School cafeteria style food very subpar but inmates treated each other with respect and didn't mess around

This hotel sucks. First, they make you wear their clothes and only have two types of rooms: mods or dorms. I picked the dorm because it looked spacious, but come to find out, it was all guys in there. You didn't even have privacy in the bathroom. I thought i would be saving some money because my package came with free food, but their restaurant always had long lines. I do not understand why the food sucked, they did not even have a menu. I asked if i could get some blue cheese for my salad and the staff was so rude telling me to keep it pushing. I would not have eaten there again, but it is the only restaurant around. To top it off they wanted me to work for free one day a week. Even though I asked every day where the exit was, no one would tell me until one night they came and kicked me out in the middle of the night. They did give me my clothes back, but they were not cleaned and were all wrinkled and smelled bad. There are other choices around. I will not be going back. read more

I've been there to visit one of my ex bf there before my experience there is some of the staff are pretty rude and think that they are the shit just because their a cop but some of them are nice and considerate just make sure whenever you have a visitation go 45mins early then your scheduled time and make sure you dress appropriately and don't wire any bra that has metal wire because if you don't pass the metal detector machine they only give you 3 tries and if you still don't pass they will cancel your visit or if you don't arrive before they close the door where people sit to wait for the officer to take everyone to the designated visiting area if you're not there before they finish checking everyone's ID and they close that door then you're f****d read more

Spent a lovely weekend here a couple decades ago. The inmates were very cool, the guards not so much. We all got to watch a movie Saturday night, the original Psycho, which I thought was pretty funny. Played some fun games of Hearts at night. Worst thing was the food -- bad enough to scare you straight. Free advice: Buddy up to an inmate who's connected -- they can get you stuff. read more

Overheated. Heated floors and no A/C when extremely humid hot and during heat waves. It's known that violence erupts when it's hot outside. Humid nights. Get these guys ice water all day to combat the heat. Ice ice ice for there commissary drinks if you can't afford air conditioning. Why in gods name can you not turn off those heated floors during summer ???!!! Most officers meaning 90% are very good to visitors. My complaint has nothing to do with employees. Covered parking is nice . Sucks that minimal lockdown only get visits on weekends. Also it sucks no zoom so we have to commute 3 hours every other weekend. Even more sad kids can't visit by zoom especially those with special needs or disabled. My rating is not on officers but the issues I mentioned above read more

Really nasty place toilets all clogged with poop. Smells really bad. The officers aren't aware of anything. Don't recommend this place at all. read more

I was in Elmwood for violating a restraining order and was at the farm for a misdemeanor. The correctional officers are highly trained and give dignity to the inmates. Just make sure you know they are there for a reason. Just like I was. The experience was unique and I will always remember the lessons and people I've met. Thanks Elmwood. read more

No stars... due to lack of communication and understanding of each other. Visits should also be scheduled in person not just online because what if their website crashes? The guy had an attitude and was plain rude. He doesn't get payed enough obviously! Whether it's a correctional or not KINDNESS is a thing and he obviously don't got no home training. Anyways do better! read more

Are you f'in kidding me? Yelp wants me to review my jail experience? Don't go, the eggs are powdered and runny and the concierge has zero restaurant recommendations read more

This place is terrible especially for women. I went to visit my friend. She's on the women side. I have had many encounters with the people that works here. Only one officer was nice here. I don't recall her name. She has blond hair. Most of them are TERRIBLE! No one wants to take accountability for anything that they do wrong. I was able to visit my friend many times until one day they decided to cancel my visits without any explanation. They don't call you to tell you that the visit has been cancelled, instead just sends you an email. They provide NO explanation as to why your visits have been cancelled. They also denied me visits without an explanation. I went down there to try to speak with the Watch Commander and he never came out to speak with me. Instead, I was given an email address to email them which I have already done. Guess what? NO F**** reply which is what I told the Sherriff that was on duty. His replied," keep emailing them." Like what the Hell!! Then, this morning, I called to ask to speak with the Sargent or the Watch on behalf of my friend. She called me this morning saying that the officer that was supposed to take her to her doctor's appointment put the chain around her rib cage instead of her waist and made it so tight that she couldn't breathe, the officer said that she refused to go to her appointment when she didn't. I called to file a complaint and to make sure that she's able to get to her appointment as she's born with a heart condition. I called in and got transferred. Then, they transferred me again, and again. I ended up in the Nurse department and she told me that I had to call back the main number as she can't help me. I asked her to transfer me, but she said to call back the main number. I called back and asked to be transferred to the Watch Commander and got his voice mail. I called back again, this time to ask to be transferred to the Sargent and again got voice mail. I hope NO ever gets put Here as it seems that NO ONE wants to help anyone, and a bunch of IDIOTS works here. read more

