Louis Theroux s01e17 Episode Script

Miami, Florida is home to one of the largest jails in America.
The tens of thousands of people arrested every year in the country come here to live.
They stay for a day or sometimes years while they await trial.
Since they have not yet been convicted, the inmates of jails, unlike prisons, are technically innocent.
Walk right into my magical kingdom.
You can go drive by! For those accused of the worst crimes or worst behaviour in the jail, their time here is considered by many to be tougher and more brutal than any other institution.
The fifth floor of the main jail is one of two maximum security floors.
It is known as one of the most violent in Miami's jail system.
Do we know the name of the inmate that was attacked? Erm His name's Warren.
Warren Davis, I think it is.
Warren Davis? Yeah.
Warren Davis.
Can we talk to you? How long have you been in this cell? This cell? Aboutfour days, four or five days in this cell.
I've been in the system 13 months.
There was a guy attacked last night in this cell.
Get him! He wasn't attacked.
It was a straight fight.
Do you know what the fight was about? What might it have been about? They got a saying, they got a saying in the jailhouse, cos it's called "snitches get stitches", so that tells you everything right there.
And do I infer from that, then, the guy who was beaten may have been a snitch? Yes, sir.
That doesn't go too well with the guys in here.
Even though he might have not been snitching on the guys in this particular cell, while somewhere throughout the facility he has a co-defender or somebody that he is snitching on and that's The word comes down, and once you're labelled as a snitch, it's hard for you to live anywhere in the county jail.
He's in hospital now.
Does that surprise you? No, not really.
It won't be his last time being in the hospital.
Main jail's other maximum security floor is the sixth.
Corporal Harry Woodside is one of the supervisors.
This is a very old jail.
This is what's called a first-generation jail.
This type of jail setting where the inmates are alone in the cells and we basically have the outside walk.
About 95% of inmates in this jail cannot function in a third-generation jail.
And third generation is? Third generation is where the inmates are housed in an open type bay, everything's in the cell for them, the shower units, the TVs, everything's in there, rec room, everything.
That type of jail setting, that type of jail setting, your violent aggressive inmates can't function in those settings.
Why not? Because a lot of your aggressive inmates don't like the idea of an officer being in the unit with them.
They like to be alone in units so they can run the unit the way they want to run it.
When you have an officer there, we run the unit.
This type of setting, they're still in a jail cell but we're not in there, a minimum amount of time during the day, so therefore the inmates, once their door shuts, they control, whoever is the strongest person in the cell controls the cell, so you tend to have more fights in this setting.
When you go in, they fight to prove themselves.
Why? Because that'sthe survival of the fittest, you know? It gets your ranking in the cell.
What have most of these guys done? I mean, most of them are awaiting trial, are they? Yeah, probably about 90, 95, about 99% of them are awaiting trial.
Many of them, if they haven't been convicted, they are technically innocent innocent until proven guilty.
They're all innocent until proven guilty.
The paint is this area up here, the rec area.
This is the paint.
Why is it called the paint? That's just what they call it, the paint.
When a new inmate comes in the cell or they're deciding on a fight, they use this area right here.
If you don't have a good account of yourself, they'll tell you, go ahead and knock on the door, they're going to put you on the door.
They'll let you knock on the door, did you say? Yeah, after you lose, they're going to tell you go a-knocking on the door, get your stuff.
That means go get the officers, you have to leave.
So, explain what the paint is.
Did you say depending on how you do in the fight you get a different bunk? Is that what you said? Yeah.
If you fight hard, you go hard, you get you a bottom rack.
You ain't got to get up on the top.
But if you ain't fighting like that, your ass got to get on the top.
You got a top dog and you got smaller dogs.
Who's the top dog in this cell? I can't give you no names.
Why can't you give any names? If you come in here, you will find out who the top dog is here.
Yeah! That what it is.
He's Mr Pearson.
You know him a little bit? Just from in jail here, yes.
Do you know what Mr Pearson is in for? Oh, no, not off the top of my head, I don't I can look it up, but I don't know off the top of my head.
Why you want to find out what I'm in for? He just asking questions.
No, I know, I'm saying I ain't got no problem telling, I'm just saying, I'm trying to see what the catch is to it.
Why you're here, like what do you have to do or be accused of doing to be in this cell? You could be accused of anything.
You could be here for stealing a bike.
They got different levels.
Well, this is maximum.
This is maximum.
So why are you maximum? Because of my charges.
Which is? Huh? What are your charges? I got a first degree murder.
First degree Murder.
How long have you been in jail? Oh, I've only been locked up ten months now, ten months.
I just came in off the street like y'all, and I'm going to get back out there real soon.
What size shoe do you wear? What he's trying to tell you is What he's trying to tell you is that if you were in the cell right now, you would lose your shoes, somebody's going to take them.
Why? Because if you went in that cell with those shoes and they fit him, he's going to fight you for them.
When you say "What size shoes do you wear?" What did you mean by that? They were going to be his.
I might want them shoes, I like them shoes you got on.
You a cowboy? I see cowboys who wear them kind of shoes.
What if he came in the cells and He'd have to fight for them.
Since most of the inmates in jail are not convicted, they exist in a kind of legal limbo, technically innocent, yet confined and deprived of many of their rights.
Main jail is the first point of entry for all new arrestees.
Here, they're booked and processed.
Most are either released on bail or sent to one of the system's four other more modern facilities.
This is also the access point for inmates with court dates and medical issues.
One of those being moved was the beaten man from the sixth floor, Warren Davis.
We just heard about you getting beaten up last night.
Can you tell us what happened? It was about a bunk? You had just got in there, is that right? Were you jumped or was it one guy? No, it was like 12 dudes, one on one though, each one.
One after another? Yeah.
Why? Over a bunk.
That's how they do it, I don't know.
You wouldn't give them the bunk they wanted? I was sleeping.
I was sleeping and they put their hands on me.
How many guys did you have to fight? About 12 of them.
Yeah, 12 dudes.
We went up there and the explanation the guys gave was that there was a rumour going around that you had cooperated with the state and that was why that went down.
Yeah? You know what my charge is? Driving with a suspended licence, so where am I cooperating with the state with it? That was a fluke, man, this is how the shit goes in the cell.
The fourth floor has a mixture of maximum and medium custody cells.
There are also some smaller cells for the most violent and predatory inmates.
These are the safety cells.
These are the safety cells, meaning? Meaning these are a lot of these inmates, if you put them in general population, they're doing a lot of fighting.
They'll fight with others? So a lot of times you have to separate them.
That's why they're in red? Correct.
Why are you in red? Stabbing charge.
A stabbing charge against who? Another inmate.
You stabbed another inmate? Yeah.
For what reason? Discrete altercation.
What was it about? Respect.
How did he disrespect you? He throwing down my flag.
He throwing down my flag.
He disrespecting me, basically.
Are you saying that he disrespected your gang? Pretty much.
He bad-mouthed your gang? That's basically what it's about.
What did you stab him with? An ice pick.
In his stomach? Anywhere I could hit him.
How many times? About seven.
Seven? Yeah.
What happened to him? I don't know and I don't care, I really don't care about him.
He's not dead? No, he ain't dead.
Where is he? He probably in general population somewhere telling on somebody, I don't know But to me, frankly, I don't care what happen to him, whether he live or die.
They say that the weaker inmates get preyed upon.
That's what we call marks.
Ducks.
You got you a duck.
You put your foot on his neck, you know what I'm saying? If he weak.
If he weak he better check in and go somewhere, you know? Cos it's rough in this county, man, it's rough, and you can be tricked easily like that, you know? Scared.
All type of stuff go on behind these walls.
In what way might someone be victimised? I could just extort him, have his momma sending me money.
He could be extorted easily.
She got to pay for her son's protection.
He got to give me everything that comes through that door.
If I ain't got nothing here, he getting fed to the wolves.
That's how the weak get preyed upon.
Did you hear? He's talking openly about extortion that can sometimes happen, the weaker inmates would be extorted.
Yeah, that's true, that's true, yes.
Is there anything officers can do to prevent that happening? Well, actually, you know, if they're being extorted, they say don't then, we don't know.
If they bring it to our attention, then yes, then we're going to investigate it.
That's what we call a check-in move.
Go on.
When you run out and tell, obviously you checking in, so if you check in one way or another, somebody going to get hold soon.
There'd be repercussions? Yeah, there'd be repercussions for that.
For running to the authorities? Yeah.
Why? There got to be repercussions.
Why? He done checked in under my name.
He done checked in.
I got to have him.
You're not worried about talking about this in front of the officers? For what? They got me back here already for all this long time, why should I be? It ain't no secret, my charge, going to tell it anyway.
You'd be willing to extort the weaker inmates? Within a heartbeat, quick.
Quick.
Why? Cos of your mark.
One thing I'm going to leave on the camera for y'all to remember this word, right here - gabose.
The name of the game is gabose.
Game ain't based on sympathy and you got sympathy in this part, you ain't going to never make it.
Yeah.
How old are you? 27.
27? 27.
What's your name? Nianthony.
Nianthony, what are you doing here, in the jail? Being arrested.
Can you say what they say you did? Allegedly.
What it is against you? Allegedly.
What they allegedly say you did? Attempted murder.
How long have you been in jail? Three years now.
Three years?! Three years.
You're pre-trial? Mm-hm.
You haven't gone to trial yet? Not yet.
You've been staying mainly here at Pre-trial Detention Centre? This is actually my fourth day here.
Fourth? I was at the other jail.
Why'd they bring you here? Someone said I was trying to escape Really? Which is obviously not true.
So this'll be your more permanent housing, then? For now.
For now.
Hopefully not.
Why do you say hopefully not? It's not a nice placement.
