Page 126 - Isp News Today

There is a growing trend within the iowa prison system. gang violence. one out of four isp inmates is a gang member. >> what happens in the prison mirrors what happens on the street. we had a lot of influence from chicago-based gangs and crypts and bloods from the west coast, latino gangs. it all kind of came together in the middle of iowa. we had a lot of intergang violence. >> theres no doubt about that. records show im gang affiliated. >> ronnie ballou is doing ten years for felony possession...

Of the hunters shot me. he missed me. i turn around and i shot him. then i just start shotting all of them. >> we meet isps most notorious inmate. is this a chevy lt? [ stu ] yeah. its electric. i dont think so. its got a gas tank right here. electric tank, right over here. an electric tank? really, stu? is that what you pour the electricity in? its actually both, guys. i can plug in and go 35 miles gas free, or i can fill up and go a whole lot farther. is that my burger? oh. i just got bun. i d...

>> were expecting 12 inmates coming in. theyll be processed in, photos taken, height and weight and processed and sent to the appropriate cell houses. >> 20-year-old jeremy pickling arrives at isp with a reputation of being a highly assaultive inmate. officers take extra precautions as they process him into their system. >> turn and face me. straight ahead. as far as your mental health, youre not feeling like youre going to hurt yourself or feeling like youre going to hurt anybody else? >> no. >...

And im one of them. >> we came to find out that inmate barbers here are not unlike small town barbers. theyre popular and well-liked. they even cut staffs hair. so when lucas died during the course of our second visit to isp, it was no surprise that his memorial was attended not only by his family and fellow inmates, but a significant number of staff. >> he was a good guy, a real good guy, and i miss him. every day when he used to come back from the chow line, hed knock on my window and say, hey...

Such inspections, isp was the first to allow our cameras to cover one. >> this morning we conducted a surprise staff shake down. this is our first line of defense in preventing trafficking. what happens is a staff member comes in and goes through the regular shakedown up front. and then they proceed back here where theyll give their i.d., well sign them in. they sit in a chair. there the dog will shake them down. >> your bag underneath your seat. take your hat off. >> we like to test the dogs to...

With a seven-inch shank. that book that they just took, where i hid the cell phone. i gave that cell phone to him. if they write me up for that its [ bleep ]. >> this book is taken because he once put a cell phone in it. he would walk around with the book all day. nobody would ever know. >> at indiana state inmates arent the only ones shaken down. to ensure the facilitys safety, correctional staff police themselves through surprise inspections of contraband or other inspections. though other pri...

They said somebody called up here and said i threatened them. >> when they get the calls, they have to investigate it. dont sweat it. youve been on the straight and narrow and doing everything youre supposed to be doing, so keep up the good work and stay out of trouble. just dont let it get to you. >> i have to go back and suck it up. i mean, i dont know who did it. i cant do nothing about it. i cant get mad at them for doing their job. but its an inconvenience over some nonsense that i aint got...

>> the kids are more -- the inmates, the older guys are the convicts and theyre getting less and less. >> holy mackerel. >> isp is slowly going from convict to inmate. were getting a lot of younger kids in here who are not used to prison life. and theyre not used to interacting with us. >> its a bird, its a plane. no, its the bio bucket man. these new guys coming in here now, theyve got pants hanging down to their knees or they have grunge on their headset or something like that. on the phone ca...

Long time, big time. you could walk down the street tomorrow and get beat up. you could get stabbed just walking down the street. its just -- it happens. >> back in the 1980s when major cabanaw patrolled isp as a correctional officer, he experienced such violence firsthand. >> ive been assaulted, yeah. i fought for my life a couple of times. we had three offenders back in the back with knives. and the only thing i had when i went back there was one of the guys in the cage give me a cut-off mop s...

I aint got no problem cutting down you. >> mr. gonzalez, how are you? >> prison psychology reggie matias is called in to calm gonzalez down. >> youre going home friday, right? >> yeah. friday is my out day. i want to hurry up and make it out there before i do end up doing something stupid knowing i will regret it later on down the line. >> i was getting a little worried about you. the closer it gets to your date, the more worked up you seem to be getting. >> im glad you noticed that. im nervous,...