Let's just say it beats a poke in the rear with a sharp stick. Waiting room is sparse but adequate. I prefer to stay in M4, The maitre d'hotel doubles as a prune juice sommelier. Look for me in an upper bunk read more

My son has been missing since being released from that place. The CO's must be a bunch of lops. My son had a parole hold on hm and they still released him at 2 in the morning. Hopefully I can find out which officer did it. And they are aware of his physichtatic condition. Has anyone else had a loved one disappear after being released from Elmwood? read more

I'm giving this place 5 stars.. yes I know it's jail. Every time I go visit a inmate the Deputies have been very professional and helpful with me. I've read other reviews and have heard bad things about Elmwood. 3 times I have needed help or guidance and each time the Deputies did their job with professionalism. One of my visits got cancelled due to my inmate being transferred to another unit. I called the same day and the Deputy rescheduled my visit the same day. Thank you Deputy Debor! Even when I went to pick up personal property from my inmate the wait time was only 30 minutes. Same day pick up! Kindness goes along way read more

I say no because come on why would I recommend anyone go to jail but I'm going to say the staff when I go to visit have all been very friendly and helpful. Only had one bad experience I arrived 5 minutes late for check in and I was denied to visit that day and I drove 2 1/2 hours there was just a lot of traffic and I begged to just consider letting me visit but nope so I was disappointed but it happens. read more

All good to visit in M5 until they moved my partner to the camp. Supposably when they work they get more privileges likephonetime and an extra lunch. Also weekends are contact visits, but if theres no deputys they cant do it and short staff they do just window calls and not even no private room like M5. Its all out in the open. Every call I make its we are short staff. Theres a difference if short staffed and being lazy! My problem isnt with the workers who tf is in the higher up area to fix all this shit and aint doing squat. No wonder i look on the website and as of july 2023 they took away video calls 15 mins on tablets. Well if you cant do your job why tf they take video calls away! incredible! every review should start looking higher up. I dont even gotta be a reporter cause imnot to know where to begin. Oh by the way higher up boss make sure they aint giving staled food cause my partner got sick one day. I heard other mothers say their sons moved from M5 due to infection and when Covid yall put everyone together, its like how will they recover if they sick with more sick people let it be a cough, runny nose, or sore throat. Medical takes over 3 weeks to get to you, if they sit around for reports to be scheduled to see the doc how do they get paid high salary to sit their butts. Yall need 60 days inn show to check yourself and the boss. cause my God I see alot of things wrong in the facility i been quiet but now im bothered yall want respect in the facility, but wheres the respect for our scheduled visits and some come near but some come far away like sf and yall cancel visits without notifying or an email. Had to hear from my partner who heard from an inmate and when called they werent fully informed incredible had to call 15 mins after and then they said yeah its cancelled due to fights and other major reasons. BULLSHIT! Low staff go online and accept resumes. #notmyproblem #yochieffixit read more

Ok they are seriously mean here. First they tell you what to wear and where to sleep but then they have the absolute NERVE of making me stay there. Like I couldn't leave no matter how hard I tried. One dude hopped the fence and they kept waking me up to see if I was still alive which I guess is nice. Overall 10/10 would not recommend staying here. read more

Asked for help for my grandmother they assisted her with guidance to filling out new visitation registration so was helpful hopefully she gets accepted thank u for trying read more

Huge campus... Definitely protected buy the electrical wired high voltage thorny fences lol... Saw inmates Playing outside. Across from an elementary school and residential area... Don't be alarmed the place is protected. read more