Where would you rather be if you were in jail? I mean, if you had the Where I was before.
Right.
What's wrong with this one, the main jail? I mean, I'm being watched by a lot of people, so I don't want to say anything.
(Awful.
It's fucking awful.
) Why? (It's a fucking shithole here.
It's terrible.
) And now they're going to put me with 20 other crazy people here.
And you can't do anything about it You know? I wasn't trying to get out of that other place.
I would never come out of my room, just sit there and read.
I even went down to classes in the morning to help people get their degrees cos I have college education myself.
So I would go down and, you know, help people and now I'm being put in this fucking crazy place.
Do you have a court date? 6th December.
Next Monday.
That's when the trial starts? No, no, no.
You always have to have a trial date, whether or not you're ready for trial.
So mine is set for the 6th December but my case isn't ready to go to trial, so I won't be going to trial.
It's just a date necessary to be logged in the system.
So nothing's going to happen on Monday? No, nothing will happen.
When do you think you'll actually go to trial? Not for a while.
I'll allow you to film from the front with us putting him in his cell, but as far as the actual inmates seeing the camera crew, I will not, no.
That's not a good idea for him and for his safety.
We don't want all the inmates to think that he was out here talking to a camera crew and snitching all the inmates in his cell, as they claim.
You don't want him victimised Not at allby other inmates? How many people would he share with? Anywhere, roughly, in the cells, from 16 to 23 guys in one, so it depends on the size of the cell and with him, his size, ain't no telling what will happen once we close that door.
To what extent can you protect an inmate from the other inmates? I mean The only means he has to alert us that something is going on in that cell is when they bang on the door or there's yelling coming from the cell, then we know something's going on in the cell.
A lot of times, as I say, if he's being victimised by ten guys there's probably no way for us to know until we actually go in there to feed or do our head count.
We pull them out to do head counts, to physically make sure everybody's OK.
Sometimes you can get raped.
You can get stabbed.
Things of that nature do happen in jail, yes.
So we wanted to see Nianthony, is that OK? Correct, correct.
We don't want to compromise his safety, so we'll just walk round and see what his cell is like and talk to some of the people in there.
OK, see his environment, basically? Without identifying him Correct.
No problem.
We can do that? Yes.
How you doing in here? There was a fight in here last night, I heard.
There was a something, man, I don't know about it too much.
Oh, yeah, we don't like thieves.
Snitches, snitches.
You said there was a fight in here last night? And what did they do? To the guy who was stealing? They beat him up.
They jumped on him.
Where is he now? Right now, I think he's in Ward D.
He's in? Ward D.
Our hospital facility.
He's in hospital now? Yeah.
How y'all can help me? I need society to know how y'all low ones get treated.
What did you do? Who, me? Oh, somebody broke into my house and when they broke into my house, I shot him.
He was trying to rape my daughter - I blowed his head off.
I woke up and I shot him.
When you come to this jail, when you known to be snitching, you going to get beat - bop, bop, bop, bop, bop! Then wherever you go, "Oh, he hot, hot boy.
Bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop - they going to line him up.
That mean we're going to get him - bop, bop, bop, bop! Then when he gets out the next one get him - bop, bop, bop, bop! That's called line up.
They're going to line him up.
A handful of inmates on each floor are chosen to perform menial tasks for the officers.
I was about to meet one of these trustees on the sixth floor.
What's your name? My name is Robert.
Are you in a special trustees' cell here on the sixth floor? No, I'm not, no.
A regular cell with other inmates.
Other inmates who are not trustees? Yes, sir.
Wouldn't that create some conflict because you get some privileges? Yes, as a matter of fact it does.
As you can see, my eye's still healing What happened? Oh, I got in a fight.
Why? Somebody stole.
We get commissary on a weekly basis here.
We get chips and cookies and different, you know necessities, hygiene, and somebody stole some things from me so the way you respond to that in here, in this environment, is, you know, you have to They call it strap up, tie your shoes, tighten them up.
You told him literally, "Put your shoes on"? Yeah, right.
There's different words for it.
Red, give me some red.
Give me a fade, a head up.
It means we want to fight.
The only way we can resolve things is through fighting.
If we wanted to meet the guy you had beef with could we do that? I don't think that would be a good idea.
Why not? It's just not, it just It wouldn't.
It wasn't even him that did it, but the way things the rules are in here, the person that's closest to me in my vicinity, my bunk mate, is supposed to look out for me.
I'm out here seven hours a day.
If me and you are bunkies and you're out here and some of your stuff comes up missing and I'm in there all day and I'm on my bunk reading, you're going to think that I know about it, I had something to do with it, that I did it.
That's how it is.
As far as you know, he may not have done it.
Exactly.
But he should have been your lookout.
Basically, so when I got back in and found my stuff missing, I just Tapped his bunk and that means put your shoes on, you know, you got to give me a fight, tighten up.
And that's what we did, so I'm not even 100% sure he did it, but I'm sure that nobody else now in the cell will do that because they know I'm not going to be pushed over.
They can just take advantage, you know? Of the white guy.
Did you get in trouble? No, I didn't get in trouble for that.
That's just a natural ongoing thing.
Fighting is normal.
I mean, stabbings are normal.
What are you in for? Why are you here? Ohhome invasion robbery, armed burglary .
.
grand theft armed and I have an aggravated stopping charge.
Do you have priors? As a matter of fact, yes, I do.
That's why I'm in the situation that I am now.
I have a long list of crimes.
I've been in prison six times and when you say that, people are like, damn, you know? "You haven't learned your lesson yet?" And all I can say to that is I guess not.
But things are starting to settle in now.
I can honestly say that.
I'm ready, you know? I'm really ready.
The culture of constant fighting has existed in the main jail for many years.
Officers say there is little they can do to stamp it out and that the code is created by the inmates themselves.
What happened to you? I got jumped by some inmates.
They choked me, put me to sleep.
I was choked.
What's your last name again? Call the clinic.
They say he fell in the shower.
I think we both know he didn't fall in the shower.
But until I You know, otherwise if he sticks to that story, I mean how Can I prove otherwise? Strange as it was, I was about to find out that it was far from being the only predatory practice that flourishes at the jail.
Is there anyone in charge in here? The cell runs itself.
The cell runs itself? We might have some problems but this the goodest cell in I guess, on the floor.
We might have some problems.
What problems? Fighting off and on and that's it.
You got some dudes might be gunning officers, you know, but that's it.
What is You said gunning for the officers? That is that.
What does that mean? Masturbation.
Masturbation.
Have you done that? I'm going to sayoff and on, yeah.
I ain't going to lie.
I mean People been three, four, five years without seeing a woman, so I guess that's their way of getting off.
In front of the officers? Yes.
I'm just giving it to you raw.
Can you see around there? No.
The director thinks maybe one of the inmates was gunning.
It happens, especially when you're female on the walk here, or new females.
They tend to, not all of them, but someone will To me it's a sign of disrespect.
If you will openly do that to a female, to sit there and masturbate to her, that's a sign of disrespect to me.
Have they ever tried to gun you? Of course.
And what happens? I pull them out the cell, I counsel them and I give them a disciplinary report, so usually, if I write them up, I write them up for three different things and they catch, like, about nine days.
How often does something like that happen? It depends.
It used to happen to me when I first got here on the floor, two years ago, it happened a lot, but once you establish who you are and let them know what you're about, then it slows down.
All right, got your tough man.
Whoa.
How you doing? Were you asking if I'm tough? Yeah.
Why were you asking me that? I want them shoes.
You still want my shoes? Yeah.
Why? I could use them, sell them.
Ah! 'Sixth floor, A wing were getting yard.
'Inmates at main jail are supposed to go outside twice a week for an hour, 'though their yard time can be revoked due to bad behaviour.
' "Hustlin' " by Rick Ross There's another group going to come down, we separate the wings.
A and B.
We don't mix A and B.
Why not? It gets volatile.
Enemies on different sides.
So, A'll be on one side, B'll be on one side.
All the time.
Always.
Since arriving at the jail, I'd been keen to see inside the inmates' living quarters.
With the permission of the captain, I was about to enter the cell belonging to Rodney Pearson, the inmate who'd explained the rules of the paint.
Can I introduce myself? I'm Louis.
Hey, how you doing, Louis.
Corporal Valdez.
Are you the Corporal on duty? I am.
You've kindly given us permission or arranged for us to go inside one of the cells, is that correct? Yes, sir.
Which is a little unusual for a media team, as I understand.
It is a safety issue.
You know, these guys are maximum security inmates and for you, thisfilm crew to go inside the cell, it's not something we advise.
Yes.
Yeah.
BSBG, straight drop the movement, man.
Brown Sub Blood Gang.
Straight murderers and killers.
How you doing? How you doing, guys? How you doing? Nice to meet you.
How's it going? Good to see you.
I'm Louis.
What was your name again? He.
Sho? Good to see you.
Rodney, can you show us where you stay? Like your little patch? My bed? Your bunk.
All right.
This is where I sleep, right here.
Right here? How long have you been in this cell? Well, I just got moved over.
I been over here liketwo weeks.
Two weeks? Yeah.
And when you came in, did you have to prove yourself in any way? No, my main man right there, he right there, that my main man.
My main man were like, "Give my main man a bottom", so when I came in, he put me right here, you know, that's how it goes.
What? You said he's your main man.
That is my main man.
In what respect? You knew him on the streets? Yeah, from the street and we had been in time together before.
So when you came in, he kind of made sure you were OK when you came in? Oh, I'm OK anyway, I'm just saying he were like, "Put bro right there", so I went right there.
You didn't want to be on a top bunk? I ain't going on no top bunk.
Is anyone in here on a top bunk? Yes, a couple are.
How come you're on a top bunk? I choose to be right here.
