Jail and Prison Signs, Listed by What They Say

Entry, visiting room and search signs

Entry, visiting and search signs make up 37 lines in EC's Jail/Prison Signs category: the notices a visitor reads from the front door to the visiting room, including check-in and check-out signs, visitor rules, search and contraband notices, detention facility entry requirements and correctional facility warnings.

To find a sign by its words, type a phrase from it, such as Visitor Check-In or Metal Detectors In Use, into the stock book search on the home page; the search reads EC's own descriptions, which carry each sign's wording. A line that EC's book cuts off ends in three dots, and only the words before them are searchable.

The In the book column reads 1 for most lines in this category and Ask where the book lists no quantity, so a set that needs two of the same notice starts with a call to the front office.

Inmate rules, phone limits and movement signs

Inmate rules and movement signs account for 19 lines that EC Props files under Jail/Prison Signs: the notices about inmates and how they move, from yellow line and gate warnings to phone time limits, single-line movement, holding cells, jail house rules, the inmate transfer office and handcuffed prisoners.

Phone rules take several forms: S-1262 carries a 20 minute time limit on telephone privileges, S-2994 reads 3 Calls Only, and S-2976, an inmate telephone recording notice with rules, is in English and Spanish. Spanish-language signs for other settings are gathered under Spanish Signs.

The bars, bunks, benches, phones and cameras that dress the rest of a jail are stocked under Jail Bars & Furnishings.

Perimeter, weapons and surveillance warnings

Perimeter, security and surveillance warnings fill 19 lines of the EC Props Jail/Prison Signs category: maximum security and security fence signs, no-weapons and firearms notices, camera and audio surveillance warnings, and government and jail property signs.

S-1150, Maximum Security Facility, is 48 by 14 inches; S-2551, a jail property no trespassing sign, has 6 in the book; and S-3000 reads Place All Firearms In Storage Lockers. S-2949 warns of camera surveillance in English and Spanish, and S-3136 of 24 hour audio and video surveillance.

Restricted/Gov't Signs is the category for restricted and government property signs, and several lines from this table are listed there too.

Bail, booking, court and sheriff signs

Bail, court and sheriff signs come to 10 lines of EC's Jail/Prison Signs category: detention and bail information, cashier bail and bonds, the sheriff's court services division, booking, a juvenile detention office, a sheriff's vehicles parking sign and sheriff's department comment and complaint signs.

S-1923, Cashier, Bail & Bonds, is double-sided, 30 by 15 inches, and the detention and bail information signs differ in size: S-1095 is 18 by 4 inches and S-2246 is 18 by 10 inches. Courtroom signs proper live in the Courthouse Signs category.

Police station, detective bureau and squad room signs

In EC's Jail/Prison Signs category, police station and detective bureau signs are the 39 lines that take a set from the parking lot to the squad room doors: POLICE, police line, personnel only, police and detective parking, the watch commander, the evidence room, records, missing persons files, administration and unit doors from Homicide to Vice Squad.

S-1077 is the lighted POLICE sign, a plastic front in a wood case, 76 inches wide, and S-0945 reads POLICE LINE in black and yellow, 36 by 6 inches. Six unit door signs share one look, gray and white plastic at 14 by 8 inches: S-2983 Homicide, S-2984 Narcotics, S-2985 Robbery, S-2981a Gang Related, S-2982a Gangs and S-2986a Vice Squad, with 12 by 8 inch versions of the last three. The detective name plates, S-2044a, S-2044b and S-2044c, are black and 9½ to 13 inches wide.

Several station signs name Los Angeles or the LAPD on their faces, among them S-2869 for LAPD employees, S-2857 for L.A. Police and S-2996 for the Los Angeles Police Department, so for a station set in another city, read the wording column before choosing.

The last 13 lines are posters, plaques and a board, among them NYPD posters in metal and plastic frames, framed police awards and a police patch display board with 28 patches. The Jail/Prison Signs photo wall shows the old site's photo of a framed board of police patches.