This place has improved a little bit. The food is a little better but man food is one reason to stay out of jail if you like good good. Its very warm here. THey check on you quite often to make sure you didn't turn into a ghost or something. THey get a lot of great cable channels here. YOU sure do get tons of sleep, sometimes too much. The book selection could be better. The showers are very nice, water temperature very perfection. Sometimes if you take longer then five minutes there's this guy that tries to get a little touchy feely tho. Hey I made some great meals out of Ramen here. I gotta tip for ya foodwise , try to get as many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches as you can. The patio area is pretty cool. Its the best breeze you'll get here. Stay away from the chickens, somethings wrong with them. There's a lot of pay phones, you could only use them at certain times tho. The workout area and tattoo area could be better. read more

I'm mainly rating my experiences with visiting inmates at "Elmwood" since I've never been incarcerated here and don't plan to be anytime soon. I find that this place demonstrates some of the worst public management of any "service" provided by the county (I'm sure this is an extreme overstatement as most public services are crap anyway). Come in and visit an inmate if you ever are in the mood to see tax dollars pay cops supervising visits to chat and on cell phones with friends, phone systems that say "sorry we are experience technical difficulties, an operator cannot help you", and scheduled visits "canceled by system" without any explanation. The facility is clean though and the online visiting system is nice if its not canceling your visits without any notice. read more

Elmwood Correctional Facility - Main Entrance - Downloaded From: http://sccgov.org - Public Services & Government Near Me - Milpitas, California

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Won't give me any information on my son who is currently there. I'm just trying to make sure he's okay and getting the help he needs. The staff here extremely rude. read more

Always 5 stars, there's no place to write this but is there any way you can put up more print out information to hang on the walls about Icare ordering packages? There was a flier in m3 but not in others new visitors have not been aware of this care package option. Thank you read more

@ PRISON You spend most of your time in a 10X10 cell @ WORK You spend most of your time in a 6X6cubicle @ PRISON You get three fully paid for meals a day @ WORK You get a break for one meal, and you have to pay for it @ PRISON For good behavior, you get time off @ WORK For good behavior, you get more work @ PRISON The guard locks and unlocks all the doors for you @ WORK You must carry a security card and open all the doors yourself @ PRISON You can watch TV and play games @ WORK You could get fired for watching TV and playing games @ PRISON They allow your family and friends to visit @ WORK You aren't even supposed to speak to your family @ PRISON All expenses are paid by the taxpayers with no work required on your part @ WORK You must pay all your expenses to go to work, and they deduct taxes from your salary to pay for prisoners @ PRISON You spend most of your life inside bars wanting to get out @ WORK You spend most of your time wanting to get out and go inside bars @ PRISON You must deal with sadistic wardens @ WORK They are called 'managers' THERE IS SOMETHING SERIOUSLY WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE! ................................ Useful Note: I had to bail a friend outta here last Fall. * shivers * read more

