SHU Program and Kites

[Leroyce_Collier]

From the DCR forums.

A lot of people don't know anything when it comes how to carry yourself as a character in the shoe. This issue was supposed to be addressed IC in an ideal world but nowadays people don't role play teaching one another anything to do with prison. This always creates the issue of people coming in with literally 0 idea of how anything in prison/SHU works and they end up getting sweaty and frustrated when they get yelled at for not knowing it.

This guide will tell you how to act in the SHU and how to function.

SHU Etiquette

The security housing unit is a prison inside of a prison. The guys who live here are heavy hitters, regardless of race. If they're black they've most likely got ties to BGF or Kuni. If they're white they're either with the Ride, Peni or the Aryan Brotherhood and if they're Mexican they're definitely with the Mexican Mafia. There is an unspoken barrier of respect that transcends everything due to everyone who lives there being a killer.

Blacks, whites and Mexicans will program on this unit with little to no conflict. The only times they fight is due to wars on the mainline which are carried over to security housing units. SACF is basically role played as Pelican Bay due to the fact that all the old Mexican Mafia guys, BGF guys and AB guys are in the shoe. So your character would role play as such: He's walking into a housing unit that contains some of the most dangerous and hardcore dudes he'll ever meet. He won't show up screaming at other people through his cell or the cops. He would most likely shut up the second he walks inside just out of the sheer fear/respect for the dudes who live there.


One of the Pelican Bay Security Housing Unit wings.

Everyone gets their shit done quickly in security housing units. No one fucks around or wastes time. They're already locked down 23 hours of their life so every time they're let out they get their shit done and go right back. If yard is called, they get ready for yard and wait by their doors. If chow is called they wait on their food. If shower is called they go to shower. The only time they will fight or waste time is if they have to whack somebody. This should be reflected in your characters behaviour.

Kites and Callouts
Due to the fact that everyone in the SHU is locked up for 23 hours a day they communicate mainly through kites and tier callouts. Kites are basically messages written on small strips of paper usually in very small handwriting. The kites are written in a formal manner and typically a destroyed once read.

Mexican Mafia Hit/Hard Candy list


There's a typical slang/callout list for when you're trying to let someone know you want to send a kite or some other piece of info:

'Excuse me on the tier!' - Used to get someone's attention for whatever reason e.g 'Excuse me on the tier! Razor! One on it's way!'
'One on it's way!' - There's a kite coming so get ready to receive it. Typically followed by 'Shoot!' from the guy when he's ready to receive it.
'One-way coming!' - There's a kite coming and it doesn't require a reply.
'Street-sweeper!' - The catcher's line is on the unit/tier's floor.
'That's a touchdown!/Touchdown!' - The kite got to it's destination.
'Thank you on the tier!' - The sign-off callout for when you're done doing whatever it was you were doing.

Kite equipment and procedure

The guys who've been in the SHU for a long time have had time to craft sturdy and incredibly long fishing lines made out of string, elastic and whatever fibres they could use. This is not the same for a guy who just landed. The go-to method for collecting/sending kites is to you use your bed sheets:

• Tear your bed's cover sheet in half with your teeth/hands.
  
• Tear that half into thin strips and tie the strips together.
  
• Put a bar of soap in a sock and tie one end off.
  
• Tie that sock to the makeshift fishing line as a counterweight so you can drag other people's lines.
  

This is a bare bones method but it's the go-to for anyone who just landed and needs to send/receive mail.

'Carriers' are usually small makeshift contraptions that allow things to be placed inside of them and that will fit under the gap between the cell's door and the floor. This is usually either a folded up piece of paper that has multiple layers for strength, a flattened milk carton, a modified toothpaste tube and so on. The creativity of the guys locked up in the same cell for 23 hours a day is endless so you can go crazy with it within reason.


Typically, the newer inmates will be housed on the bottom tier of the security housing unit so when an older guy needs to send them mail it will work as follows:

• Inmate A with the longer line will shoot his line off the top tier onto the unit's floor.
  
• Inmate B on the lower tier will snag Inmate A's line with his own and pull it into his cell.
  
• Inmate B will then load/tie whatever he needs to send onto the line/carrier of Inmate A.
  
• Inmate B will then let Inmate A know it's ready and Inmate A will pull it back into his cell.
  

*If neither inmate has a long enough line it can be passed around by other inmates on the tier who can help out.

Credits to Skates