I was thinking of bodybuilders that have come and gone and was wondering what they are doing and looking like now. Anyway Craig Titus came to mind (I am sure most of you know who he is and what he and his missus did) so I did a quick google search and found this!
It’s both disturbing & sad (waste of life for all concerned), but hey’ he is a convicted murderer and judging by the ‘platoon’ of guards escorting him out of his cell I assume he is also a volatile individual that warrants the use of that lecter-mobile.
I don’t follow bodybuilding at all really but I read an old MMI probably 10 years ago where Titus had just been released from prison the first time. Don’t remember what it was for but it’s safe to say he was a troubled dude.
Titus stayed in trouble from the time he was a kid until he was an adult. Picking fights with people randomly is what he was known well for. That is a shit load of security surrounding him but I believe it is because he has tried to escape several times.
Old video and from what I can see a serious case of overkill. What he and his wife did was definitely ugly, but there are people walking the street who do much worse on a regular basis.
The whole episode is summed up at the end of the final video when the guard asks “any injuries?” and Titus, who is naked, looks down and says “Just my pride”.
I read that Titus’s transfer was initiated in response to an alleged planned escape.
The security around him is just insane but they obviously have a procedure for situations like this and are leaving nothing to chance.
[quote]worzel wrote:
The whole episode is summed up at the end of the final video when the guard asks “any injuries?” and Titus, who is naked, looks down and says “Just my pride”.
I read that Titus’s transfer was initiated in response to an alleged planned escape.
The security around him is just insane but they obviously have a procedure for situations like this and are leaving nothing to chance.
[/quote]
Yeah, but this ain’t Hannibal Lecter. He isn’t even a serial killer. He’s also less than half the size he used to be so yeah, I agree with lewhitehurst that there are people causing even more harm who don’t get that.
They can’t take any chances with anybody, and cell to cell and other transitions are the most dangerous operations and times in an already dangerous environment.
He’s pretty compliant when there are 6 guys with pepper spray, sticks, tazer, and he’s strapped to a chair, but it could be a whole different ballgame if it were just one or two saying “Hey, lets take a walk!”.
Even if he isn’t combative that could be a good, and one of the only times, to hit him or settle a score.
Just watched those vids. Wow. I have two good friends who’ve done a combined 9-ish years. Gonna show them these and ask if this is consistent with their experiences of being transferred. To me that seems way excessive.
That isn’t overkill, it’s protocol. If the videos are accurate it took ~15 minutes. They weren’t rough with him or anything. I don’t know what his record in prison is like, but either he’s misbehaved previously, possibly unstable and on meds or that’s just the way it is becuase the shit apples have made transfers be high risk situations.
Assholish attitude isn’t protocol. I have had enough buddies who have been in prison as well as those who have been COs to be able to tell that regardless of procedure the guys transporting him were flexing and trying to look tough. I have a cousin who is currently a CO and been one for close to 15 years as well as one of the ladies I date just got out of that line of work after almost 9 years and I know plenty of others who still work the job.
And across the board, regardless of the race of the ex-con or the CO I spoke to, they will tell you young white COs tend to have a chip on their shoulder which is what pretty much all the guys I saw in that video were. I understand that these guys have a dangerous job, but it is just like the cop that comes up to you or pulls you over and he has prick written all over him. Convicts know that guards with a chip on their shoulder have no confidence in themselves and overcompensate by being outwardly tough. THAT is what creates the problems in the end. At that point all a guy has left is his dignity and respect and if you take that from him, you are pretty much setting yourself up for problems.
[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
Just watched those vids. Wow. I have two good friends who’ve done a combined 9-ish years. Gonna show them these and ask if this is consistent with their experiences of being transferred. To me that seems way excessive.[/quote]
Remember we are only getting a ‘snapshot’ of Titus’s world and to us (normalish people) this shit seems severely excessive however I will venture the idea that Titus ‘may’ have brought this seemingly disproportionate treatment on himself?
Who knows he could have resisted prison officers on numerous occasions so the prison authority were not taking any chances this time.
@SkyzykS
I agree with the idea that a con may only have one chance to ‘get’ a prison officer and this situation (prison transfer) would be it hence the need for extra security personnel albeit excessive.
Anyway all prison facilities conduct themselves differently. I love to see the same hardcore procedures in Irish prisons. Criminals get away with unbelievable shit over here! The excuse is there is not enough money to house these fuckers = short sentences and early release but thats another story all together!
[quote]lewhitehurst wrote:
young white COs tend to have a chip on their shoulder which is what pretty much all the guys I saw in that video were. I understand that these guys have a dangerous job, but it is just like the cop that comes up to you or pulls you over and he has prick written all over him. Convicts know that guards with a chip on their shoulder have no confidence in themselves and overcompensate by being outwardly tough. THAT is what creates the problems in the end. At that point all a guy has left is his dignity and respect and if you take that from him, you are pretty much setting yourself up for problems.[/quote]
Pretty much makes sense that young inexperienced guys have no confidence in themselves hence the need to ‘act’ tough esp. in a prison where there are real bad bastards eye balling you!
I have no opinion on the ‘white’ part of your comment as we come from different countries.