As far as correctional facilities go, this one was not bad at all. I received a 60 day sentence and was lucky enough to get into the In-Camp program since i was gainfully employed, which means you turn yourself in on Friday night and are released Sunday night so that you may continue working Monday through Friday. All incoming patrons are frisked, strip searched, and provided clothing and linens. Most are housed in General Population which is a series of of open air barracks each housing between 80 and 120 inmates each (on bunk beds). Uniform consists of socks, underwear, undershirt, thermal(all green), a shirt, pants, and jacket(all black and white striped canvas, very retro) as well as a pair of orange sandals. You are also provided with a "fish kit" which is a plastic ziplock bag containing a plastic 8oz cup, a plastic spork, toothbrush, toothpaste, pencil stub, and a copy of the rules and regulations. After you are dressed down and classified you are given an ID card with your name, PFN#, and Housing Unit/ Bunk #.You then go to the control center where you are given a foam mattress at which point you pass into the general population to find your barracks and bunk #. If you respect the inmates and staff they will respect you. So long as you don't act like a jerk you will be fine. This is a minimum security facility and people are there with short sentences not looking for any trouble. There are no guards to watch over you except for chow time and a head count 3 times a day (6am, 5pm, and 10pm, be up and alert or you will regret it). occasionally a guard will randomly walk through a barracks to check on us but for the most part we are trusted to govern ourselves. Food service is slightly worse than elementary school hot lunches. Breakfast is at 4am(WTF) and is usually SOS (biscuits and gravy), oatmeal with boiled eggs, usually with a piece of fruit and milk. Skip it. Too early and not worth the walk to the mess hall in frigid 4am weather. Unless they have coffee cake, that was delicious. Lunch is at 11am and is either ham sandwiches, cheese sandwiches(cheese chokers) or some kind of ham salad affectionately known as cat food. Usually with a piece of moldy fruit and a packet of Kool Aid. Not bad, its hard to mess up on a ham sandwich. dinner is at 430pm and is either Starfish (a weird mystery meat patty named so as it is star fish in appearance, Turkey A La King, or some kind of Lasagna chilli casserole. Again with milk and moldy fruit. DON'T FORGET YOUR SPORK !!! If you are vegetarian, vegan, or have any special dietary needs, you may fill out a request form and get a special diet ID bracelet and they will cater to your needs. The atmosphere is pretty typical of incarceration. Concrete, fences, bunk beds, communal bathrooms, over crowding, and lack of privacy. There is literature available in all of the barracks as well as a library monday through friday. Also many inmates will be happy to share their personal books with you so long as you return them in a timely fashion. Television is also available in all the barracks with basic cable. Football season was a blast. Overall it was not a bad experience at all and after 30 days i was done with my sentence. You will meet people from all walks of life in here. I personally caught up with a couple old friends from high school. I even got a few job offers while at Elmwood. You even get a nice "released" stamp on your way out. Hopefully i never have to go back. read more

I gotta say that even tho us woods are low in numbers at this particular county jail, having stayed for longish periods of time in two other county jails (Fresno,Monterey) This is one of the better jails to do time in. It beats the main jail by a long shot, so Atfter you're sentenced try to get transferred ASAP. There's a yard, the food is way better Oh and P.S. if you like to play the numbers game; Monterey County Jail has an entire forest of woods. It's pretty comforting to know for a fact you can sleep at night without trippin. Wood-night!! read more

conveniently located right off highway 880, this is a combination farm/county jail facility. it's patrolled by cops on mountain bikes. security is much better than it was in the early 80s. apparently people broke out all the time back then, not to escape, but rather to buy beer and bring it back in to share. smoking is not allowed. maybe if they did allow it, people would be less tense, and there'd be less fights? people are not split up by gangs, as they are in many jails. all the groups are mixed together. white power dudes call themselves "peckerwoods". there's also the black guys: "brothers", a relatively small group; the "paisas" or mexican gang bangers; the "nortenos", or chicano gangbangers; and then there's the "others", of various races and gangs. they are also not split up by severity of offense. if you are in there over the weekend for a very minor drug offense, you will be in the same huge room with 35 bunk beds, sharing space with guys who are looking at murder charges, 25 year sentences. if they let you out at midnight on the day of your release, you have to have someone there to pick you up. if you don't have that, they'll release you at 8 am the next morning. there's a list at the front of the entry room with current inmates, so if you suspect a friend or family member is here, you can come and search the pages. if you have a repeat offender friend, they will have a permanent id number attached to their name, so you can call and check if they are there by referencing that number. there's lots of shaded parking under the solar panels in the parking lot. read more

Elmwood Correctional Facility - Public Services & Government Near Me - Milpitas, California

Had a not so pleasant stay here at Elmwood Correctional Facility and let me tell you it ain't what its cracked up to be. Correctional Officers there are of little to no help if you need anything. Mattresses are as thin as 3 pieces of double stuffed oreos. Blankets with gun shot holes in them. Telephones that only function at certain times. Walls littered with dirt & grime. Showers and toilets missing their doors. 2 tiny t.v's where one is only limited to sports while the other is limited to shows or re-run movies. Loud & noisy short term to long term guests from all flocks of life. & Don't get me started on the food! Yuck! Will not be back! Stay Tip: If you want some excitement in your life with the chance of being in a brawl head over to "M2" aka the "THUNDERDOME" that place is literally designed for fights and constant LOCKDOWNS! read more