You're OK with that? Fine with it.
Why? No problem.
It's considered to be the less desirable option.
No, no.
It ain't like that.
I just choose to be on the top bunk.
One thing that came up last time was the idea of the paint as a kind of arena of battle in which the different inmates have to prove themselves.
You got to prove yourself, get you in the rec and see where you at.
"See where you at"? What do you mean? You might come here, but you might be snitching on somebody's cousin, you might tell or something.
You want to know who you're with.
How you going to tell by fighting? You'd be scared to get out.
That's a sign something's wrong with you.
Well, uh, you could be an honest person and not want to fight.
Yeah, but they going to have to fight or you going to get done.
Why? Shit! That's the code, that's they rules, y'all.
You know you got to ask the person who made it.
The code, it the code.
I can't tell you the code, you got to know the code.
You feel me? You come here and you come in the cell, you got to get lined up.
If someone obviously wasn't from the streets or if they clearly weren't cut out for it They in trouble.
What would happen then? Shit, only you know.
I don't know.
They got to get out there, though.
Are you seriously saying that if I, by some quirk of fate, if I was sent into this cell, you'd see me and presumably you would know that I was not cut out to fight and you're seriously saying I ain't going to lie, you might not fight.
They might just slap the shit out of you.
Nigga might just slap you out, you might Nigga might hang out or you might hang, I ain't going to lie.
You might just get the party, you might get, oh, man.
I'm just giving it to you raw.
You're saying I wouldn't have to fight? Oh, you going to, no, you're going to have to fight, I'm saying the whole cell might beat you.
That what I'm trying to tell you.
The whole cell might beat you.
Why? Shit, that's the code.
I don't know, that's what I'm trying to tell you, you have to figure out why.
Would you be helping? No, I might feel sorry for you, since I know you here and you a good man, I might tell them to fall back, but you going to get one or two rounds in, you feel me? They going to show what kind of person you is, eventually.
And that week, that day, never know, that month go by.
Something going to show, something going to break.
You might be a rare nigga too, you feel me? You a rare nigga? What do you think? I don't know.
Shit.
I just met you.
How do you feel, being in jail? You want to get this over with, get to trial, get it over with? Yeah.
Why don't you speed it up, get your lawyer to Shit.
Huh? I mean, what Sometimes you can't really speed everything up, cos you see, when you speed it, you might rush and rush the wrong thing.
You got to let it play out sometimes, you feeling me? I want to get out, but I ain't going to speed, it'll never work when people call that until you got everything you need to know.
You got a good lawyer? Yeah, I got a good lawyer.
Public defender? Yeah.
No! Public defender, that's a prison.
Are you tripping? Public defender.
Hey, no.
Got a lawyer, paid lawyer.
Who's paying? Who's paying? Shit.
Who'd you work for, City of Miami or Metro? He ask who paying! Yeah, no, my people's paying, I got a family, yo.
How much time are they trying to give you? They ain't talking about time.
I had to go get the death penalty way last month, so now I'm fighting the life sentence and They wanted to give you a death penalty? They wanted to, but that ain't necessarily what I'm going to get.
You know, they got a bluff going there, too, they got bluff.
That's what they want to do.
How old are you? Who, me? 26.
You got kids? Yeah, I got four kids.
Wife? No.
Parents? No.
Where are they? Deceased.
What kind of life do you have in here? Huh? How do you feel about your life in here? You like your life in here? Do I like it I here? Do you like your life in here? Yeah.
No, I don't like it in here.
Nobody don't like it.
I hope not.
You just take each day as it comes? Can't do nothing.
What you going to do? You going to break out of here? You can't do nothing until they come with you, bro.
I mean, to an outsider, this seems like such a dreadful place, I'd be curious to know, is there a part you know, how do you deal with that? How do you handle that, facing that every day? What can you do? Go crazy? I'm saying, what you going to do? Oh, you going to go crazy, huh? Maybe.
Oh, you know.
Different strokes.
How you doing? I'm all right.
How are you? Good.
'It was the morning after Nianthony Martinez's first night 'on the fifth floor.
I'd asked the officers to pull him out.
' When we left you, you were just about to go into your new dorm, in your new cell.
Yes.
And how did that go for you? It was actually not, you knowtroubling.
I walked in, I just got on a mattress.
You saw Mh-hm.
I think that's it.
I've just been sitting there.
Did anyone attempt to intimidate you or Not really.
.
.
or take stock of you in any way? Not really.
There was some concerns among the staff that you may be victimised, because you're relatively small and you look quite young.
What do you do about that? I try my best to avoid anything that could cause an issue, keep to myself and I don't you know, get involved withany of the craziness.
How? How do you avoid it? You just, you know, it's like I told you, I've been sitting on that bed for the last 24 hours.
I got down to use the bathroom one time and went right back.
You know, you wonder, how do 25 people get along with two toilets and just It's disgusting.
The things they talk about and the things they do and say And I mean, I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I looked on the internet about your case.
You're accused of attempting to murder your ex-girlfriend.
No.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
I'm accused of attempting to murder someone while my ex-girlfriend was in the car.
My ex was not the victim.
This was a person I had an ongoing feud with for years.
Years.
I mean, I was 16 when I met this person.
I've never gotten along with him and so they say, you know, "Oh, that had to be him who did it".
Was it a man or a woman? A woman.
And it was your ex-girlfriend's new girlfriend? No.
That's what it said in the notes.
It says a lot of things.
It says I tried to kill her, too.
Why did you have a feud with this girl? We just don't get along.
Have you ever met someone you just don't get along with? Well, yes, but not people I have a feud with, in that sense.
Yeah, but someone that goes out of their way to bother you, for years and years and years.
I don't know.
In what way? Just lots of ways.
I mean you know, I don't really want to get into details here, bro.
Do you know what your defence is? What your you have an attorney? Yeah.
And do you know what you'll plead? We're going to try to plead insanity.
Are you? Yeah.
Why? Cos couple of people feel there might be something wrong with me.
Like what? Don't know yet.
Do you think you might be insane? I can't answer that.
I mean I I guess there might be .
.
you know, a problem with being so upset with people sometimes, that you're driven to that point.
You know, it's not normal, I guess it's not normal.
But it's like I told you, I'm not really I'm not a violent person, but what happened was an overtly violent thing.
Yeah, this one's going this way.
Mark Twain said if you ever want to go to the lowest of humanity, the dregs of society, go to a prison and watch the changing of the guards.
And this one's going this way.
'I was on the sixth floor, about to speak to an inmate 'whose behaviour inside had made him notorious among the officers.
' Who are we about to meet? We're going to interview McCray, Frederick.
What can you tell me, based on this? What can you tell me about him? He's in here, based on assault, aggravated, on a law enforcement officer, fleeing and looting, police, robbery, car jacking, armed, attempted felony murder, twice.
Two counts.
You knew about him, obviously, you know a little bit about him.
Uh-huh.
Not really.
The only thing I know, he's a big masturbator.
He's known to be a big masturbator? Yes.
In public? At the guards? Yes.
At the female guards? Yes.
You're Frederick McCray, is that right? Yes, it is.
How's it going? I'm good.
You've been in here for more than two years now? Yeah.
How come so long? I mean, I got a serious case.
Mh-hm.
The victim in the case is a man or a woman? Erboth.
So a man and a woman.
Yeah.
A couple were in a car.
Do they allege that someone was hurt? They say someone was hurt.
They say several people was hurt.
Were shot? That's what they say.
Badly? I don't know, you know, that was the least of my concern.
You feel remorse for doing what you did? I don't feel any remorse.
Why not? Cos if I had to feed my family again and do something, you know, I'd do it again for the family.
I read some of your report before meeting you and you've been in trouble for gunning officers.
What is that? Masturbating at them.
Oh, oh.
OK, OK.
OK, I hear you.
What's.
.
? Can you explain that? Explain what? Why you did that? There's nothing to explain.
It's just for gratification.
It relieved me.
You don't feel embarrassed or ashamed to do that? Embarrassed? No, why should I feel embarrassed? You don't understand why that would be shameful or embarrassing? Not at all.
And so do you understand that officers don't like that or members of the public don't like that? You know what I be telling them? Eat it up or write it up.
Eat it up? Eat it up, like you eat your food.
Yeah.
But all that relate to once before in a correction facility.
We was able to get magazines, we was able to get things that maintain our, you know, but, you know, the system messed up and I said, you know Pornographic magazines? Something like that.
You feel you are entitled to some kind of stimulation? Of course.
Why? I'm human, right? At the end of the day, I don't mean no harm, you know, I just do what I do, then I fall back.
He's making out that it's no harm is intended.
That it's basically harmless.
That's not harmless.
That's, like, very disrespectful.
That's like, you know, you try to do everything you can for them and then for them to disrespect you on the floor out there - private parts - that's very degrading.
It's just disrespectful.
OK.
It's human to masturbate, but not at another person who's trying to do their job.
Listen, now you got serving officers who will go out, they will likely say and I, you know, they might be, they might look up your court date, give you a little free time.
They're the ones who, you know, you don't disrespect.
But when you got the ones that come in here like they're peering on, like they mad at the world and this, that and that, then OK, OK, this, I admitting.
Go get the supervisor, I do it to him, too.
You know? Do you think that's How do you feel about that? Say that again.
How do you feel about masturbation? This is a male facility, I mean, it's going on three years.
Now, I ain't going to make no excuses, we incarcerated, we're locked down all day, 24 hours, how do you feel about that? Well, you know, I think you should do it in private.
In private? Mh-hm.
You say you recognise that it's disrespectful, so why can't you stop yourself doing it? It's a addiction.
This ain't something you could just stop overnight, it's a addiction.
