- 11 hours ago
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00Two different inmates gave me the same information about Suboxone strips in here.
00:21Two different inmates in two different places.
00:23So we want to check it off.
00:27All right, anywhere in a day can shove anything.
00:30I had it brought in when somebody came in, shoved up their back door in their prison purse.
00:39Where'd you go?
00:39I believe I found Suboxone strips.
00:42Where at?
00:43In this waistband right here.
00:45So whenever they come in, this is covered.
00:49I fill it all the way around.
00:51Go give me some scissors, Jordan.
00:53Suboxone strips are something that they take whenever you're trying to get off opioids.
00:58You can go to the doctor and get prescribed this.
01:02This will help you get off of whatever you're addicted to.
01:05But you also can get addicted to this easily.
01:09You can literally take a piece that big and it gets you really high.
01:15Me, myself, I watched a lot of documentaries before I became a correctional officer.
01:19So I kind of already knew what we did during shakedowns.
01:22I love it.
01:24Very exciting.
01:26We're going to be cutting waistband from here on out.
01:29There's a lot of Suboxone strips.
01:30I don't know how to get all this in.
01:32There are over 3,000 jails in the U.S., detaining over half a million.
01:46Each one, a world of its own.
01:49Running a jail is tough.
01:52Surviving inside is tougher.
01:54Let's go, let's go.
01:57For 120 hours, five days, our cameras are inside.
02:01Stop it now.
02:03Capturing the officers, inmates, and moments that define life behind bars.
02:10I'll be home soon.
02:11Located an hour and a half north of New Orleans in the small town of Franklinton, Louisiana,
02:33Washington, Paris Jail was originally billed to house 160 pre-trial detainees.
02:38But a backlog in the court system has the jail bursting at the seams, with a current headcount
02:45just over 220.
02:47Jail!
02:48Jail!
02:48Jail!
02:49And some inmates waiting years for a court date.
02:52Come here!
02:54Come here!
03:00Upon entering the jail, new inmates will be strip-searched, dressed out into jumpsuits,
03:05and brought into the jail's booking room for photos and fingerprinting.
03:14Bullshit.
03:15Bitch, I'm going to get them held.
03:17Pick them trays up.
03:19Hey, shorty.
03:24Hey, all your clothes come off.
03:27Face that wall.
03:29Squat, call for me.
03:30All right, I'm Sergeant Grumfield.
03:35I'll take you about five photos of you, and then I'll get your fingerprint.
03:42I'm the sergeant of the jail.
03:44I love to do my job.
03:45I love to go buy the book.
03:46I have been since I was a brand new correctional deputy here.
03:50I can give this back to you.
03:51You can keep these.
03:53Not too sure why they took them from you.
03:55You can keep your gray underwear and your white t-shirt.
03:56You can step up here through this white screen.
04:05Turn to face that wall for me.
04:09All right.
04:09Oh, your eyes are closed.
04:11This camera is funny.
04:17Oh, do you use any alcohol or street drugs?
04:19I only drink on occasion, and that's if I go to the hood.
04:23And the only drug that I do is smoke marijuana, and that's on occasion as well.
04:28That's just the weekend.
04:31You'll sign that first one that's going to be stating that we have your property,
04:35and this one here is stating that we've given you property.
04:38You have a matte sheet, blanket, cup, and spoon.
04:40I'm going to print his ID badge out.
04:47Booking process is done.
04:49Yeah, that was it.
04:50I mean, easy process.
04:53You can come step out here, Mr. Brandon.
04:57Inmate Brandon Duhon is new to Washington, Paris Jail,
05:00but has been arrested multiple times before.
05:03So how come they moved you from Baudelaire, over here?
05:06Because this is where they do felony charges, or whatever they say.
05:10So it's a felony because they found that little piece of joint in my pocket,
05:15like that inside of the building, before they even put me in population.
05:20I didn't even know it was in there.
05:22I carry a purse, so if it's not in my purse, then I don't know.
05:28Felony drug charges are common in this area of Louisiana,
05:31and reflect the issues plaguing the Washington Parish streets.
05:35A piece of blunt this big, they could have threw their away.
05:43I don't know what it's going to be like.
05:45I mean, especially being a homosexual,
05:47I mean, you know, it's either they like you or they don't like you.
05:55Once booked in, the inmates are assigned to a housing unit
05:59known in Washington Parish as Blocks.
06:03He could be placed in the Alpha.
06:06Whenever they go in the blocks, it's all in their attitude.
06:09If you go in and you're flaunting it around,
06:11they're not going to want you in there.
06:13If you go in and you kind of say to yourself,
06:14you know, you found a few friends that you can talk to.
06:17You've got to get in there and pick the right crew, though.
06:20If the block wants you out,
06:21the block's going to get you out one way or the other.
