounted for. During the time that the prison was running it was a last resort for prisoners, they were sent to Alcatraz if they had escaped other federal prisons or could not be handled there