When you used to doing something for so long, it's like You know? Quite unusual how open he is, how unashamed he is.
But nine times out of ten, if they're a masturbator - habitual masturbator - they don't have no shame anyway.
They don't care.
Habitual masturbator - that's a new one.
Wow.
That's a new word, habitual masturbator.
As the weeks passed at the main jail, many of the faces were becoming familiar.
Which made it all the more baffling that they lived by a code that still seemed so alien.
Gibbs.
Crawford.
Right.
Alfredo.
Right.
Tally.
Telsta.
Robert.
Whitehead.
Torres.
I was confused about how much of the behaviour was created by the inmates, and how much by the conditions that they lived in.
'One of those I bumped into was the trustee, Robert Toaster.
' How's it going? Nice to see you again.
You're on the fourth floor now, what happened? I'm not sure, but I didn't want to leave, I can tell you that.
I was doing all right up there on six.
They told me my custody dropped.
I've been doing what I'm supposed to do and they saw fit to bring me here to a more chaotic floor.
You see the fourth floor as more chaotic than the sixth floor? They both have their ins and outs, you know, the pros and the cons.
There's less people on six.
There's more respect on six.
These people here in these cells are more Their charges are a lot lower, so you got more riffraff.
I mean, everybody's riffraff, I guess, but they're not as serious.
A lot of guys coming in are drug addicts, you know, and sixth floor is mainly killers.
I thought you were going to be really pleased to be off the sixth floor because you had to fight your corner on the sixth floor.
You sort of felt like you got picked on a bit, that you stuck out, as the white guy on a mainly black floor.
But what I'm hearing is that, actually, you miss the sixth floor a bit.
Yes, yeah.
It's not all that bad.
I had gained my respect already on six.
Now it's like starting all over.
Rules on the fourth floor are a bit different.
Yes, definitely.
What do you think about the way it is on the sixth floor? Do you approve of that whole code, that way of being? From the outside, it looks like savagery, meaningless savagery.
I'm just wondering if you, as a participant in it, can see more of a meaning to it.
It makes no sense at all, really.
It's nonsense, you know? But there's no other way.
If I steal your shoes and your sweater, what are you going to do, you know? What are you going to do to me? Ask for it back? Are you going to put money in my account, you know? Or are you going to fight me to get your stuff back? And then, if you do fight me, then you're going to be good.
You'll be OK.
You don't have to worry about anybody else fucking with you, because now you've gained respect.
That's just the law.
If there was someone weaker in your cell, would you extort them? I mean God, I'm kind of slimy.
As a matter of fact, there's a guy in our cell now, he's kind of psycho, he's kind of retarded.
So I mean, those people can be controlled, that's all I'm saying.
Were you just saying that you were extorting someone right now in your cell? Well, it's not It's just a manipulation.
See, you call it extortion because that's what the law says.
No, it's just manipulation, you know? What is it? Justnothing important, nothing big.
Nothing bad, nothing bad.
No tying down nobody, you know, putting a knife to their neck, "Hey, give it up!" You know, it's not like that.
It's a gift.
This guy makes me laugh.
It's a gift.
From him? From him.
From the big one.
Ah! 'A few nights later, I'd heard Rodney Pearson, 'whose cell I'd visited, had also moved.
' What are you doing in here? Yeah, man, I was in a fight, man! Who with? Just some guy.
Some guy, man.
Bad guy, man.
You had in a fight in the sixth floor? On the sixth floor, yeah.
Who with? Some dude, I don't know the dude.
New dude.
Who came into the cell? Yeah, a new dude.
'But an officer had told me Rodney had checked out of his cell, 'fearing for his own safety - 'a move usually seen as a sign of weakness among inmates.
' Oh, Louis, what's up, bro? I heard Rodney got sent down.
How do you know he got moved, man? He checked out.
Checked out? How come he checked out? Oh, man, I don't know, man.
I don't know if he checked out, man.
I think they rolled him.
They tell him my dog checked out, man.
'His cellmate seemed to find the idea of Hotrod checking out quite ludicrous.
' So, basically, Rodney Pearson, who we followed on the sixth floor, is now on the fifth floor, and do you know why? OK Well, what we have is a report from the sixth floor.
According to the report, someone called in stating that they were his mother and that he was in fear of his life in the cell.
So I guess when they pulled him out he said, yes, he is in fear for his life.
They gave him the Rolodex cards with pictures of the other inmates andhe didn't identify anyone.
But, as a precaution, we moved him anyway.
So he moved from six to five.
No-one in his cell thought that he'd checked out, they thought he'd been pulled out.
Well, Mr Pearson's been around for a long time so he's not one that has a lot of problems with other inmates.
So, the reason for checking out? I have no idea.
You think he probably wasn't in fear of his life, is that what you're saying? Me, personally? I probably think he wasn't.
He's probably trying to get to another cell where he had more friends, maybe there was some contraband that came in, he's trying to get to that cell, and he's a well-known guy.
It could have been where someone paid him with something to put a hit on somebody else, so he's trying to get to where that person is at, so it's hard to say if he really was in fear of his life.
You never know what to believe, do you? No.
Not working here.
No.
I was staying late at main jail 'With me was Corporal Woodside and a few of the sixth floor inmates.
'It was a chance to ask some final questions.
' They seem quite lively tonight.
Huh? They seem quite lively.
Yes.
They had their dinner.
They'll be up from now till about four, five in the morning.
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, Lightsay, Lightsay! Since I've been here, one of the more shocking things is how much violence there is among the inmates, and especially here on the sixth floor and the fifth floor, and I just wonder whether there isn't more you could do to try and control that.
It's a very old jail, isn't it? Yes.
And it's somewhat decrepit, I mean, it's really showing its age.
Yes.
And whether there isn't more that the county could do to try to control these inmates.
Do you And to stamp out this predatory culture that exists.
Do you by chance have $600 million in your back pocket? Do you have $600 million? That's what it's going to cost to build a state of the art facility, and the county, as you know, with the way the economy is, doesn't have the money to build that right now, so this is the best we have right now.
This is all we have, so we have to make do with what we have, make the best of what we can.
Make it rain.
'I was making a foray to the largest facility in the Miami system - Metro West.
'Relatively new and much safer than main jail, 'it is considered by most inmates to be a more desirable destination.
' I know them, Mr Hendon.
They interviewed me once before.
So what happened to you? Remember I told you there was a little bit more people in the cell from six to four? And because of that, there's a lot more tension, there's a lot more pressure in the cells, and It was simple, it was another theft.
Remember the first incident, my eye was black? Well, there was an issue with some trays, some food, some snacks, that were the diet trays, and me and one of the guys got into it and, before you know, it was more than one guy that got into it.
Someone was taking your stuff? It was, yeah.
.
It was, you know Yeah.
What happened to your head? I got kicked in the head.
I was down.
Who kicked you? I don't know.
I don't know.
And your wrist? Yeah, I broke my thumb.
How? I don't know.
During the fight, throughout the fight.
My foot's swollen.
It's blue, it's purple.
How many of them were there? Just two.
There was just two.
But in the middle, you know, I mean, it's tiring after a few rounds, you know? You go a few rounds, it's not like you fight and then, "OK, it's over.
" You fight for a little while and then you take a break a minute and you fight again for another round, and you take a minute.
And if people want to cheer you on, they keep you fighting, and so it's just, you know It's crazy.
It's no big deal.
It happens.
In the county it happens more often.
Here it's not as bad.
In the county it happens every day.
The happy ending is that you're here in Metro West.
If I had an option, and there's no other alternative, yes, it's a happy ending, I'm here.
No, I mean, when I go to court, that's the real ending, that's the real happy ending - the fairytale ending.
But as far as As good as it gets is here.
I'm all right.
A few doors down was another transfer from main jail - the accused attempted murderer and three-year jail resident Nianthony Martinez.
So what's going on with your case now? Oh, guess what? Nothing.
Nothing.
They sent me up another four months.
Did they? What did your lawyer say about that? Doesn't he want to move it along, get it to move quicker? No, he wants What they say, they have like a tactic called "distancing from the event", which, you know, he says the longer you're here, you know, it can't hurt.
Really? Yeah.
Wouldn't you rather get it over with? I don't know.
Why? Because we haven't even established, like, a number, you know? Maybe the longer it takes, the better it works out.
Because, you know, they say things like, "You know, people could lose interest, tempers could settle.
"People could move away.
" You know, things like that.
Is there nothing the State can do to make it move quicker? Hmm Not really.
Once they indict you, they're saying that they're ready for trial.
Now it's your job to mount the defence, and you're essentially the one stalling, not them.
They have to be ready from the moment they say, "Well, OK, that's the guy that did it.
" You know? So they've been ready this whole time, according to them.
But it's up to us to mitigate this thing down.
You're facing an attempted murder charge, is that correct? Two counts? Two.
So what does your future look like at this point? I've no idea.
You really don't know? I don't know.
I don't even know.
Do you ever look around and think, well, how did it get to this? You know, I was college-educated All the time! All the time, I look around and I go, "Oh, my God.
"Wow.
I can't believe this.
" It is a lot.
It's a lot to deal with.
Many of the inmates in jail are playing a waiting game, stalling their trials in the hope of a better outcome.
The price they pay is their freedom, and for some, a prolonged stay in the most brutal conditions imaginable.
'In the weeks to come, I would be going further into the Miami jail system, 'meeting the handful of younger inmates given a chance to escape a prison sentence through boot camp.
' Push! Faster! Let's go, push! 'I'd also be getting to know some of the men for whom it may already be too late.
' How you doing? All right.
Can we come in? How long could they give you? Really? I've been spending several weeks in Miami in one of the largest jails in America.
