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Ten-minute moves and the count

The clock that governs a federal prison: a fixed daily timetable, movement permitted only during ten-minute windows on the hour, and five counts a day — two standing, three conducted with a flashlight in the face of a sleeping man, which John Kiriakou argues serve no purpose except sleep disruption.

Ten-minute moves and the count are the two mechanisms by which a federal prison controls where every prisoner is at every moment. John Kiriakou’s description of life at FCI Loretto begins from the observation that it is “all rules, rules, rules” and that the daily schedule is set in stone.[1]

The timetable

Breakfast at six. Work call at seven thirty. Recall to the housing units at 10.20 a.m. Lunch at eleven. Afternoon work call at 12.20, afternoon recall at three. Dinner at five. Evening work call at six. Final recall and lockdown at nine, lights out at eleven. The only variation is at weekends and on holidays, when breakfast is at the “leisurely hour” of seven and there is no work call.[2]

The moves

Movement between points is permitted only during ten-minute moves. Once the ten minutes have passed you are locked down wherever you happen to be, and must wait fifty minutes for the next window.[3]

The counts

Counts are interspersed through the day and night to establish that nobody has escaped. Standing counts, where the prisoner must physically stand beside his bunk, are at 4.15 p.m. and 9.30 p.m. Non-standing counts are at midnight, three and five in the morning; since everyone is asleep, officers go bed to bed shining what Kiriakou calls a ridiculously bright flashlight in each face.[4]

His objection is not to the counting but to the method, and he makes it as a torture argument rather than a comfort one. Prisoners have been locked in since nine; it is impossible to get through concrete, steel bars, bulletproof glass, two twelve-foot fences topped with concertina wire, night-vision cameras and motion detectors. The flashlights therefore serve “zero purpose other than to disrupt our sleep. And sleep disturbances are very much a torture technique.” He tells the reader to stick a pin in that.[5]

No orientation

None of this is explained on arrival. There is no orientation, and, Kiriakou says, nobody helps anybody: the learning curve is “steep, nasty and unforgiving”, and a new prisoner must keep quiet, watch his back and work out what he needs to know.[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ John Kiriakou's Dead Drop, 2026-05-25 · Transcript
  2. ↑ John Kiriakou's Dead Drop, 2026-05-25 · Transcript
  3. ↑ John Kiriakou's Dead Drop, 2026-05-25 · Transcript
  4. ↑ John Kiriakou's Dead Drop, 2026-05-25 · Transcript
  5. ↑ John Kiriakou's Dead Drop, 2026-05-25 · Transcript
  6. ↑ John Kiriakou's Dead Drop, 2026-05-25 · Transcript

Sourced from John Kiriakou's on-record public statements. See his profile for the full body of his interviews, podcast appearances, and short-form video.

Categories: Concepts