06:23I'm placing Mr. Brandon in the A block.
06:27That would be pretty much our protective custody.
06:30That would be really a more safer block for him to go
06:34just because of his preference of life.
06:38You know, just with me having my sexual preference,
06:40I would want to be safe if I was in jail.
06:42I wouldn't want no target.
06:44You know, I wouldn't want to be a target.
06:46So I just try to make them feel safe as best as I can.
06:48Brandon will remain in A block
06:52until he can see a judge for his bond hearing.
07:01My family's been in Washington Parish
07:02for about five generations.
07:04I was a Marine infantry officer for 22 years.
07:07Met my wife between my first and second deployments to Iraq.
07:10And when it came time for us to retire from the Marine Corps,
07:14we moved back down here.
07:16Here we are now.
07:17I decided to run for sheriff, and now we're doing this.
07:26How's it going?
07:28All right.
07:29Pay no attention to the cameras.
07:31Y'all coming out?
07:33We're heading this way.
07:34Did y'all get it all done?
07:35All the one of them.
07:37All the one of them?
07:38Yeah.
07:40Newly elected sheriff Jason Smith
07:42faces the challenge of bringing this 40-year-old jail
07:45up to his high standards.
07:46Now, this is actually, we're trying to,
07:49the only reason this is still here,
07:50because this is kind of far back in the jail for me.
07:53Like, it should be way up front, but it's not.
07:57It's just where it's always been.
07:58So once we get the paint,
08:00this will be removed,
08:02and everything will be moved forward.
08:03So what were you just doing there?
08:06Just locking up my service weapon.
08:07You'll see our sign right there,
08:08no firearms or ammo beyond this point.
08:11Previous administrations were focused on different priorities than I have.
08:14The jail is the single biggest responsibility.
08:17It has the most people on a daily basis.
08:20It has the most moving parts on a daily basis.
08:23So I spend more time down here
08:26than I think people were expecting me to spend.
08:30But, you know, people judge your priorities based off your presence,
08:33so I'm trying to be down here,
08:34because this is a huge problem for us.
08:35So this is our control room.
08:39As you can see, we're using it as kind of a booking room as well.
08:43On the other side of this wall here
08:44was our original booking room when the building was designed,
08:47but because we're so overcrowded,
08:48we currently have female inmates living in the booking room,
08:50so everything has to be done in here,
08:52which, as you can see, presents a problem
08:54when we're booking in people in full view of every camera we've got.
08:58We also do bonds in here.
09:00Like, we can't separate all these things out by functionality.
09:03It all kind of ends up in here,
09:04because the spaces that were designed for these things
09:06don't exist anymore.
09:07They've got people living in here.
09:09Stay strong.
09:10Try to. Hang in there.
09:13Why does it matter for you
09:14to have a better sheriff's department in Washington Parish?
09:16Because I chose to live here.
09:17I got five kids.
09:19I chose for them to be from here.
09:22This is our home.
09:24You know, we've got a high crime rate per capita
09:26here in Washington Parish.
09:28We've got a drug problem
09:29that kind of drives a lot of the crime.
09:32You know, just a couple years ago,
09:33of the 3,144 counties, if you include D.C.,
09:37in the country,
09:39we were 14th for opioid overdoses per capita.
09:42You the only one down here in Holloway?
09:44Seriously.
09:46It's not obvious to me
09:47why we've become a destination
09:49for drug addicts and gangbangers,
09:50but we have.
09:52We're trying to change that.
09:54But the only way you can change it
09:55is you've got to get involved.
09:56Did y'all want me to go in first,
09:58or you want me to go in first?
09:58I had heard nothing but negative things
10:10about the jail.
10:12The condition of the facility,
10:14the way that it was being run.
10:16But when I walked in,
10:18it was worse than I had anticipated.
10:21Man, I sleep right there, bro.
10:25Come to God.
10:27Look at all that.
10:27All the mold, look at that.
10:29Everywhere.
10:31See, y'all can see
10:33all of the vandalism
10:35on the walls and whatnot.
10:37You can see the cells on the side.
10:40We don't have any doors there anymore.
10:41The doors were removed sometime
10:4310, 12, 13 years ago.
10:47So we don't have the ability
10:48to lock anybody down.
10:49We're kind of doing
10:50open-style dorm living
10:52all the time.
10:55So you see,
10:55we've got people living
10:56in all these cells,
10:58and then we've got people
10:58living out here in the middle.
11:00Under the table.
11:05How many was it really designed for?
11:07It was designed for 24.
11:09How many are you in now?
11:10I think we've got...
11:11How many we got in here right now?
11:1550 gets too much,
11:16and then we really have to do something.
11:17But it hovers around 40
11:21all the time.