Unlike prisons, jails are for inmates who are pre-trial and technically innocent but the environment can be, if anything, even more brutal.
Why are you over here and they're over there? This here say, "Off limits.
" This is off limits.
This shit off limits.
Move it! Aye, sir! Aye, sir! Aye, sir! Aye, sir! Aye, sir! This week, I'd be meeting the handful of younger inmates given a chance to escape a prison sentence through boot camp.
Give me "Aye, sir.
" Aye, sir.
Aye, sir.
This is boot camp, boy.
This is boot camp.
How old are you? 14, sir.
You're 14? What did you get convicted of? Armed robbery, sir.
I'd also be getting to know some of the men for whom it may already be too late.
How long could they give you? I'm facing the death penalty.
I was on the sixth floor of Main Jail, one of the most violent areas of the entire Miami jail system.
You're just arriving here on the sixth floor? Yes.
For what reason? For what reason? An incident on another floor.
Which just happened? Yes.
Just now? Yes.
What was it? It was an act of violence.
Somebody got their eye fucked up.
Can you speculate on what might have been a reason for it happening? What might have been a reason? Cos we're all criminals, vicious animals.
Did you sustain any injuries? Probably to my hand, that's about it.
Where is the other gentlemen? I don't know.
He could be gone, he could be in medical.
Was he badly hurt? His eye was pretty fucked up.
It happened an hour ago.
It must have been kind of an emotional thing.
Are you still angry about it? I wasn't angry then.
I didn't do it.
But even if I would have done it, see, people don't get angry.
It's not a thing of anger, you just do what you do.
Maybe you didn't grow up fighting.
Fighting's nothing.
It's a sport.
You watch it on TV, right? Not that much.
Well, people watch it on TV.
Fighting's something that happens every day.
We're in jail.
You've been in jail a long time? Yes.
How long? Two years on this, ten years in New York and I was locked up almost all my juvey life.
On the fifth and sixth floors, inmates who move cells sometimes have to fight to prove themselves.
Entering a cell for the first time can be a tense moment.
We got a new man! Do you think he'll be all right in there? I hope so.
I hope so.
Inmates at Main Jail are locked in their cells 24 hours a day, except for two hours of yard a week.
Fighting is common - over status, over snacks and sweets known as commissary, or simply to pass the time.
Officers spend time in the cells only rarely, during searches for contraband, drugs, home-made alcohol and weapons.
On the fifth floor, one such shakedown was under way.
A lot of times, what they do too is they'll get a little bag, a little plastic bag, and tie a string to it.
They'll flush the toilet so the bag is actually going halfway into the plumbing.
See what I mean? So they'll leave the little string there and the bag will go all the way in.
So when you look in, you're not going to see anything but a little string.
But then they'll just fish it out.
Not this time, though.
Not this time.
And right over here, these bars right here have a false bottom right here.
Oh, look, see.
Shank.
You just found that? Yeah, I just found it.
We find them all the time.
This is so that they can have a good grip on it.
That's why we do shakedowns, cos they can use that on us, you know.
I don't want to get stabbed with this.
Would this belong to one inmate or the whole cell would know about this? The whole cell might know about it but the thing of it is, in the jail system, in the jails, you don't want to be labelled as a snitch.
So even if you know something, you're not going to say anything because, if you're labelled as a snitch, then they might beat you up or stab you up.
So even if you know, you don't want to say anything.
You wouldn't want to get stabbed with that, huh? I was heading across town to another facility in the jail system.
With 1,300 beds, TGK is bigger and newer than Main Jail and is widely considered a safer environment.
It also has a special section for problem inmates.
We're entering the special management unit at TGK.
Usually it's high-profile cases.
Anyone with serious cases, serious behavioural issues, they're housed in here.
Locked in single cells, these inmates are also all pre-trial and therefore technically innocent.
Robert Shaw, how you doing? Yours says "shank history".
Can you explain that? I don't know.
A shank is a knife, isn't it? A home-made knife.
Yeah.
Who do they say you stabbed? For what reason? You're saying there may have been drug dealing going on inside the jail? Yeah.
Yeah.
What kind of drugs? Whatever drugs you want.
What are you in jail for? Murder.
On whom? I didn't do it.
How long have you been in jail for? Five year.
Five years? Why so long? Waiting for court.
Who? Hector.
Hector's been up here seven years? Yeah, for rape.
Ten years? He raped somebody.
What are you charged with? Murder, attempted murder, kidnap and armed robbery.
And rape? No.
Why is he saying it's rape? I don't know why he say that.
Do you get on OK with your next-door neighbour here? No.
Why not? He tried to poison me.
How? Through here, right here.
He tried to poison me one night.
Why? He's just a hateful person, I guess.
Is he fooling around? Yeah, he's playing.
Step up to the door.
How you doing? All right.
Can we come in? This is your place? Yeah.
You said they accused you of murder, is that right? Yeah, triple murder.
Triple murder.
Yeah.
Three people were killed? Yeah.
And how many defendants? Er, three.
Three now.
So you had two alleged accomplices? Yeah.
What did they say it was about? Drug territory.
On the outside? Yeah.
They say you were some kind of a drug dealer? Yeah, say I was the drug man.
And what happened? Say, one of my homeboys' kids got killed.
Baby was 15 months old and they assassinated him and they say it was a retaliation, so You said one of your friends had a 15-month-old baby? Yeah.
He was assassinated.
He was shot and killed? He got executed.
Really? Why? There's a drug war.
Rivalry.
Yeah.
So the prosecution contends that you and two accomplices went and executed three of their boys? Yeah.
Yeah.
In what sort of circumstances? Like, was it drive-by or do they say you went to their homes? No, they say they were ambushed in a car.
Where? Coming from court.
Coming from the courthouse, yeah.
Why were they coming from the courthouse? I guess they had a court day, one of them, or something like that.
I ain't really sure.
It was outside court or outside their houses? Outside of the court.
Right there in plain day? Yeah.
Do they have a strong case against you? I wasn't there, so I don't know.
Do they have witnesses? Yeah.
They say I was the trigger man.
Do they? Yeah.
What do you say? I wasn't there.
Where were you? I was home.
Doing what? Sleep.
Sleep.
And how long could they give you? I'm facing the death penalty.
Really? They say you stabbed someone to get in here.
Is that right? Yeah.
That what they said.
Who do they say you stabbed? Who they say I stabbed? Do you remember? It was another inmate in another unit.
I don't remember the name, but it was another inmate in another housing unit.
Do you know how to make a shank? Yeah.
How? I can make one out of that but I don't want to break it.
Out of this boom? No, out of that up there, that vent.
This? Yeah.
Why does it say, "No rap! Fuck the other side?" That mean, like, I ain't got no rap for nobody.
Is "the other side" the correctional officers? No, the other side is anybody out of bounds.
Meaning? Meaning anybody that's against what I stand for.
What do you stand for? I stand for my gang.
Who's your gang? My gang called Criminal Ground.
Who's that? That's my gang.
Who's in the gang? My little gang members.
How many are there? I don't know.
Are they all in here? No, only three of us here.
Where are the rest of them? Like, three dead and about two of them on the street.
There's not much of your gang left.
No.
No.
I ain't with them no more anyway, but that's what I stand for.
It was 1:30 in the morning.
I was heading to the Miami Jail Boot Camp.
Every four months, 38 of the younger inmates are offered a chance to avoid a prison sentence in return for participating in a gruelling, military-style training programme.
Any dogs in the house? Let's do this! Let's go! Welcome to Miami-Dade Boot Camp.
The first thing out your mouth will be "sir" and last thing out will be "sir".
Understood? Yes, sir! No.
"Sir, yes, sir.
" Yes, sir! "Sir, yes, sir.
" Is that understood? Sir, yes, sir.
Is that understood? Sir, yes, sir.
Get the frig out! Get out! Everybody get out! Get out! Get out! Go! Go! Go! Go! Let's go! Let's go! I can't hear you! I can't hear you! Sir, yes, sir! Almost all the cadets have been convicted of violent crimes, many involving guns, from car-jacking and armed robbery to attempted murder.
Move! Move! Move it! You understand that? Sir, yes, sir.
We're going to break you down and build you back up to the way we want you to be, a productive citizen out there in the community.
You understand that? Sir, yes, sir.
We're going to offer you an opportunity to make positive change in your lives.
An opportunity to become a productive citizen and give back to the community what you took back.
You understand that? Sir, yes, sir.
Welcome to Miami-Dade County Boot Camp, ladies.
Everything else from this point is up to you.
You understand that? Sir, yes, sir.
Carry on.
Aye-aye, sir! I can't hear you! Aye-aye, sir.
How's it going in there? It's going well.
It's going well.
In the beginning it's like this, it's a little crazy.
You looked genuinely angry and annoyed at some of the things that take place with the new recruits.
I mean, is that just an act, in a way? In a way it is.
We're not here to be angry with them.
We're here to change their lives.
They shouldn't think that it's an act.
They need to believe that it's real, don't they? Oh, absolutely.
If they don't, then you lose 'em.
You lose 'em completely and that's not what we're here to do.
We're here to, you know, make an effective change.
To what extent can you make physical contact with them? We don't really get physical with them unless we have to, unless they get violent.
It's an act.
Faster! Faster! Push! The youngest inmate by several years, Brenton Smith, is already struggling.
Let's go! Get up! Aye sir! Aye, sir.
Aye, ma'am.
Now go! Aye, ma'am.
Aye, sir.
What was going on with that guy? He tried to leave.
We're not going to let him leave.
You think he's trying to leave? He said he wanted to leave.
We told him he's not going nowhere.
You think he's in the process of breaking? He's in the process of breaking.
He's young, the pressure's too much for him and he doesn't want do this.
How much time are you facing? Ten.
Ten years.
