Page 16 - Exercise Yard News Today

Im angry because im in prison. 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 sentenc...

>> if you are an active gang member or an active hispanic within the group, you are expected to be up at 6:00 in the morning when they go to the exercise yard together. they do exercises together in cadence. thats one of the rules. you have to. you dont have a choice. you have to participate. what theyre told to do is expect to have a fight any time the cell doors open, with their weapons readily available. you notice when the cell doors open, whatever inmates inside that cell will walk to the c...

>> we have inmate disturbances here on a routine basis. its not uncommon for emergency response team to be deployed once or twice a week. >> with new deputies coming from the academy and others patrolling the streets, training for the emergency response team is constant. >> we train several days a week probably on a routine basis. all three shifts around the clock. >> i wont make any announcement to the fact, that we will have a drill tonight. i believe you train the way you deploy. and that the...

>> already losing track of time in his first week in jail, convicted wife batterer miguel castillo has been transported from a small cell in downtown mens central jail to a large dormitory with exercise yard at north facility. this is where he will spend the rest of his 180-day sentence. >> well, i have been here since wednesday. you come out here for four hours -- i think its about two hours every day except saturday and sunday. its pretty cool. you get to see the sun and the warm heat. you don...

Him like that. and theres not much we can do because he has the right to refuse medication. >> this is -- this is a crime against civilization. those bars on that window. coming up, what is considered the most dangerous place at san quentin, the exercise yard. ...what should we invest in? maybe new buildings? what about updated equipment? they can help, but recent research shows... ...nothing transforms schools like investing in advanced teacher education. lets build a strong foundation. lets ...

Down. when his target walks by, the inmate would light those two fuses. basically what you have is a double-barreled shotgun. >> whats particularly scary is once an inmate finishes making his weapon, he finds a clever place to hide it for quick access. >> its an old joint. you can hide stuff anywhere, like the i-beams up here. im going to check these. its just a beam. you walk under it every day. somebody is walking to the chow ow where it is. but they wont tell because they dont want to get kil...

On the exercise yard, there are no bars keeping rival gangs apart, only a desire to carve out their own place in the sun. >> this is the lower yard. and the inmates segregate themselves out here. and the reason being that the gangs want it that way. john gladson is a veteran officer at san quentin, with 19 years of experience observing yard politics. this has helped him to fine tune his senses for predicting trouble. >> sound is a big thing in prison. if you look out, this yards pretty nice.

We visited the shus now vacant exercise yard, which has been the scene of some of the prisons most brutal violence. ♪ >> i can see why fights went on in that exercise yard. because it was literally like a cage. there was no where 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 show our cameras how they quell the violence with an arsenal of their own. ...

Segregation, or the hole, a disciplinary unit where inmates are locked down 23 hours a day. what landed him here? he viciously beat up a rival cellmate. >> what provoked it? you know what i mean, i dont want to talk about that. because i could be considered a rat. you follow what im saying? for giving up information, for giving up game. for explaining how it is in here. >> thats a ten-four. well keep that area clear until were complete. >> as in most prisons, the exercise yard can be the most da...

>> i have a bad anger problem, 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. ...