11:23If we were in a position
11:24where this building
11:25was at its max capacity
11:26as it was designed,
11:28if there was a problem,
11:28we'd just lock everybody
11:29in their cell.
11:30And then we'd deal with the people
11:31that weren't abiding by the rules.
11:33But the way it is now,
11:34everybody's out,
11:35and we can't lock them down.
11:36So we've got to...
11:38You know, it's more dangerous
11:39for the inmates.
11:40It's more dangerous
11:40for the correctional officers.
11:41It's just a dangerous situation.
11:42Hey, Sheriff Smith,
11:44good to know you're trying, man.
11:45We're trying.
11:46We're trying.
11:47God bless you.
11:50As Sheriff Smith exits B Block,
11:53a young inmate named Gage Russo follows.
11:55All right.
11:56Now I'm going back in.
11:57Soon as you got closing guards,
11:59they're going to roll me out.
11:59Don't that.
12:00I'm not getting beat up for nothing.
12:01No.
12:02No.
12:03All right.
12:04You got an inmate that's refusing
12:05to go back in.
12:06They're going to need some help.
12:07They're trying to take my trades.
12:10They're trying to say,
12:11you know,
12:12I'm talking like,
12:13but I don't know,
12:13I'm not going to be racist.
12:14He said, man,
12:15I get to pick any trade you want.
12:17Any five trades you get,
12:18I'm picking it.
12:19And no matter what it is,
12:21or I'm getting smacked.
12:22I'm not going back in that
12:23no matter what.
12:25I'm a little white kid.
12:26My arms are small.
12:27I can't fight these big-ass dudes.
12:29Ain't no way I'm going back
12:30in that dorm sometimes.
12:31I'm
12:32he's refusing to go back in.
12:40Ain't no way I'm going back
12:41in that dorm sometimes.
12:43Call me this block.
12:44I ain't going nowhere else.
12:46End of the story.
12:48Inmate Gage Russo
12:49is refusing to return to B Block.
12:51I'm not going back in that dorm.
12:53No matter what,
12:54I'm a beat.
12:55Hey, warden.
12:57Warden Joseph Taylor
12:58is called to assist
13:00with the situation.
13:02I don't know who he is.
13:30I just came in the dorm today.
13:31I don't know who he is.
13:32I don't know who he is.
13:33I'm sorry.
13:34I'm just nervous.
13:35How am I supposed
13:36to owe you something
13:37when I just came here,
13:38big dog?
13:39Oh, you owe me $15.
13:41I don't owe you $15 for money.
13:46Who is he on money?
13:48Who's doing the hard time?
13:50Nobody gets you on money.
13:51We just trying to take you
13:52shit.
13:53We just trying to take you
13:54shit.
13:54We just trying to take you
13:56shit.
13:56We just kidding.
13:57Crazy how they treat you
13:59in this jail, man.
14:00Y'all don't come to
14:01Washington Parish, bro.
14:02It's terrible.
14:04Get in there, cry.
14:04I'm going to show you
14:06every night.
14:08I've been to St. Samadley.
14:09I've been to Millard.
14:11I've been to NOPP New Orleans.
14:14It's my first time here
14:15by far out of all the jails.
14:16It's just the worst.
14:18Let's just stop.
14:18Let's go.
14:19Where we going?
14:19The warden reluctantly agrees
14:21to move Russo into a different
14:23pod for the time being.
14:24What a fascination pod.
14:29Do you show any weakness in here?
14:32Best believe they're going to
14:33come up to you and try to
14:35take what they can off you.
14:36It's like vultures in there
14:37like wolves.
14:39One comes and they see
14:40that they got something off you,
14:42the whole pack's coming.
14:45Inmate Russo will be held
14:46indefinitely in the short
14:47blocks where cells are smaller
14:49and space is limited.
14:53I don't know his name
14:54or what his circumstances were,
14:55but he's a recent addition
14:56to the jail and they were
14:58trying to put him into
14:59the lawn blocks.
15:00And every time we introduce
15:01somebody into a new environment,
15:03you know, there's a certain
15:04amount of trepidation that
15:05comes with being put in a big
15:06room with a lot of people
15:07you don't know.
15:09So we're constantly trying
15:10to manage these personal
15:11dynamics between inmates and
15:13try to put them in a situation
15:14where they're going to be safe.
15:19Do you have any allergies,
15:24arthritis, asthma, or diabetes?
15:27No.
15:28While new inmates like Russo
15:29struggle to fit into the block,
15:30other more seasoned inmates have
15:31established themselves inside.
15:32They told me you were the dorm rep.
15:44Yeah?
15:45Yeah.
15:46What's going on, man?
15:47What's y'all going on?
15:48Y'all want to be out
15:49and tour around the door?
15:50One such inmate is D-block
15:52dorm rep, Tawish Taplin.