What you want to do? You want to do these ten years or you want to do these six months and go home with your family? What you want to do? Six months, sir.
You want to do six months? Now in order You young.
You're 14? Yeah.
In order for you to make this here, this is an adult boot camp.
You got to think like an adult, you understand? Sir, yes, sir.
That's the only way you going to make it.
We ain't got time to baby you.
I see you, you green.
You green, but you got to go in there, you've got to try to conduct yourself like a man.
You understand that? Sir, yes, sir.
Go back in the squad.
Aye-aye, sir.
Can I ask a question? How old are you? 14, sir.
You're 14? What did you get convicted of? Armed robbery, sir.
Armed robbery of what? What was it? A building, a bank or something? A person, sir.
A person.
You held someone up with a gun.
Is that what you did? Yes, sir.
Why did you do that? I don't know.
Did you have any offences before that? Grand theft auto.
Carrying a concealed weapon.
Do you want to go home? Is that what you're thinking? You want to finish? You'd rather go back to jail? What are you thinking? No, sir.
Speak freely.
He can answer freely, right? What is going through your mind right now? Stress.
All right.
Is he going to make it? Well, he has a good chance to make it, being that he's 14 and that But through this though, he can't even stand up straight without moving his head? Well, that comes with time, that comes with time.
That's why we give them the 72-hour adjustment period.
You know what I'm saying? Right now, we're throwing things at 'em and they've never had structure in their life.
Nobody never told him what to do, when to do it, and how to do it and demand that it gets done.
Was he sentenced as an adult? Is that what happened in his case? Right.
He would have got ten years in an adult jail.
In an adult jail.
Adult prison.
And he elected, him and his lawyer or whomever, to send him to boot camp to see if he could do this programme I don't know the semantics of his case but he elected to come to boot camp rather than go to prison.
Aye, sir! On your feet.
Aye, sir! Too slow! Some time later, and despite the best efforts of the officers, one cadet was heading back to jail.
Do you know where you're going now? TGK.
You wanted to have another chance in there.
Why? I understand you weren't feeling well because of medication you were taking.
Let's go.
He was saying he wanted another chance now? Yes, sir.
Just now? Just now.
After all this we've been going through with him, he didn't want to talk to nobody.
He shut down.
We've been trying to work with him since he got here.
Is it possible he's going through some kind of drug withdrawal? When we found out through intake, when he first came in, he had been taking another inmate's psych medication for a whole week, so that's what he's going through.
Do you think you could have done it if it hadn't been for the medication? They said arson was on your record.
Yeah.
What do they say you burned down? Yours? No.
A friend's? No.
A stranger's? As revenge? All right, let's move.
Sir, yes, sir.
Let's do this thing Sir, yes, sir.
Aye-aye, sir.
Aye-aye, sir.
Aye-aye, sir.
Eat.
Back at Main Jail, I'd been given permission to go into the cell of the inmate accused of fighting, Johnny Jackson.
You'd care to go in there now? Yeah.
What would you like? You like for all the inmates to go in the back? No, no, that's fine.
They can be out and about.
They can be out and about? Wait till he gets back, cos it's safer to have two instead of one.
Hi.
Louis.
Officer Pierre.
Officer Pierre and Officer Phileas.
How you doing? Have we met you before? No, you haven't.
What's your name? Black.
Black? What are your charges? I got three bodies on me.
Three bodies? Yeah.
That means three murders? Mm-hm.
Are you convicted? No, not yet.
That's what they're charging you with? Yeah.
How long have you been waiting here? Four years.
How long? About four.
Four years? You've been in jail four years? Mm-hm.
How old are you? 20.
So you came in when you were 16? Mm.
Can we see your face? No.
Why not? Because I don't want y'all to see my face.
How you doing, Larry? Yeah.
Good to see you.
So that's your corner? Yeah, this is my corner right here.
This is how I'm living.
And Johnny.
You're the newest one here, is that right? That's right.
Where is your stuff? My stuff is on the next bunk, over there.
My stuff's got to fit in one of these bags.
Hygiene.
How did you find it, coming into a new cell? Huh? It was good, new environment.
Every cell's like a family.
Did you have to wreck for a bunk? No.
Why not? Why not? They don't do it in every cell and plus, you know, if you've been around for a while or people know your face, then you're good.
So you're good on the fifth and sixth floors? Yeah.
Why? From being here a while? I've been down for two years on this, so it's not a new start.
Larry, did you know Johnny before he came in? No, but I heard his name, though.
He good.
Everybody good in here.
There's love in here.
When you came in, what did you do? Did you say hello to everyone? No, you come inside the cell.
You basically look around.
The people that's in the cell come out to take a look and see.
"OK, do we know this dude? "Is this dude" Maybe he's a snitch, if his name's bad on the walks, you know, or if he's known.
So once they get your name in the air, they communicate with next door and stuff, "Gotty's upstairs.
He just came from downstairs.
" "OK, who's Gotty? Anybody know him?" "Yeah, yeah, that's Gotty.
Blah, blah, blah.
" If it's good, you're good.
Now if they see you and they say, "OK, such-and-such came from downstairs.
" "Well, who's that?" "Oh, that's that dude that checked out a cell, was snitching and doing this and that.
" OK, now, that is a problem.
You've just arrived, so maybe you don't know, but is there anyone in here who has seniority in some way? Seniority? You talking like This probably is Larry.
It's Larry.
You've been here the longest, Larry? Yeah, in this cell.
So you have weight in here? No, I ain't.
Listen here, man.
Ain't nobody putting down on nobody here, man.
This cell run itself.
Like he say, if your face good, you good.
We won't tolerate snitches in here.
Officer Phileas said there was an incident with a man called Vincent in the last couple of weeks.
That's the most recent incident that we have had on the floor, the last maybe two weeks or so.
Quite a serious one? You thought he might have been stabbed.
I thought he might have been.
In this cell.
He never named who did it, his assailant, so that person is still in here.
Do you know who that was, Larry? I don't know nothing.
I didn't see nothing.
He said there was no snitches allowed in the cell.
He was telling.
What was he telling? Fuck, man, you can't sleep in this shit, man.
What was he telling? He was a snitch, man.
He was a teller, man.
I don't know what was he telling, but he was a teller.
Thanks, guys.
Thank you.
A little later, it was time for Johnny Jackson's hearing about the assault in his old cell.
Have a seat.
Hello.
You're here for your disciplinary hearing? Mm-hm.
I need you to read your inmate's rights.
Initial by each one, then sign your name acknowledging that you read your inmate's rights.
So how do you plead? Guilty or not guilty to fighting? To fighting, guilty.
You want to tell me what happened? There was a psych patient and he just went psych, so he ended up getting So when you say he went psych? He pulled his privates out.
He was saying basically, "Eff everybody," you know.
So that's what the other inmate was doing? Yes.
That day, he snapped.
He just kind of lost it, so he was attacked.
He was attacked? Not by multiple people or Just by you.
Yeah, not Gibson.
OK, not Gibson, just you.
OK, all right.
Well, that was easy.
How usual is it for the inmate just to say, "Yes, he did it?" We get it.
We get it sometimes.
Not all the time but most of the time, when they know that they might as well just go ahead and tell the truth.
I mean, he has kind of like He kind of has Not really a valid reason but, you know, if this particular person does have a psych history, nine times out of ten, there's some truth to the fact that he actually, you know, kind of went crazy on them.
And sometimes it's not always easy to get the officer right then and right there.
You're saying the inmate was acting up, was being weird, taking his privates out and stuff.
Would it not make more sense to call an officer and get him reassigned than give him a beating? Well, times like that, once he pulls his privates out and everybody's telling him stop, that's a disrespect, you know.
So if he can go as far as to do that, then spitting on you or attacking you - it could be anything next, you know.
How badly did you beat him? How badly did I beat him? Enough to make him stop.
Is it unusual for psych patients to be housed in the general population? If he's a bit mental, shouldn't he be in a separate area? It's not unusual.
What happens usually is, once they are cleared by the psych team, then we filter them through our general population.
There are some inmates who, when they're on meds, they can function in general population.
When they're off meds, anything goes.
You done? I'm done.
OK, Jackson, thank you so much.
OK? All right.
With all things considered, we'll do the best we can do.
OK? All right.
'The most common punishment for beating a fellow inmate is 30 days in solitary.
'I had a few more questions for Johnny.
' You don't feel bad about doing that to a psych patient? No, they were a psych patient.
This is not a nuthouse.
If it is, if it's a nuthouse, then I'm crazy too, so I'm a psych patient too.
I mean, he can't help it.
He's ill, he's mentally ill, presumably, right? And so he doesn't really He deserves sympathy and understanding, not to be beaten.
Exactly, but I feel like I deserve sympathy and understanding too.
I've been sitting here for two years.
You feel me? Yeah, but that doesn't make it OK to take out your frustration on him.
Why not? Isn't aggression and anger like a mental disease too? Well, I'm talking to you, I don't think you're crazy.
You seem like a reasonable person.
He seemed like one too.
He did? Yeah.
Until he went nutty Exactly.
Then you look at that.
I went nutty too.
That doesn't seem rather brutal and animalistic to you? No.
It's part of life.
It's a part of life.
You wouldn't do that on the outside.
I wouldn't do it on the outside? You wouldn't.
You wouldn't behave in the same way on the outside.
Yeah.
If your next-door neighbour was doing something that bothered you, wouldn't you have a reasonable conversation? See, I had that conversation when I got out of the ten years in New York.
When you're institutionalised, that makes you feel like, "That's the way I respond," you know? I feel like I'm, in a way, institutionalised from doing the time that I did out in New York.
When I got out I told my sister and them and they told me you can't beat on people, it's like you're a monster if you do it.