I agree that when a guy looses his dignity the prison authorities are setting themselves up for bigger problems because its then the con has nothing else to loose.
Respect is another issue because this is something you earn and are not automatically entitled to. So when you have a prisoner who has murdered somebody, respect from CO’s, I expect is going to be non-existent and is probably replaced by fear/disgust/hate. Thats a straight up recipe for tension right there.
[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
Just watched those vids. Wow. I have two good friends who’ve done a combined 9-ish years. Gonna show them these and ask if this is consistent with their experiences of being transferred. To me that seems way excessive.[/quote]
Remember we are only getting a ‘snapshot’ of Titus’s world and to us (normalish people) this shit seems severely excessive however I will venture the idea that Titus ‘may’ have brought this seemingly disproportionate treatment on himself?
Who knows he could have resisted prison officers on numerous occasions so the prison authority were not taking any chances this time.
@SkyzykS
I agree with the idea that a con may only have one chance to ‘get’ a prison officer and this situation (prison transfer) would be it hence the need for extra security personnel albeit excessive.
Anyway all prison facilities conduct themselves differently. I love to see the same hardcore procedures in Irish prisons. Criminals get away with unbelievable shit over here! The excuse is there is not enough money to house these fuckers = short sentences and early release but thats another story all together![/quote]
Shit, they might’ve been going light on him. But, as someone who’s never done more than about a week at a time in county I wouldn’t know. It seemed excessive to me. But, I got jabbed in my throat by a guard in county for scratching my nose 'cause lifting your hands above your waist was taken as a “sign of aggression”, so they may be going by standard protocol.
Yeah. Different levels of security and a persons history warrant different treatment. One guy I used to hang out with had the ability to perceive slight and carry out fatal acts of violence like normal people can’t imagine. Starting early on, he is suspected in one sadistic murder shortly after high school, did numerous aggravated assaults, and blew one womans face off during a bank robbery for no apparent reason.
Chip on shoulder or not, you let your guard down or forget protocol for one second around a dude like him and you may have forfeited your own life.
I think there’s way too many judgments and opinions being made here when we have no background information of that video at all. We don’t know what Titus had done in prison beforehand. We don’t know if the guards had a chip on their shoulder. And finally, we don’t know if this tactic was excessive or not given that we have no other details.
[quote]lewhitehurst wrote:
young white COs tend to have a chip on their shoulder which is what pretty much all the guys I saw in that video were. I understand that these guys have a dangerous job, but it is just like the cop that comes up to you or pulls you over and he has prick written all over him. Convicts know that guards with a chip on their shoulder have no confidence in themselves and overcompensate by being outwardly tough. THAT is what creates the problems in the end. At that point all a guy has left is his dignity and respect and if you take that from him, you are pretty much setting yourself up for problems.[/quote]
Pretty much makes sense that young inexperienced guys have no confidence in themselves hence the need to ‘act’ tough esp. in a prison where there are real bad bastards eye balling you!
I have no opinion on the ‘white’ part of your comment as we come from different countries.
I agree that when a guy looses his dignity the prison authorities are setting themselves up for bigger problems because its then the con has nothing else to loose.
Respect is another issue because this is something you earn and are not automatically entitled to. So when you have a prisoner who has murdered somebody, respect from CO’s, I expect is going to be non-existent and is probably replaced by fear/disgust/hate. Thats a straight up recipe for tension right there.[/quote]
You’re coming from the wrong school of thought on this. You give the prisoners respect, they are doing their bid for their injustice, doesn’t mean we should treat them disrespectfully.
[quote]PB Andy wrote:
I think there’s way too many judgments and opinions being made here when we have no background information of that video at all. We don’t know what Titus had done in prison beforehand. We don’t know if the guards had a chip on their shoulder. And finally, we don’t know if this tactic was excessive or not given that we have no other details.[/quote]
White COs, always have a chip on their shoulder (usually star HS football players, who are too dumb to play college or really aren’t that good, come from middle class families and didn’t make anything of themselves). Not sure why this is, maybe because they feel like they’re privileged and shouldn’t be working in a place filled with “scum.” Most of the Hispanic and Black COs I know are happy for a job.
Every time I walk into prison, and a white CO is assigned to me, always talking shit about the prisoners. Get a black CO, or a Mexican CO and they’re going to talk to me about what I’m gonna talk to about the prisoners, they stay quiet, or they talk about sports. Sometimes they’ll talk about their families. But, not White COs, always with a snarky comment.
[quote]worzel wrote:
The whole episode is summed up at the end of the final video when the guard asks “any injuries?” and Titus, who is naked, looks down and says “Just my pride”.
I read that Titus’s transfer was initiated in response to an alleged planned escape.
The security around him is just insane but they obviously have a procedure for situations like this and are leaving nothing to chance.
[/quote]
Regardless of whether it was excessive or not, their tactics were still complete shit. One example would be the guard unlocking the door and then turning his back towards the prisoner inside for several long moments.
So - we’re comfortable judging the character of the guards based on a very short clip (and let’s not forget to make generalization about young, white males), but the guy who was convicted of kidnapping and killing a woman gets the benefit of the doubt?