15:54All right, we're going to be
15:55out of work that hour.
15:56No.
15:57Oh, somebody at the bathroom.
16:00We're going to talk.
16:06It's the four-way mansion here.
16:08You hear the four-way and
16:09bankroll say that?
16:09This is how we live in here.
16:11Yeah, Tawish Taplin,
16:12this is how we live in here.
16:13You know what I'm saying?
16:14We everywhere with you.
16:15You're all under the bed with you.
16:17We're going to talk, bro.
16:19They take a shoe screen.
16:20So you take a t-shirt and cut it
16:22up and make shoe screens out of it.
16:24We got a chill block.
16:26We don't really have too much going on.
16:28That's why everybody loves D-block.
16:30You'll get you an E-cigarette.
16:32You can order your vape.
16:34We be chilling.
16:34We laid back over here.
16:37So what is the dorm rep?
16:40Well, I really...
16:42They say the dorm rep is somebody
16:44who look after the dorm.
16:44You clean up.
16:45You make sure everybody get their tray.
16:46You keep everything in order.
16:48But you really don't got to do nothing.
16:50For real, if you got a dorm
16:51full of grown men who know how to respect each other,
16:53you ain't got to keep nothing in order.
16:54You feel what I'm saying?
16:56And how does somebody get chosen to be the dorm rep?
16:58Well, I guess because if you be here long enough,
17:00like if they go by whoever been in the jail the longest,
17:03if you been in the dorm the longest,
17:04they'll pick you to be the dorm rep.
17:05They ain't going to pick nobody who they feel like
17:07the dorm ain't going to respect.
17:08Because if they pick somebody this week,
17:10they going to get ran over, you know?
17:12How old are y'all?
17:13I'm 23.
17:1423.
17:15I've been in jail since I was 19, though.
17:18Were you in D-block the whole time
17:19or they moved you around?
17:20I've been in every dorm in the jail.
17:22I'd have been in the hall no mother .
17:24Even in lockdown, the short-block dorms.
17:26Short-block way smaller.
17:28They ain't got no F.
17:29They ain't got no TVs.
17:31No microwave.
17:31No microwave.
17:33You were going to see her all day.
17:35Door locked, stretched out.
17:37You would really go crazy, man.
17:4080%, 75% that go in short-block,
17:42now they're going there normal before you know it.
17:43They be spraying that on the wall.
17:46So can I ask you what you guys are charged with?
17:48Nah.
17:49We're looking at life in prison.
17:50You know what I'm saying?
17:51Mother come in here and be looking at five years,
17:54two years, ten years, and they take advantage of it.
17:56They ain't here fighting and doing the most.
17:58Just start .
17:59Because they know at the end of the day,
18:01they ain't looking at that much time.
18:02We looking at enough time and we can get through away.
18:04You feel what I'm saying?
18:04So we got big .
18:06We got to be worried about, you know?
18:07But you got to get through it.
18:08But it can be better, though.
18:10You know, but...
18:11You got to make it better.
18:12You got to make it better.
18:13Because if you stress...
18:15You'll go crazy.
18:16You'll go crazy.
18:17So you got to stay in the right mindset.
18:18You got to stay prayed up.
18:19Talk to God.
18:20And, you know, you got to keep going.
18:21You got to keep pushing for real time.
18:23We pray every day, bro.
18:25Really, like, it be times to be down.
18:27And that's all we got is to pray.
18:29You feel me?
18:30It can feel better, you know?
18:32What's the worst thing that you've heard
18:34happen in these blocks?
18:36See, you know, you know what I'm saying?
18:37They have a lot going on.
18:38But a couple of months ago, they had a little gang fight.
18:40You know what I'm saying?
18:40A couple of people got bust up, got, you know,
18:43sent their bodies into the hospital.
18:44You know what I'm saying?
18:45So as dorm rep, do you have to try to keep that at a minimum,
18:48or...?
18:49Yeah, I be trying.
18:50But if something going on between you and him,
18:52and it's personal, I can just tell y'all to chill.
18:55But if y'all don't chill, then, hey, y'all going to do
18:58what y'all going to do.
18:59You know what I'm saying?
19:00How does the staff not stop that stuff?
19:03They got cameras, so they be watching the cameras.
19:05They watch everything.
19:07They'll sit up there and watch you get beat up.
19:08And then come back here after the fight over.
19:12They just came in.
19:14To ensure inmate safety, officers keep a watchful eye
19:17on security cameras, both day and night.
19:22I've seen a lot of dangerous things happen in here.
19:25I have experienced multiple altercations.
19:27But you never know what's going to happen in corrections.
19:30I have seen a few of them.
19:31I'm going to try it.
19:32I'm going to try it.
19:33I'm going to try it.