Hopefully you'll never have a prolonged stay... but hey...there are worse jails.... So I would like to start by saying I've only been here for work, that being said I will only be reviewing the reception and the interview area. So work has whisked me off to Elmwood on multiple occasions. Before I actually went to the jail I had been to the Great Mall multiple times and never even noticed that there was a jail so close by. It's right off of 880, very tucked away. The reception area is as nice as you'd expect. Nothing amazing, but there are seats and lockers. The deputy at the reception desk is always super friendly and nice. They will usually joke around with you and make sure your stay is pleasant. Not sure if newly arriving inmates get the same treatment. The jail is broken into several housing units. The furthest being M8. M8 is a serious journey. They have a "shuttle service" that will take you there, but I've never seen it running. In the rain or on a hot day the walk can be pretty rough, especially in a suit. The interview room area is also what you might expect. If you are a family member or friend visiting someone then you just sit on one side of the glass and talk to the person you are visiting who is on the other side. If you are an attorney you get to go inside the housing unit and actually sit in a room with the inmate. The rooms are well kept for a jail. Obviously not beautiful, but comfortable enough. The chairs, if they have enough to go around, are pretty comfy too. Just plastic chairs, but I've had to sit in them for long periods of time and never complained. So if you have to go to jail for whatever reason, it could be worse than going to elmwood. read more

Come on really, how do you rate a jail? Well I decided to give Elmwood 5 stars compared to city jails & state & federal prisions. I think it just goes from bad to worse. Elmwood. It is what it is--a correctional facility. Thank God I have never been in this place or any other such institution as an inmate. On several occasions I have gone to Elmwood to visit incarcerated friends & relatives but more so for Christian Ministry work. Gotta tell ya though, I know some great local ministers that are doing good works at Elmwood with bible studies and helping both men and women with preparation and support for a Christian based life on the outside of Elmwood. read more

The shuttle bus took me here since there were no vacancies at the place in San Jose. They were gracious enough to actually send a shuttle bus to take all of us to this spot, which had more vacancies. Reception was okay. They were kinda pushy, but if you just follow whatever instructions they give you, you get to check-in faster. They were okay with keeping my valuables locked up, for safekeeping. You never know what those sketchy bellboys would do with your stuff. They gave me new clothes and some really neat sandals. They also said they provide us with laundry services. The other people staying here were pretty friendly. They offered haircuts and tattoos, and you don't even need money! I figure they have some sort of barter system, and I'm said that I wasn't able to partake in that for my short stay. Seems like the crowd staying here was kinda high schoolish, since everyone broke into racially segregated groups. They had a decent intercontinental breakfast. I opted for a mustard sandwich and apple juice. The phones seem a little old though, and I had to resort to calling "collect" for a ride later that day. I was able to check out, but for some reason, I was missing a ten dollar bill from my wallet after it was being safely kept. Kinda mad about that. All in all, I don't recommend this place to anyone. read more

I am rating the visiting hours and the ease of actually visiting... If you go to the Santa Clara County Dept. of Corrections website, everything is pretty clear cut... You need to register and be accepted to visit, and it takes a couple business days for them to vet you... Here is where I went wrong, I had an appointment for 1pm last Thursday to see my father who is incarcerated for being an idiot and I showed up for the appointment at 12:33... They turned me back, thanks goodness I had an appointment already made for Friday too, bc otherwise, I wouldn't have seen him for a long time if he gets the book thrown at him... Anyway, YOU MUST be at the reception center a MINIMUM of 30 minutes before ur appointment... And ladies, you can't have revealing clothing which exposes ur stomach, cleavage, or even ur shoulders, so if you think ur outfit is questionable, bring a pull over sweater or something... And watch out, ur underwire bra will set the metal detector off, so consider something a lil more comfortable, a sportsbra or, no bra at all---but I digress.... One last thing, you only bring ur id and a key- thats it... Hope u all never have to visit anyone in there-or worse... The visiting stall is cold, echo-y and the phone receivers are hard to hear and use... But whatever, it was a chance to see my old man... read more

My cousin went here for selling weed a while back. Went here to visit him and the place kinda smelled like feet. Also he complained that the food was terrible. You'd think that they would be able to provide better food for their residents. Other than that its a nice place. There is a mall near by and has good access to public transportation. They need more parking spots though, not enough parking. read more