And I told 'em I feel like if I don't do it, then I lose respect.
So which one's more important? For me to be seen like a monster in your eyes or me to feel like I don't have no respect in mine? Was this about respect? Of course.
In what way? Everything is about respect.
If a person disrespects you, then you assault them, right? No.
You don't? You're asking me? No.
Oh, that's the way I was brought up.
That's the way I thought it went.
All right.
Fall out! I was back at boot camp, where the cadets were now a few days into their training.
Under, under, under! Let's go! Let's go! Let's do it one time.
Just one! Let's go! Do it! Just one! Oh! Get the freak away from here! Go on, get round the trail! That should give you six inches of white at the bottom.
You put the ruler to make sure.
Once you have six, 12 plus six is 18, that's your 18 inches of white.
So now you should have no more questions.
Do you understand that? Sir, yes, sir.
I'm not making it right for you, you're going to do it yourself.
We're going to take care of it right now.
Don't worry, girl.
We're going to take care of all that right now.
Hey, don't make me put handcuffs on.
Don't make put the handcuffs on.
Do you understand me? You start beating on my door, I'm going to put You heard what I said.
Yeah, well, man.
Because you know I will, you know I will.
Beat on the door again, I will put handcuffs on.
Close the door, then.
Drill, bring me some handcuffs, Drill.
What is the situation here? Whenever they shut down, we don't tolerate shutdown.
He's a recycle.
He's been through the programme before so we don't really give them a second chance.
I need a 15-minute check sheet.
Put your hands behind your back, son.
No, behind your back, behind your back.
OK, son, have a seat or you can stand, but don't beat on my door again.
If not, I'm going to put shackles on you, do you understand? I'm going to go get the key.
What's your name? Emmanuel.
Emmanuel, have you had enough? You don't want to do any more of the boot camp? This ain't There's always going to be somebody my colour doing it that's all we got to be.
I'm never going to be nobody.
Nobody else colour gets sent down.
Just black people.
I don't care about life no more.
Do you feel they're riding you too hard? No, it ain't nothing they're doing.
I ain't listening, man.
I'm ready to go ahead and tell them to send me to prison, man.
How long will they give you if you drop out? I don't care.
I don't care if they give me life, you know.
I don't care about life no more.
OK, listen up.
Right now, you need to start thinking what you're doing, cos all it takes is a second for us to ship you out and your whole life is going to change, you understand? You need to sit down, relax, and think, cos I'm going to come talk to you and you better get with the programme or you are going to be facing your judge real soon.
It's up to you.
I'm going to put it in your hands.
You've got the opportunity.
This is your second time.
Second opportunity.
You're not going to get a third one, son.
Most of the cadets are from the safer, more modern facilities in the jail system, but among the faces, I recognised one from the notorious sixth floor of the Main Jail.
Patrick was convicted of armed robbery.
Can we interview you next door? Can we take you next door and interview you? My name's Louis.
Oh, you talked to me at the major! Yeah, sixth floor.
Yeah.
Very different.
How are you adjusting? It's all right.
I can do it.
Yeah? I haven't got no problem with it.
How does it compare with Main Jail? It don't.
Totally different.
How did you get on on the sixth floor? I was good on the sixth floor.
Your kind of people? My kind of people.
In the files, it talked about, you'd been written up for taking someone else's commissary.
What happened? Extortion, I got caught for extortion.
Who was the guy and why did you feel it was OK to extort this guy? I don't know.
You need the commissary.
I was hungry, you know.
Had to do what I had to do.
Was he someone you knew? No.
Just someone in your cell? Someone I was in 44 when I was at TGK.
It's survival of the fittest when you're in jail, so To me as an outsider, that seems unfair, to take something that doesn't belong to you.
You know, you can't really justify it as survival of the fittest.
I can't explain it.
You never been to jail so you don't know what go on in jail, but this kind of shit happen all the time.
Do you still suppose that it's acceptable to behave in that way? I know it's not acceptable but it's jail.
We have no choice but to do this stuff.
The guy went to the officers, didn't he? He told them what happened.
Yeah.
What did you think about that? I wanted to kill him.
A snitch is shit, man.
Did you get to him? No.
Did you try to? No.
I was already handcuffed.
How do you feel about the future? I feel good about the future.
I'm not going to be in no place like this any more.
It seems to me that, in some ways, your thinking hasn't changed that much, especially when you talk about extortion inside the jail.
That's inside the jail.
When you get in here, you've got to have a different mind frame.
You can't think the same way that you do when you're on the street.
On the streets, my way of thinking was totally different.
I was trying to get a job, going to school, doing the right thing.
But when I got here I got to survive.
Let me see your general orders.
Aye-aye, ma'am.
I'm talking to all of you.
Aye-aye, ma'am! Who doesn't know how to read? Who has a problem reading? What is the first general order? All at one time, first general order! I will obey all officers' orders quickly, willingly and without question.
Back at TGK, and a few of the inmates in solitary were getting one of their two hours of yard time a week.
I'd come to see the alleged triple-murderer Robert Shaw.
They've allowed me back into his cell.
Watch your step.
Yeah! This is one of your novels? Yeah.
It's called? The Last Cross.
And then The G-MASH General.
Yeah, that mean "Get Money And Stop Hating".
Get Money And Stop Hating? Yeah.
How many novels have you written? Like, six.
And then what do you do with them? I send them out to my girl, she try to get them copyrighted.
You're going to get them published? Yeah, I'm trying to.
You wrote those since you were in here? Yeah.
Nothing else to do.
I try to read.
I try to learn, like, five words out the dictionary every day.
I probably do that, like, three times a week.
Have you learned your words today? No, probably at five o'clock.
Yesterday? Yesterday.
What words did you learn? I learned loquacious kooka kookaburra.
That's like a bird.
Loquacious, kookaburra andbratbratruss? Bratross? Brat B-R-A-T Bratwurst? It's a meat.
A sausage.
Yeah, it's a sausage.
I had them three words yesterday but I ain't mastered them yet.
You said five words.
I only got three because I couldn't pronounce one of them very well so it had me stuck.
But them three I know.
I just recently found out you were on the sixth floor at County.
Yeah.
And then what happened? I say, "Man, come move me out this cell.
" In effect, you checked out? Yeah, yeah, in a sense.
Wouldn't they view that as soft? Yeah, but you got to understand this too, like I say, God give you a mind to think with and a heart for your courage.
You can't think with your heart, you can't make no move off of emotion.
God gave me a mind to think and move.
So I called, got my ass out that cell and I live to fight another day.
I ain't going to sit in that cell and see the motherfucker break my motherfucking jaw, knock my teeth out, just so I can say, "Oh, I'm gangsta.
"I stayed in the cell.
" That ain't smart.
So I moved.
You talk a bit more openly about not feeling the need to conform to the code, you know, of the fifth and sixth floor.
Yeah.
Checking out and stuff like that.
So many of the guys, for them, that would be Do you know what that is? Dudes That would be showing weakness.
No, man.
Like I say, dudes Everybody think they got to put out this image like he's all that, "I'm gangsta," and all this.
But motherfucker be cowards on a one-on-one basis, man.
Motherfuckers are going to be like that.
Y'all probably went to the sixth floor, filming, and everybody want to be tough guys.
They'd be the same motherfuckers who, you get their ass on the ground with that pistol in their face, they'd be screaming and hollering, "I got a wife and kids," and all this.
"Oh, my mom," and all this.
No, I don't want to hear that shit now.
It's too late.
That's all that is.
There's so many people in here who are accused of shooting and being involved in a gangster lifestyle.
Yeah.
Why is that going on so much? Me, personally, it's just I always been like a like a slimeball person.
Like, I always be on some Like being a snake, because I was raised Motherfuckers who I seen as my idols and my mentors was snakes and that's the only thing I knew growing up.
Me and you do something together and it's time to divide the money, if I don't cross you out for your money, I'll feel like you're going to do it to me.
So it's like, my mentors was snakes.
What about your parents? My parents My grandma, I was raised by my grandma.
You know, a grandma can't restrict too much the things you do and my daddy wasn't around.
My daddy was a street guy, so any time he come round, I'm looking at the same shit I'm seeing from dudes I look up to.
He come round in nice cars and smoking and the only time he come round was when I did something wrong, and chastise me, and punch me in the face and whatever and break me off and he gone.
So I never see him until they call him, saying, "You know, that motherfucker stole a car or some shit.
" That's when he come round.
So I ain't really ever had no families like that.
No.
You told me last time you might be looking at the death penalty.
Yeah, I'm facing the death penalty right now.
Yeah.
So imagine that, sitting in this cell here 24 hours a day with that on your back.
Knowing it's a possibility that you never touching the street again, period.
I die in this shit.
I'm 32, so I still got my whole life ahead of me.
So One, two! Four! One, two! Five! One, two! Six! One, two! Seven! One, two! Eight! One, two! One, two! Nine! One, two Five, four, three, two and one.
Yes, sir.
Somebody tell me what is the title of our lesson.
Yes, sir, over here.
Give it a shot.
To change the way you think.
Change the way you what? Think.
Everybody.
Change the way you what? Think.
Most of you, before you set out to commit whatever crime you did Some of you did it on the spur of the moment, some of you it was a crime of passion, so to speak, you just reacted.
But before that happened, you thought about it.
Some of you even plotted, some of you even strategised when and how you were going to do this.
OK? So if you think about it, where the mind goes, the man follows.
Say that with me.
Where the mind goes Where the mind goes .
.
the man follows.
.
.
the man follows.
Think about that.
Francisco Ortiz.
Ortiz, Francisco! Aye-aye, sir! Pick it up! Sorry, sir.
At boot camp, another platoon, who are three months into their training were taking their last test before graduation.