19:34I'm going to try it, C Block.
19:36Oh.
19:45In C Block, deputies are responding
19:48to an inmate fight caught on surveillance camera.
19:50.
19:53Hey, man, man, man, man, man.
19:55What the fiddles do?
19:57What the fiddles do?
19:59What the fiddles do?
20:02What the fiddles do?
20:03What the fiddles do?
20:04They had to do or I lost the whole dorm now.
20:06She said what?
20:07Yeah.
20:09Everybody, sit down.
20:11.
20:13So post it up.
20:14Point still four and five.
20:16Go ahead.
20:17Put it back over there.
20:18They good.
20:19They good.
20:20That's right.
20:21Come on.
20:22Come on.
20:23Come on.
20:24Come on.
20:25Come on.
20:26Come on.
20:27Control room personnel help identify both inmates involved in the fight.
20:32Officers remove the inmates and escort them to holding cells.
20:36.
20:37.
20:38.
20:39.
20:40.
20:41.
20:42.
20:43.
20:44.
20:45.
20:46.
20:53.
20:57.
20:58.
20:59.
21:00.
21:01.
21:02.
21:03.
21:04.
21:06.
21:07.
21:08He really hurt each other.
21:13Was it hard to resist, to push back?
21:16All right, there's six, seven youngsters, yeah.
21:18You know, you're getting put up against a lot,
21:19you don't even want, I mean, I could tell
21:21he didn't want to fight me, I didn't want to fight him.
21:23He's basically trying to test you.
21:25Yeah, that's what, it's a trying to see who's the weakest,
21:28and if you don't stand up for your ground, man,
21:31they're gonna roll you out, you know?
21:33They're gonna keep getting you again and again.
21:34You gotta do something.
21:38This is the second fight in C-Block today.
21:42Welcome to C-Block.
21:43Welcome to C-Block.
21:44After a fight in Washington, Paris Jail,
21:47officers review all footage to corroborate inmate stories
21:50and pursue any legal or disciplinary measures.
21:53All right, so what I want to do is, uh, pull a few of these guys out,
21:57see if they'll talk about the situation that we might have going on in there.
22:13Appreciate it.
22:15Assaults and other safety emergencies are investigated by the jail's investigation unit.
22:20Led by Lieutenant Jeff Crowe.
22:24I'm the only investigator right now in the jail.
22:28Primarily, I conduct investigations about violations,
22:31not just of the law, but also of jail policy.
22:34So, this is a note from an inmate that I was handed yesterday by the warden.
22:40And in this note, he basically split this into a three-part complaint,
22:44which is one of the most elaborate notes I've ever seen from an inmate.
22:47He's saying some screws were removed and are being used for threats and eventual violence.
22:52And he gave me this nice little drawing about where the screws are missing from
22:55on the bottom of a locker hinge.
22:57Uh, the second part of his, uh, note says that there's a guy keeping several young men in fear of their lives.
23:04This man needs to be removed immediately as several fear him and his threats of violence daily, including myself.
23:09If anything, please remove and relocate that person or the three of us.
23:15He put anonymous at the bottom, and I don't know who wrote the letter.
23:20I don't recognize the handwriting.
23:23It is serious because he's talking about inmates possessing weapons or shivs.
23:27So, if you don't know, a shiv is an improvised weapon.
23:30Um, if you're the guy making the weapon, ideally, it's metal.
23:34But sometimes they use plastic or whatever they can get.
23:36One of the ones I worked involving three people who were all 17 years old at the time.
23:47So, they were all hanging out in their dorm.
23:50The kid was peeing in a bottle and pouring it into the shower while that other kid was in the shower.
23:58Why he was so upset with him. He had done it several times.
24:00And that's why one morning I came to work and I was told that a kid had shanked or stabbed.
24:06Another kid.
24:19You know, we evacuated the guy who was cut for medical attention.
24:22And we searched the block and found a contraband weapon.
24:27Actually, it was this contraband weapon.
24:29This is formed from an aluminum wire used to hang a broom.
24:34And whenever they make something into a weapon like this from a common component they already have access to,
24:39that's introduction to contraband because they repurposed it as a weapon.
24:43I mean, these guys have nothing but time. And they're very creative.
24:46So, if you take a screw and you're able to wrap a handle on the back of it and you've got the front part of this two, three-inch steel screw to stab a guy in jail,
24:55a lot of times that's the best they can do.
24:57This is the kind of stuff they make.
24:58The hardest part of this initial puzzle here is going to be finding the three screws.
25:03It's kind of like looking for a needle in a haystack in a 40-man dorm.
25:20Is it all right if we come in and chat with you all a little bit?
25:22I mean, this is tight in here. How is this set up? Like, can somebody show us around?
25:32Over here is the bathroom.