I would like to Thank Deputy Morales, he explained a lot to my husband & I . He was very patient and helpful. I also would like to thank deputy Johnson, he was very good, helping me set a time, for visiting. read more

So Let me start off by saying, that this place is the most UN-SANITARY place in San Jose. I went in as an inmate for a full month placed in the unit W4C, and I was innocent. But anyways the deputies there are completely rude and uneducated. A few like one or two were nice, and had a sense of humor. But otherwise they were complete ASSHOLES, the unit I was in was a "Lockdown" facility; inmates stayed in their rooms for 23 hours on a Daily basis. Some deputies would give us our mail until their shift was over, plus the fact that they don't let us get out of the room but on top of that the deputies made our stay worse! They are so rude and unprofessional. read more

Elmwood University I dont like Milpitas , I like Elmwood even less that being said Stay away . As far as I can tell the only thing worse than Elmwood is the Sunnyvale PD . Another Satisfied customer . read more

Friendly staff; awesome service! The food is so good it deserves its own Michelin star and Michelin guide book. I was quite partial to the "cat food". Also, some of the guests have superior cooking knowledge and frequently make their own food. The best of which being "under the mattress peanut brittle" and "wet burritos". Both of which are made from various assortments of foods that are mixed in a trash bag. If foods not your game and drink is more your thing, try their Pruno. It's great, and brewed fresh daily with only the freshest ingredients 10/10, would come back anytime. read more

My boyfriend has been here since March & I have yet to receive ANY letters. He always gets mine but for some reason I NEVER get the ones he sends out. Every time he has ask any officer they just say " she should get them soon we mailed everything out " at this point it's very frustrating if you don't have enough people to go over mail , HIRE more workers . Imagine the phone who only can communicate through letters smh read more

The best cheese sandwiches ever.... cant beat the fake koolaid

I find it pretty hilarious that there is a profile for Elmwood on Yelp, as if people need reviews to determine whether or not they want to secure accommodations at this facility. What can I say? I really can't pick just one favorite aspect of this place. From the tasteless, carb-filled, artificial food to the ten-sizes-too-big prison gear to the roided out, big-ego C.O.s, Elmwood has the correctional facility ambiance down to a tee. My visit to this facility was short, but it felt like an eternity. I never thought I'd land myself in the slammer, but I did. It taught me a lot. Here's what I learned: 1) Do not throw your spork (that's a hybrid spoon/ fork) away. These are not disposable plastic utensils, and you only get one. Unless someone is nice enough to give you one of their extras, you're eating with your hands. But who needs hands when you're eating the slop they give you. You might as well be eating with your @$$hole because it tastes like $h!t. 2) You can barter your food and other commodities such as shampoo, soap and make-up for other services or goods. I'll trade my chocolate cake for your two juices. Deal! 3) Save your orange peels. They make great citrus fragrance lotion. 4) Children aren't the only ones that sleep on bunk beds. Inmates do too! 5) You do not need a "fitted" sheet when making a bed. All you need to do is tie the corners of the sheet, slip over the corners of your mat and bam! Can someone say "homey and creative"? Top that Martha Stewart. 6) You cannot place outgoing collect calls unless the recipient creates an account; therefore, if you're there for a short period of time, the phones only serve as a method of torment. Wait, but you can get through to bail bond companies, although I wouldn't recommend it. I've found that they usually lack a sense of humor and don't have anything insightful or meaningful to say. 7) It is a lot easier to walk with your ankles shackled than you would think. In fact, being chained to two other people gives you a sense of camaraderie. "Hey there, friend, my inmate # is 456982. What's yours?" 8) Oh, and with all that time to think, I solved one of our nation's biggest problems--an overpopulated prison system. Here's my idea: When registering into the facilities, one of the "concierge" attendants should ask, "Would you like a complimentary noose on your pillow?" The place would clear out after each meal. Thank you for your hospitality Elmwood Correctional Facilities! read more

These people are awful. They have a major power trip. They look for reasons to not let you in to see your loved ones. And they do not tell u to come 45 min early and then do not let u in. That is wrong read more