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That inmates are in solitary confinement for months, if not years at a time. but what we're also finding is that jail inmates are also spending more time behind bars. their trials are taking longer to resolve. and as a result, they're spending more time in segregation as well. >> when we traveled to the fairfax county adult detention center in virginia, we encountered the toughest, most restrictive segregation unit we had ever seen. >> you mess up, you're going to be punished and punished harshly, because they don't want you to do it again. and they own this policy and they teach it from the t...

He didn't have to go that far, i i guess you could say he looked out for me, kind of. >> for nonviolent infractions, suffolk county often used the probation option. which kept many inmates out of segregation. and the units themselves were much less isolated than others we've seen. >> it was actually nothing like any segregation unit i had seen before. >> inmates were confined 22 1/2 hours per day, but could still communicate with each other and were even given time in an outdoor rec yard. it was stark contrast to what was perhaps the toughest segregation unit we've ever seen.

Hours a day in a segregation unit. the most everyone refers to segregation as the box. it's a place where even making a phone call is a little more difficult than normal. >> talk to me a little bit about using this phone. got number shape to tell us how the phone is. i feel for this bump that's on the five like the braille, that's how i know that's the five and then i'll dial around it. >> is this in every unit? >> no. in general population you can see the whole family. >> you see this, one for english and two for spanish. two if you have a calling card so you're not calling nobody collect, so...

And she has met hundreds of inmates, coping with solitary confinement. >> they kind of run the gamut. i've seen people who sleep all day long and all night long. there's almost like this constant state of depression. then you see the ones who are just so, so needing to have their voice heard since they have no one else to talk to, they'll make a tremendous amount of noise, they kick the door, they're constantly screaming. mental health issues arise because you are deprived of what's so basic, and that's just interaction with another human being. and i think that that can cause a lot of negativ...

Can range from 30, 40, up to 100, close to 200 inmates. and sometimes one, two, maybe if you're lucky three officer per unit. an officer having to worry about 180 people possessing weapons on a daily basis. so that's why it's very important for them to be on their toes to be on the lookout for suspicious activity. >> the latest inmate weapon confiscated by officers was found in the segregation unit at the house of correction. >> what makes this significant, obviously, it's a sock. but in the sock he had five double aa batteries. and these double aa batteries are something he can order for his ...