25:34And there's just... How many toilets are there?
25:36One.
25:37That's the shower over here. And like one big cement shower.
25:44Washington Parish Jail has two female blocks.
25:47This one, known as the booking dorm, used to be where inmates were booked into the jail.
25:53Due to overcrowding, the jail has had to repurpose multiple spaces to accommodate more inmates.
26:00There's not even a window in here.
26:02It's like living in a cave.
26:05Underground, like a bunker or something.
26:07It's very, very much overcrowded.
26:08So...
26:09It seems really tight to me.
26:11It is. You barely can walk around, mostly lay on your bed and watch TV.
26:16That's pretty much what you do.
26:17I mean, there's some mats on the floor. Like, how is it...
26:20If there's an open bunk, grab it if you can get it.
26:23If there's not, find a spot on the floor.
26:27Yeah, I've been here for 33 months now.
26:29Three days.
26:30I've been in here eight months.
26:33I've been in here five months.
26:35I'm waiting to get shipped to prison.
26:37I have a five-year sentence.
26:41It's definitely not easy.
26:43It is really hard.
26:44Yeah, and I have a 16-year-old daughter, and it hurts me because I'm going to miss her high school graduation, you know?
26:51Yeah, the milestones you're going to miss.
26:54And I'm going off, you know, I'm waiting to get shipped, and my daughter's, you know, going to be four this year.
27:00And next year, if I'm not out, I'm going to miss her going to kindergarten for the first time.
27:05And my oldest is 11.
27:08He's a mama's boy, and it's the longest I've been away from my babies.
27:13It is the hardest thing I think I ever had to do.
27:16But I'm hoping, you know, once I get up to prison, you know, my kids will be able to come see me, and I'll be able to communicate with them and stuff like that.
27:25How was last night?
27:36How was last night?
27:38I slept in a corner on the floor where the shower is next to it, so careful when my blanket gets wet.
27:43Yeah, appreciate it.
27:45Brandon is waiting to speak to the judge to find out if he'll be able to bond out.
27:49Vernon Dumas!
27:56It's a new judge that we have.
27:58He don't give no mercy.
27:59He's an older judge.
28:00He's been in the system a long time.
28:02He sees a lot of repeat offenders, and he just gets tired of it.
28:06So he doesn't set it where it's easy enough for them to find out, go back out on the streets, and go back to the same drugs that they just got arrested on,
28:13or, you know, go back to the same house that they just burglarized, or anything like that.
28:18You know, he wants them to sit in here and learn their lessons behind everything.
28:22Aw, why y'all got to wait to hear this?
28:25Gotta wait to tell me this right now.
28:27You know what I mean?
28:28Y'all in this place is some bull , I swear to God.
28:31I didn't get a chance to say anything.
28:32You should have them charges that he talked about on the screen.
28:35I was locked up for five years and five months.
28:37Why come they wasn't taken care of while I was in there?
28:40You know, see, that's what I'm saying.
28:41It's the system.
28:42It's not, they say it works, but it really doesn't.
28:48I can't never get no straight answer from nobody.
28:58They don't know when I can get a visit, but they work here.
29:02They don't know when I can see this, but they've been working here for years.
29:05They don't know what to do, that the public defender, you're going to have to talk to them whenever.
29:08It's for real, whenever, whenever they feel like they're going to step inside of this jail.
29:12I can't make them do nothing.
29:14Brandon.
29:15Just like I do my job, but they got a job to do as well.
29:19Go for it.
29:21Mr. Brandon's acting up pretty bad.
29:23He had an attitude, I guess, you know, because he was mad about his bond setting.
29:27I don't know what's going on here.
29:29I understand that they've got to get frustration out too, but as well, I grew up really big on respect.
29:35Now I'm a respectful person until I get disrespected.
29:38Pretty much every inmate in this facility knows that.
29:41Due to Brandon's unresolved past charges, the judge did not set a bond.
29:46Laundry going in.
29:48Brandon will stay in A Block until he is able to speak with the public defender.
29:52I'm coming to you, our next.
30:04Alright.
30:05Oh, Mr. Come here.
30:12Yeah, I'm good.
30:15This door, this hole right.
30:17Okay, look, I'm finna do commissary.
30:25Y'all know how it go.
30:28No hands in your pocket.
30:30If I get any hands in your pocket and I'm shutting this door, I'm gone.
30:35Okay.
30:37Why?
30:39At the Washington Parish Jail in Franklinton, Louisiana, snacks and essential items are available for purchase
30:45and delivered once a week through a digital marketplace called Commissary.
30:50Hey, redhead, you want me to stop this?
30:54Right here.
30:56Tap.
30:58During the intake process, inmates are given an account and PIN number,
31:02where they and loved ones can add money for phone calls and commissary purchases.
