Page 15 - Exercise Yard News Today

Thats the power of german engineering. ♪ ♪ back to you. when an inmate arrives at san quentin, he quickly learns that he needs to find a gang or a group with whom he can affiliate himself. even if he is not a gang banger on the outside, not belonging means going it alone. and, more importantly, a serious loss of protection. on the exercise yard, there are no bars keeping rival gangs apart, only a desire to carve out their own place in the sun.

In that exercise yard. because it was literally like a cage. there was nowhere for you to go. and if you really wanted to take someone out, that was the place to do it. its literally -- like the most extreme ultimate fighting thing you would see. >> correctional officers showed our cameras how they quell the violence with an arsenal of their own. one that includes nonlethal and lethal weaponry. >> get down! get down! >> the first rounds we fire are wood blocks. hopefully the hurt will make them ...

>> what you saw here today was actually a battery. they were stomping his head. he was pretty messed up. >> the inmate who was attacked survived because of a quick response by staff on the yard. his assailants were sentenced to six months in fulsoms administration segregation unit. some of the most violent gang attacks have taken place here at california state prison corcorans security housing unit, or shu. we visited the shus now vacant exercise yard, which has been the scene of some of the pri...

Because this is an old facility. this is not electric-powered doors. its all key. and were walking these tiers with hundreds of inmates every day, and these officers are face to face with these inmates. >> inmates can change just like that. and so you cant let your guard down. >> warden diana butler knows the importance of communicating with inmates. shes only 1 of 11 female wardens in california, and with 20 years of service, she knows what to look for. >> one thing you develop when you work he...

Thats why theres the investigative services unit. sort of a police department within a police department. officer juan berrago and his team investigate prison gang activity, inmate squabbles and homicides. and to keep all those things from getting out of hand, hes constantly looking for signs of trouble. >> theyll use toothpaste. theyll use any type of ceramic putty or cement, anything thats in the institution to conceal things or sometimes even hidden compartments. >> when inmates are released ...

And i saw these two younger hispanic guys kicking him in the head, like, repeatedly, and his head was bouncing off this pole. >> what you saw here today was actually a battery. they were stomping his head. he was pretty messed up. >> the inmate who was attacked survived because of a quick response by staff on the yard. his assailants were sentenced to six months in fulsoms administration segregation unit. some of the most violent gang attacks have taken place here at california state prison corc...

>> i can see why fights went on in that exercise yard. because it was literally like a cage. there was nowhere for you to go. and if you really wanted to take someone out, that was the place to do it. its literally -- like the most extreme ultimate fighting thing you would see. >> correctional officers showed our cameras how they quell the violence with an arsenal of their own. one that includes nonlethal and lethal weaponry. >> get down! get down! >> the first rounds we fire are wood blocks. ho...

You know what im saying? im angry because i aint with my family. im angry because of the way they treat you, the things they do to you. it aint never a happy day in prison. >> at the time of our visit wilson had just completed an anger management program, that deputy warden patterson arranged for him to take in his cell. >> he needs to grow up. immaturity. hes working on it. >> i got kids, man. everybody going to change one day. >> for wilson, change is essential. since most of his sentence for ...

>> just a few months away from finishing his nieces present, harrington already has his next project lined up. >> my brother has another daughter thats a year and a half. so will i have to make another dollhouse for her other daughter? maybe. if i do, yeah, ill do it. >> with a 99-year sentence hell have plenty of time to build more dollhouses. >> i can go to the parole board in 2019. will i get it? i dont know. but theres a chance. >> in the exercise yard at california state prison corcoran, we...

900 individual bricks. yeah, its a lot of work. its a lot of fun. you know. >> with hobby shop security consisting of little more than surveillance cameras, time spent here is a privilege accorded to only the most trusted inmates. >> you know, there is no officer in here. officers do walk through here at times. you know the windows. they look through the windows. but while this hobby shop has been here, theres been no fights, no trouble in here. >> just a few months away from finishing his niece...