Page 22 - Exercise Yard News Today

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 hall. a lot of guys know where it is. but they wont tell because they dont want to get killed, get hurt for ratting. i guess you cant reach up there, can you? ill get them. >> you had to point that out, didnt you, partner? >> i cant help it. i call them like i see them. >> by 10:00 a.m., search teams had confiscated several homemade weapons...

>> our cameras search for any signs that the trouble is spreading outside to the exercise yard. >> so this is an actual alarm because nobodys waving us off yet. something is going on inside the building. >> what might be happening? >> probably an assault on someone coming out of their cell. some type of cell fight or maybe a slashing. >> officers subdued six inmates involved in the fight. one of them was slashed with a homemade weapon. fortunately, this incident was nothing like the deadly event...

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. 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 nieces present, harrington already has his next project lined up. >> my brother has another daughter thats a year and a half. so wi...

>> 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 dangerous place in the facility. >> right off the bat you can tell when something is going to go on. it gets quiet. guys are grouping up in different races...

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 here is how to read the inmates. if you go on to an exercise yard, a lot of times they will have magazines inside of their jackets, and, of course, that is to stop any potential violence such as stab wounds or something. and if they appear nervous, then you know youd better bring some other officers over and kind of find out whats happening and...

In the institution to conceal things or sometimes even hidden compartments. >> when inmates are released to the exercise yard, they never know if officer berrago was looking in their cell. when they return, there will be no doubt he was there. nothing is overlooked. >> tubes of toothpaste. try to see the integrity has not been broken. a lot of times theyll stick stuff down in and retrieve it later. you got these speed sticks, stuff like that. usually what well have to do is go all the way throug...

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 assaulting the officer was timed to overlap with his original sentence, he will complete his prison term and be released in 2009. but ju...

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 assaulting the officer wa...

>> 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, ive been here, you know, since wednesday. you come out here for two hours. i think its about two hours every day except saturday and sunday. so its -- its pretty cool, man. you know, you get to see the ...

Called the mexican mafia. >> the mexican mafia is known as m.a., they will be recognized by the eme, which is the spanish letter m. >> the mexican mafia was born in california prisons in the mid 1950s. its members, who swear allegiance for life, are mostly mexican-americans from southern california. among gangs, the mexican mafia is considered the most disciplined and powerful within the california prison system. >> if you are an active gang member or an active hispanic within the group, you are...