31:07Got a little commissary, little noodles and meat pack.
31:12We get a loaded, thirsty , and by the next Thursday, we've been ate all that .
31:20We'll cook something for y'all.
31:26Get some jailhouse .
31:29Got chicken, oysters, peppers, some hot sauce.
31:33You got to take that all out of this right here, out of the oysters.
31:37It costs to live like this.
31:39It's exotic right here.
31:41It means something to eat like this right here.
31:43Everybody can't eat like this right here.
31:47Thanks to the microwave, man.
31:51Inmates with outside financial support are able to afford extra food from commissary.
31:57I got nine more dollars.
31:59You want me to take it?
32:01Those without a support system in place often turn to gambling or go hungry.
32:06If you want to make stoke and you want to got two soups,
32:08and you take your two soups and go gambling,
32:10you can win the whole bag.
32:11It's like a little stoke.
32:13Sometimes it'd be like $60 in the bag.
32:15So they had $100 in the other day.
32:17So it help for people who want to make stoke,
32:20so they can win more money.
32:22Eat, cooking, that's really a big thing, Jay.
32:38Because if you don't eat, you're going to starve, man.
32:42Y'all go see the lunch tray, man.
32:44Ain't nothing but a sandwich on that one bologna sandwich.
32:47That ain't nobody to fool, man.
32:49Not for six hours, anyway.
32:52We gotta survive, man.
33:14Alright, let's go.
33:16Everybody out.
33:17Downstairs.
33:18Hoping to find the missing screws mentioned in the anonymous inmate letter,
33:22Warden Taylor has ordered an immediate shakedown of b-block.
33:27Everybody's out?
33:30Alright.
33:31We're looking for pills, we're looking for battery shanks,
33:33anything they should know.
33:35I got something right here.
33:41Hey, Warden.
33:42Yeah.
33:43That's a piece of mud off or something.
33:45That's part of a razor.
33:46Based on the intel gathered by Lieutenant Crowe, Warden Taylor and his team are shaking down the whole facility, starting with b-block.
33:59So we're basically looking for anything modified, could be a sharpened-up toothbrush, any type of shank, any type of loose pills.
34:10They're not supposed to have any medication back here.
34:12Oh, I got something right here.
34:13Basically, an e-cigarette battery, they can get them on commissary.
34:22They'll use this battery to light any type of little fire, smoke something.
34:25Basically, to light just about anything they can get their hands on.
34:29So here's a whole bunch of bits and pieces they've been taken from those e-cigarettes.
34:35Oh.
34:36I didn't expect to find this much stuff in my first locker.
34:38They'll have deputies walking back here.
34:43You have very slick pickpocketers that will pickpocket their pins.
34:48They can pose a serious threat.
34:50Weapons.
34:51Oh, pills.
34:52They'll cheek these whenever we give them to them and then just pop them back out once they try to go back up in the dormitory.
35:00They get all types of stuff back here from Klonopin to melatonin.
35:05Some people get antipsychotics.
35:10Well, Warden, we found something.
35:14We got some screw bolts.
35:16The bolts could be the screws mentioned in the anonymous inmate letter.
35:20They'll pry anything off that they can to try to make a shank out of, just about.
35:25Or just to try to make something to shank somebody with.
35:34What the hell?
35:37I found this wrapped up.
35:39While searching the rest of B Block, officers uncover multiple possible shanks.
35:46So here we have a shank found underneath one of the cabinets and one of the dormitories.
35:49Back here.
35:50You know, it's easy to conceal.
35:51Quick stab.
35:52If your hands are small enough, you can easily get it back all the way over to here.
35:55Turn it into a grip.
35:56Come up behind somebody.
35:57That's it.
35:58That's the other shank.
35:59What we have here is an insulin needle taped onto a toothbrush handle.
36:00And depending on the mood of the day, it can either be a homemade tattoo device, a homemade
36:14weapon.
36:15And this poses a great, great risk to offenders and workers alike.
36:18All right.
36:19Y'all ready?
36:20Yes, sir.
36:21Grab the trays, grab whatever y'all found, and let's roll out.
36:22Yes, sir.
36:23We searched the block and found a contraband weapon and some screws.
36:24It's our job to prevent them from having those things.
36:25I would say that was pretty successful.
36:26All right, good deal.
36:27We did recover a lot of stuff.
36:28We got those shanks.
36:29So are you able to sort of pin this down on a specific person?
36:32Is somebody going to get charges for this?
36:33Based on where they're sleeping, yeah, we can.
36:34We're going to try.
36:35You all right?
36:36You all right?
36:37What?
36:38We're going to try.
36:39What?
36:40We're out there again.
36:41Just going to go?
36:42What?
36:43We're going to do?
36:44Let's go.
36:45Cool.
