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amer-i-can accepts any inmate regardless of their arrest charge and past criminal history. >> it teaches an individual to take control of their own lives. it gives them life skills ab fundamentals that allows them to take control of their own life. you need an investment in education. a real investment in it. you'll need strong, fair, just law enforcement. what i'm saying here is you need a balance. you must put it into the education but you also must deal with the situations. that's a fair way of putting it. >> the rate of racially based disturbances like this one, captured on surveillance video, used to be about one per month. but jail officials claim that the amer-i-can program has drastically reduced the number of incidents throughout the jail.
ever seen. the fighting finally ended when the sheriff's emergency response teams were brought in. using verbal commands, stingball grenades, and pepper spray, sheriff deputies were able to prevent the inmates from killing each other, except for one inmate whose injuries left him in a coma, most of the men involved in the riots suffered minor injuries. >> jail is completely different than what it was 30 years ago. for one thing, we have much more violence-prone inmates in our system. in the past that was never a problem. we did not have the major riots and the disturbances. >> 30-year veteran of the sheriff's department and commander of nccf john vanderhoerk blames the growing trend of violence in jail on the state prison gangs. >> we have inmates who are trying to establish their reputation, knowing that they are going to the state prison system. so they want to establish their reputation in the jail system as a major player. >> because riots inside jail are
and they have to pick up the tools that we offer them. and if they can improve themselves -- and it's, again, a decision that they made. >> getting a job outside of jail is only half the battle against recidivism, which is why new programs for inmates are encouraged at l.a. county. elected sheriff lee baca and nfl hall of famer jim brown have started an intensive self-improvement training course for inmates inside the l.a. county jail. the course was originally designed to help reduce the racially motivated violence that was occurring daily within the walls of the jail. >> we needed to take that environment and make it a productive one where people could actually reflect on their problems, get involved in our programs, and leave this jail better than they were when they came in. >> the program is called amer-i-can and it's a 60-hour program that takes 42 days to complete.
receiving mental health treatment in the jail every day, officials must rely on group therapy programs to help the inmates learn how to deal with their problems when they leave jail. >> explain that to me. >> stay off drugs if you're young and you're basically trying to be somebody in life. leave those drugs alone because if you're on drugs you can't cope. >> it sounds like all of you guys here are really seeing the impact of how drugs have influenced where you are today. >> drugs are not a coping mechanism. we have no coping skills. >> that's where i'd start over and turn myself in so i could end it all. i'm ready to quit. get away from it all. it gets old. >> inmate dina marie benz says jail provided the opportunity to come clean of the 15 years of drug addiction that threatened her and her three children. >> my 17-year-old, she understands. she gets mad at me, you know.
it's something, you know, you just have to put up with that. you know, i did it to myself again. i said i wasn't coming back. here i am. same people, same everything. just like i've seen people come in and out, there's people that come in and see me come and go. a headache all the way around. >> will williamson's outlook on being in jail is much different now than it was when he was first locked up at age 14. >> i'm more accepting now. before when i did something it wasn't my fault. but i've learned to know and to realize that i did wrong because it's something i wanted to do. and instead of coming in here and blaming the officers for it, i hold myself responsible for what i've done. >> just down the road from east is north facility. north was built in 1987 at a cost of $41 million and is a maximum security jail primarily
often when inmates leave l.a. county jail they encounter problems getting a job due to lack of occupational skills. without a job most inmates quickly fall back into a life of crime, which is why the vocational programs available at l.a. county jail are always filled with inmates. >> the inmates that work in the vocational print shop consider this to be more a job and not actually working at jail. >> regardless of their crime, all inmates are offered the chance to work while in jail. >> we don't assign them to work with anyone. we don't assign them what machines they're going to be on. we let them make all their decisions. they made decisions for their life. this is part of their life.
vents. right here in the same part right here, right here there's a hole you can communicate with your neighbor. i used to communicate with my neighbor. but she left today. >> are you happy for her? >> no. i wanted her to stay. because she used to sing to me every night. i'm not going to lie. i wanted her to stay. that's selfish. i'm a selfish one. >> 30% of the women incarcerated in l.a. county jail have a significant risk of mental health problems. according to a study conducted by the jail's department of mental health, it was also found that the majority of these women are drug abusers. >> so the bottom line, i think, is that we're dealing with a very difficult population. >> dr. michael maloney is the head of the women's mental health treatment. >> we're dealing with a group of people who really don't get mental health services that are effective in the community. so many of them drift down to the point that they get arrested. >> with 300 to 450 women
for younger inmates. from the outside the jail looks like a military bunker with not a single window for inmates to see the outside. >> well, i guess my lifestyle in the streets, running with a gang. and this -- none of the stuff like that. you get caught up on the streets, do a couple moves wrong, you end up in this place, you know. >> for 30-year-old inmate and active gang member jeremy blake being in jail is much harder on his family than it is on him. >> my mother is sick right now. she's on insulin. she's got diabetes. things like that. and she's sick, and me being in here, you know, causing more stress doesn't help her any much either. that's why it's hard to come back here. >> three days ago. where are we today? what's today's date?
>> anthony rogers. [ applause ] >> 36-year-old inmate anthony ross says graduating from the program has given him a new lease on life. >> i was going to keep on doing the same thing i was doing, you know, drinking, the whole nine yards. since i've been here i feel better. you know? i'm at peace. you know, this is anthony. i made a promise to myself to complete the program, and i got it. i got it. i got it. i'm happy. i know my wife is going to be -- she's just going to be overwhelmed. >> in the state of california alone drug treatment programs like the one at l.a. county jail are projected to save $100 million to $150 million annually. next on this special two-hour edition of "lockup," we'll take you inside l.a. county's most dangerous supermax facility, where the jail's
largest riot happened. we'll also show you how sheriffs stopped the violence with their new high-tech weapons. and we'll see how inmates process out, having survived life inside l.a. county jail. [ horn honks melody ] well, well. if it isn't the belle of the ball. gentlemen. you look well. what's new, flo? well, a name your price tool went missing last week. name your what, now? it gives you coverage options based on your budget. i just hope whoever stole it knows that it only works at progressive.com. so, you can't use it to just buy stuff? no. i'm sorry, gustav. we have to go back to the pet store. [ gustav squawks ] he's gonna meet us there. the name your price tool. still only at progressive.com. thlook what i got.p. oh my froot loops! [sniffs] let's do this? get up! get up! get up! get up! loop me! bring back the awesome yeah! yeah! yeah! with the great taste of kellogg's froot loops. follow your nose! creeping up on you...