Change step.
March.
Mark time.
March.
Change step.
Leadership qualities.
Aye-aye, sir, request to speak, sir.
Speak! Aye-aye, sir.
Honour, nobility of mind, probity or integrity.
Stop, sir.
Those are done.
Third general order.
Aye, sir.
Request to speak, sir.
Speak.
Aye, sir.
Third general order.
I will refrain from the use of profanity, violence and/or threats of violence.
Stop, sir.
Those are done.
Congratulations.
Aye, sir.
Get out and hurry up! Aye, sir.
Mule kick! Mule kick! Hurry up.
Five, six, seven, eight, nine Aye, sir! Sorry, sir! You got to hurry up.
Aye, sir! Aye, sir! Forwardmarch! Change step.
March.
Change step.
March.
11th general order.
Aye-aye, sir.
Request to speak, sir.
Speak.
Aye-aye, sir, 11th general order is, I'll maintain proper military bearings at all times.
Stop, sir, those are done.
What went wrong with that one? Huh? He seemed like he was doing quite well.
He was doing good, but you have to say every word in the right way.
You can't skip a word, you can't add a word.
If it says "one", you can't say "once".
It has to be verbatim.
Are you disappointed? Yes, I'm disappointed, because I'm the primary.
He'll be all right.
That means you're the main man in charge of that little platoon.
Yes.
So you've seen them kind of grow and go on this journey.
Correct.
Have you seen changes in him? Yes, I've seen a change in all of them.
There's a big difference.
Fourth general order.
Aye-aye, sir.
Fourth general order is, I will not use tobacco products, illegal drugs and/or alcohol.
Stop, sir, those are done.
Congratulations.
Aye-aye, sir.
Mule-kick it out of here.
Yes, sir.
I was making one last visit to Main Jail and the inmates of the notorious fifth and sixth floors.
Hello.
Are you in here awaiting trial on something? No, I just had trial yesterday.
What did they give you? They gave me 90 years, baby.
90 years? Yeah, 90 years.
Are you serious? I got caught with a stick, man.
I killed about three, four niggers.
With a what? A stick, an AK47 semi-automatic rifle.
They know what that is.
That's what we're doing, baby.
We choppin' heads off.
Had about 37 fights.
Broken hand, swollen knuckles.
If you want to eat, you got to fight.
If you want to use the phone, you got to fight.
I'd come to see the jail as, in a strange way, not so different from boot camp, drilling the young inmates with its own brutal code and discipline.
In yard, I spotted an inmate I recognised from Johnny Jackson's cell.
What were you accused of? What was I accused of? Murder.
And you were convicted.
Yeah.
What did they give you? 40.
40 years.
When did that happen? Er May? Was it 21st? You were out with the court on the 23rd.
Yeah, I stabbed a baser.
He didn't want to pay my money.
A crackhead? Yeah, yeah.
You called him a baser? Yeah, that fucking nigger didn't want to pay me.
Now I do 40.
You stabbed him? Yeah.
For $20? Yeah.
And killed him? Yeah, I killed that motherfucker.
How old are you? 21.
21.
How do you feel? To be honest, when I'm here, I feel relief.
Why? Out there, there's too much pain.
Why? Got to take care of Mom, who's an alcoholic, don't do nothing.
My brother's a nobody, sister want to prostitute all day.
That's how I've grown up.
So in here, I feel relief.
Were you high when you stabbed him? No.
No.
I just say it's pride.
You know, when you're in a gang, you got things to prove.
Across town at Metro West there was a new arrival from boot camp.
The 14-year-old armed robber Brenton Smith was back in jail and looking at a possible ten-year sentence.
What happened? I quit.
Why? What was it that was so difficult? I don't know, I just wasn't used to it.
Did you flip on them? No, I just said, "I quit.
" When you're outside, you live with your mum.
Is that right? Yeah.
She looks after you? I guess.
What does she do? She work at the post office.
She's a postal worker? Mm-hm.
Delivering letters? No, she work IN the post office.
Sorting and things like that? She must be pretty upset.
Yeah, she was pretty disappointed when I quit.
She was kind of mad for, like, a couple of days.
Do you go out for classes? No.
Do you know why? No.
Does anyone know why Brenton is not going to school? He's in confinement.
For his safety because he's a juvenile? For his safety because he's a juvenile.
Could he not be somewhere where he was a juvenile and safe and going to school? You would have to take that up with Administration.
How were you doing at school on the outside? It was summertime, but how I was doing at school? I get A's and B's but in conduct I get B's and C's.
Maybe a D sometimes, maybe.
You really don't know why you got into trouble a little bit over the years? Uh I grew up too fast, that's probably how.
Only thing I can say.
And the schools I went to, but that's about it.
The school? You can't completely blame it on the school, but some of it.
What was wrong with it? I saw a lot of violence there.
I guess I grew up around it.
You don't know when your next court date is? No.
No.
Probably I don't know.
You don't know how long you'll be in here? Just waiting.
The newest cadets were now a month into their four months of boot camp.
Of the 37 that had started, there were 26 left.
One of those doing well was the inmate who'd come from the sixth floor, Patrick.
Several of the drill sergeants picked him out as the most outstanding cadet.
For an inmate from the toughest area of the jail, who'd also been found guilty of extorting other inmates, it was a surprising transformation.
Where does that buckle need to be? Aye-aye, sir.
Line it up.
Aye-aye, sir.
Done, sir.
Turn and face me.
Aye-aye, sir.
Give me my 18 leadership qualities.
Aye-aye, sir.
Request to speak, sir.
Speak.
Aye-aye, sir.
The 18 leadership qualities are bearing, courage, decisiveness, dependability, discipline, endurance, enthusiasm, ethics, honesty, honour, integrity, judgement, knowledge, loyalty, respect, self-esteem, teamwork, unselfishness.
Stop, sir, those are done.
Done, sir, done.
Cadet Oselin.
Aye-aye, sir.
I am reviewing your progress in boot camp.
You understand that, right? Sir, yes, sir.
Based on your evaluation by all your premier drill sergeants, you are passing boot camp.
You understand that? Sir, yes, sir.
They pretty much gave you good reviews overall.
You understand that, right? Sir, yes, sir.
You need to keep doing what you're doing.
You need to stay focused.
Aye-aye, sir.
You need to stay motivated.
Aye-aye, sir.
Do you have any questions on anything? Sir, no sir.
You're dismissed.
Aye-aye, sir.
How you doing? Good to see you again.
I'm good.
How's it going? It's all right.
I understand you're doing really well here, that's what I've been told.
Do you feel that? Do you have a sense that it's going well? Yeah, it's an easy programme.
Basically you just work enough and do that all day.
But they're shouting at you a lot.
Yeah.
That doesn't bother you? No.
Why not? You can't do nothing, it ain't like I can I can't do nothing.
I got to just take all the punches.
They've made you squad leader, is that right? No, I'm the flag detail.
You're the flag detail.
Is that the same kind of thing? Is that better? I think so, I don't know.
They didn't tell you? Did that feel good? Yeah, a little bit.
A little bit.
Yeah.
So you feel confident you're going to make it all the way through? Yeah.
When you were outside before, were you involved in the sort of "streets" lifestyle of, I don't know, running with a bad crowd, some criminal people around you, maybe some guns were around, that kind of thing? Was that part of your lifestyle at all? I didn't try to make it part of my lifestyle, but it was.
I got out of prison, I tried to change but In the big picture, you know, in the bigger sense, do you feel like this is a helpful programme or are you just trying to get through it? I feel like this is a helpful programme.
Are you enjoying boot camp? Boot camp is comedy to me.
All that screaming and then all that screaming, you know, making you do That's all performing for me.
It's comedy, man.
It's all funny.
You say it's comedy and yet you take it very seriously.
Yeah.
Just It's hard to explain.
I do think it's comedy but, at the same time, they're trying to help us.
Lot of kids in the squad, they don't want to be helped.
There's a lot of other cadets like me, we're trying to reform, we're trying to do right.
So we think, ain't no reason for them to be all in our face in front of me, like all in our face, cussing at us, all this.
That's just part of the routine.
Yeah, it's part of the routine.
That's why I feel like it's comedy.
You feel confident about the future? Yes, I do.
I know I'm going to get out there and better myself and become the perfect citizen, like one of the general orders.
I'm going to put that into practice when I get out.
You know, we talked a little bit about, in jail, and extorting other people who You said you were hungry, so you took some food from someone because you could.
You said it's like a jungle.
It's the survival of the fittest.
Survival of the fittest.
You believe that? Yeah, I believe that.
Did you feel sorry for the people? Nope, no sympathy.
Why? No sympathy.
Why? I just don't.
Is that, like, a rule? It's not You could say that is a rule for me.
I don't have no sympathy for no I don't have no sympathy for the next man.
I don't know, that's one thing I've got to change.
What is wrong with having sympathy, in theory? You know, why would it be a bad thing to have sympathy for other people? I don't know, cos I feel like, if another man was in my shoes, he would have had no sympathy for me, so why have sympathy for the next man? That expression, "GABOS," have you heard that? "Game ain't based on sympathy?" Game ain't based on sympathy, you're right.
You believe that? I believe that to the fullest.
But you're trying to get out of the game.
Yeah.
Trying to get out the game.
Cos the gang going to either get me 100 years or six feet, so I've got to get out.
First squad, to the rear, march, second squad, to the rear, march.
For cadets to overcome a lifetime of chaos in a matter of months is a lot to ask.
It may be that some of those who do well at boot camp are not the most rehabilitated but the most adaptable and that the same skills that help an inmate survive at Main Jail can serve them here too.
For at least a few, the brutal code of the sixth floor might be channelled into the chance of a new life.