36:46Let's go.
36:47It's good for me.
36:48Let's go for me.
36:50Based on where they're sleeping, yeah, we can.
36:54We're going to try.
37:04You all right?
37:05Yes, sir.
37:07We'll just walk out here in the back.
37:09I mean, there's nothing really to film right now
37:10except the sinking of the facility into the river.
37:16So you see that most of the building is raised up.
37:19The Boca Chita River is right behind us.
37:21So you can see the problems that are presented here
37:24by the concrete all cracking apart.
37:26All that movement is happening underneath the building as well.
37:30You know, we're slowly sinking into the river.
37:34You know, our facility's got issues with its location.
37:38It's got issues with its operational capacity.
37:41It's got issues with its design.
37:44We can solve all those problems with a bigger facility in a new place.
37:47You know, ours was built in 83.
37:51If you look at a modern design,
37:53they will incorporate outdoor space into the day room.
37:58Our facility just doesn't allow for that.
38:01You've got to get out in the sunshine.
38:02We need you to take care of yourself
38:14because if you're a little bit healthier,
38:16you're going to behave better.
38:17It's going to be safer for you.
38:19It's going to be safer for the correctional officers
38:21and the deputies.
38:21And it's about just giving them an opportunity
38:23to burn off some stress.
38:24Yo, Jed, how's the NBA, man?
38:26I don't play basketball.
38:28They're the ball player, you know?
38:30When was the last time you guys had yard?
38:31Like, we usually go out once every, like, three, four months.
38:34But for some reason, they've been taking us out every week.
38:36They've been showing us a little love, you know?
38:39It make us feel better
38:40because we ain't trapped in the dorm every day.
38:41We want to see sunlight when we go to court,
38:44and that's, like, every five months.
38:45So you'll have been in the dorm five months
38:47without seeing the outside world.
38:49If we can go outside once a week, that's nice.
38:52I probably only been outside, like, 15 times
38:54since I've been here in four years.
38:58If you keep a lot of men in the dorm
38:59for a long period of time without going outside,
39:02it'll cause confusion,
39:03and everybody'll script, so it'll be fights.
39:05You know, anything can happen.
39:06They're showing that they care about us now, you know?
39:13At first, we felt like they ain't killed,
39:14but now we feel like we got somebody in control
39:17that actually care about us and treat us like humans, you know?
39:19You know what I mean?
39:21All right, each family's going to go to their own bench.
39:30When they do come out,
39:32you're allowed to give them a hug and a kiss.
39:34No other contact besides that.
39:36You let them sit on the other side of the bench, okay?
39:37Okay.
39:38This is our first visitation in years.
39:42The warden's just now starting it again.
39:44When I said my daughter's graduation,
39:46that's going to hurt enough.
39:51But I'm glad I get to see my mom today
39:53because that's, like, my best friend.
40:01Yeah, I'm not quiet.
40:04Hey, Mom.
40:05You got to sit in there.
40:19Somebody who did your hair.
40:21One of the roommates did your hair.
40:24Yeah.
40:25And I bet you you told her,
40:26my mom always aggravated me to do my hair like this.
40:28I was telling one of the girls in Bougalooza yesterday.
40:35I said, girl, when we get out,
40:36I have to have my mom do the spiderweb thing
40:38and our hair together.
40:40We get matching outfits, go to the mall.
40:47There's a certain amount of enjoyment that comes
40:49when you know that you're starting to make some headway,
40:52when people are starting to buy in,
40:53when you feel people starting to understand,
40:55oh, this is what he was talking about.
40:57Oh, this is what's possible.
40:59Oh, this is what we're trying to do.
41:01And I think we're starting to see some of that.
41:04Come stand up here for us.
41:05Seven, five, five.
41:11Now you can turn the face that way.
41:12I'm sorry, Sergeant Grumfield,
41:18just in case you ever hear my voice again.
41:20Yeah, I remember you.
41:21I didn't hear you before.
41:23Yeah, I remember your name.
41:24Mm-hmm.
41:25All right, man.
41:26Off, it's been a matter of time.
41:32Yeah, I know.
41:33But I meant you,
41:34I always wanted you.
41:35Yeah, I want to know maybe you,
41:37but I'm not sure.
41:38Yeah.
41:38At home, I can remember.
41:39It's bad.
41:39Yeah, I'm good.
41:40My church knew I was to be in the middle
41:40of the night,
41:41because I meet my expectations.
41:43And I'm going to be in the middle of the night.
41:44My heart is perfect for me,
41:45I'm going to be in the middle of the night.
41:47All right, so I keep you in the middle of the night.
41:49And I'm going to do that for me,
41:51before I get consoling.
41:52I'll be in the middle of the night.
41:54But I can see you in the middle of the night.
Comments