One thing I haven't seen anything written about -- or anyone seemly concerned about are prisons, and more specifically the people who are in there.

Imagine you are warden of a biggie maximium security prision on 1/1/2000. Power goes and the backup generators kick in. Dead of night so everyone is, hopefully, locked down anyway. You get a visit at home from the head of security saying: the phones are out; and there is only about 12 hours of fuel to maintain power. You also know that there isn't all that much food keep on hand.

You send someone to the fuel supplier. He says he can't find out when he will get resupplied, so what he has on hand is going to the highest bidder, and, by the way, it's cash in advance. Ditto happens with the food suppliers. And the head of guards union says, "No pay, no play."

You get the idea. Does anyone out there have any idea -- or heard anything about whether this problem has been addressed.

-- James A. Cobbs (jim9885@ibm.net), December 24, 1997

Answers

Jim, I've seen no answers, information, or discussion of this topic. The possible scenarios are not pleasant to contemplate.

A variation on this question: what kind of NEW criminal activities might emerge before, during, and after the Y2K "Big Day"? How seriously should we take the occasional rumors of Y2K-associated terrorist attacks (which the PCCIP is supposedly concerned with)?

Back to your question: I guess the short answer is: don't live within a hundred miles of a major prison. If you've got a friend or relative currently incarcerated, I doubt there's much that you can do -- but you have good reason to be worried. Realistically, if Y2K turns out to be as chaotic as I think it will be, the safety and comfort of prisoners is not going to be very high on anyone's priority list (except, of course, the prisoners themselves).

-- Ed Yourdon (ed@yourdon.com), December 24, 1997.

New crimes? Well, for starters, if there's a bank run in 2H99, there will be folks offering to sell hard assets (gold, etc.) in return for paper currency, who are simply planning to take the money and not deliver. Joke might be on them, though, if the paper currency turns out to be worthless.

Similarly, it might not be too smart to trust folks in late '99 who are offering to sell survival foodstuffs by mail...

I expect people who stash food in an urban setting are going to be unpleasantly surprised by the number of their neighbors who feel entitled to said food.

-- Mike Gunderloy (MikeG1@mcwtech.com), December 26, 1997.

Thanks - now I can't sleep tonight.

Bought land - setting up fallback plan with generator, water tank, food supply.... said land is less than 100 miles from major prison and less than 25 miles from military base. *sigh*

And to think, I was mainly worried about telecommunications.

-- BooBear (bear456@rocketmail.com), February 07, 1998.

What about prisons? Do the doors and gates have embedded chips to control entry? Will 2 million convicts be locked in? or out?

Carl

-- Carl Chaplin (chaplin@lillonet.org), May 24, 1998.

Well,I happen to know an inmate at Salinas Valley State Prison and he told me that they,as the staff did roll-ove and the results were really scary,the entire prison opened,the cell doors opened and remained open the gates opened including the outer gates that let the prisoners out. Kinda scary if you ask me.

-- Morgan (Y2KFever@aol.com), October 02, 1998.

Does anybody really care about this matter? I would if the thought that 2 million Prisoners would be let out onto the street because you cant keep them locked up if you cant feed them. Morgan

-- Morgan (Y2KFever@aol.com), October 06, 1998.

Morgan,

Like many other things, people who are afraid of the answers they may get, will try to avoid asking the quesions.

So it is up to those (including yourself) who are not afraid to raise the issue (in the right place, and to the people in charge who are responsible for doing something about it) to bring those uncomfortable thoughts up.

It is not pretty; most people would rather escape -- sit in frontt of a TV and watch a soap opera about fake rich people with fake problems about fake issues -- than address something unpleasant.

Also, food (hunger) is not the biggest problem facing people in prison after the troubles start there, and if the troubles last more than just a few days (hours ?).

Violence, fire or thirst (if water systems are shut down) is more likely, and harder to control.

-- Robert A. Cook, P.E. (Kennesaw, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), October 06, 1998.

Well, I do agree with you about the soap opera's but why don't people care and why arre they affraid? Well the Prison my dad is in there isnt hardly any violence because they have pellet guns that the gaurds shoot the prisoners with and so they dont fight,now thirst is a big problem because it has to get HOT in the cells and i think that when Y2K hits they will have to do something and the only thing to do is let them go me personally i wouldnt want to try to stop over 1000 prisoners in seach of food or water. Morgan

-- Morgan (Y2KFever@aol.com), October 06, 1998.