Cook County Jail

Telephones

Interview with Jason, Kat, JM Advice, Brian, DavidP, keke, Teabag, Crystal, Edward, isaac, Lucky, Laydie, Kathy, Lisa and Apache

JM: Did you have regular access to telephones?
Jason: After I was in a Med unit.
Kat: Yes
JM Advice: Note: This is a tip submitted by a reader. Let us know if it works for you. Call global tel-link at 1866-650-4349 and set up a prepay account. You will have to send money though western union but they'll give you the details when you call. You can also add money with a credit card when the inmate calls. There will usually be a payphone available for every few hundred inmates. You should have access to it at least once or twice a week. However, be prepared to make your phone calls relatively quick. Not only is there a high demand for the phone, you can only call out using collect calling or pricey calling cards. You are also limited to the numbers you can call. The phones will usually only let you call land lines (not cell phones). Calls are monitored so you need to be careful what you say as you could incriminate yourself or other inmates.
Brian: Yes, well, when I first went there, they told me, "You each get one phone call." That was actually on a payphone, but if that wasn't working, they actually let everyone make a phone call at a certain time. I think it was pretty expensive - I told my friend pretty quickly on the phone what happened to me, and how much money it would take to get bailed out, because in Chicago, you have to pay cash. You can't put it on a credit card, and you have to pay the exact amount of cash. For the phone call, I think it ended up costing $15 or $20, so that's pretty expensive, considering it was only five minutes. Pretty much I knew they were going to charge a lot, so I tried to get everything done as fast as I could, and there were other people waiting to use the phones.
DavidP: No. In the area I was in, this one big room had only two telephones. All jail telephones are collect calls only, or credit card calls [calling cards]. I know that's how it is in other areas too. They only had one or two telephones per floor. Needless to say, two phones for 45 guys isn't much, and I tell you, these guys were conducting business from inside. It's difficult to get access to the phones.
keke: yes but some dont work
Teabag: yes
Crystal: Collect call phones only when you are out of your cell.
Edward: yes we had pay phones from 9 am to 9 pm unless the officers got angry with anyone and then no.this one time we went 4 days without phones and mail
isaac: during certain hours not during processing 6 phones 1 worked and the gangs like to run them but after processing i was using it imade promises i didnt care about anything i was using it
Lucky: yes
Laydie: yes phones were in the cell blocks and usable when need.
Kathy: No. Phones broken and damaged.
Lisa: no
Apache: yes

JM: What types of charges applied for calling people?
Jason: None
Kat: Pre Paid calls. Outside person sets up account. When you use the payphone to call someone it will walk them through the prepaid process.
Brian: I didn't have to pay, but you have to make a collect call, so pretty much, you have to know who to call. They took my cell phone away, and if I couldn't remember any of my friends' numbers, I couldn't have anyone bail me out. Sometimes you can call a cell phone, some of them you can't, which is one thing some people didn't realize. The first phone I tried to call, his phone wouldn't allow me to call with collect calls, so obviously I couldn't talk to him. Luckily, I called a second person, and it just went right through, so I think it's a good thing to realize, that not everyone's phone allows you to make a collect call to it, so if you don't have your wallet or some change, you're pretty much at the mercy of the situation. I think it's good to memorize some friend's numbers since you won't have your cell phone to call.
DavidP: I can't remember how much it was exactly but it's way cheaper to just get a phone card.
keke: if they didnt have at&t you were burnt up and thats a shame
Teabag: Collect Billing (Local $2.80 first minute and $.55 every minute after) 15 minute time limit on each call
Crystal: Long distance and extra charges - very high rates because of special contracts that the phone company has with the county so that phones are monitored and special messages are given so that those whom you call can block your calls and know you are an inmate.
Edward: i dont remember what it was but i can tell you it was very expensive and you were timed for each call.i think it was 15 min max
isaac: high
Lucky: very expensive
Kathy: Inexcessive. Evercom billing services charges an outrageous fee for one call.
Lisa: $5.00 per call
Apache: collect calls only

JM: Did you need to buy phone cards to call out?
Jason: Called collect
Kat: No
Brian: I didn't have a chance to.
DavidP: You could call collect, or use a phone card, like an AT&T type card. When I used it, I called home every second or third day, and it was a collect call. I know, though, that if you had a phone card, you could use that.
keke: no they dont spend money on their inmates just their basic needs cheap a* hard soap nasty a* white cheap chalky toothpaste and one towel for your a* and face
Teabag: NO
Edward: your freind and family needed to call a number and set up an account with a credit card and deposit 50 dollers at a time and then you would call them collect.
isaac: no
Lucky: you cant
Kathy: They won't let you buy or receive phone cards. Which would make good sense so that the persons loved ones would not have all those collect call charges. Some people can't afford pre-pay to their cell phone.
Lisa: no
Apache: dont have em

JM: Did the jail screen your calls?
Jason: Dont know ..I hope so..But they would not do anything to help you..remember you are nothing but a MF....That is everyones name from the second you arrivie
Kat: Yes
JM Advice: The main limitation of using the phone is other inmates - especially if you are a first-timer the amount of time you will have on a phone will be extremely limited by other inmates higher on the food chain. Also, be aware that when you call somebody there will be an announcement at the beginning of the call telling the caller that you are calling from the Cook County Jail. If you need to contact your employer or anybody else who you may not want to tell that you are in jail you should call somebody you trust and have them make the phone call saying you are unavailable.
Brian: Yeah, they probably did. It didn't say if they were going to or not, but I just assumed that they were going to.
DavidP: When you first make the call, there's a recording that comes on and states to you and the recipient of the call (you have to state your name - you can't just call, even with a calling card phone call) your name. It also says that it's coming from Cook County Correctional Facility - they mention the whole name of the jail - and it states that this call may be monitored. It says that the likelihood that it is being screened is high, and that if you accept this call, you accept those conditions. You don't know which ones are and which ones aren't, but I'm sure most of them are. Also, they open all the mail, of course. They open all of that. Even if it's just a letter or a card, they open all of that. You never open any mail yourself. Same kind of thing [as the phones] - they monitor it.
keke: hell yeah
Teabag: Yes, all cals are monitored and recorded (when the calling system picks up certain words or phrases within your conversation it activates a recording device) and officers in your division and tier are alerted of the nature of your comments. Threats of violence against another inmate, someone involved with your case or the person with whom you are on the phone with.
Crystal: All calls are monitored.
Edward: yes they did and they would tell you when placing a call that they would.
isaac: i'm sure
Lucky: they say they do.
Kathy: Yes
Lisa: yes the screen all calls
Apache: yes