america's prisons, dangerous, often deadly. there are 2 million people doing time. every day it's a battle to survive and toman taken order. >> down on your feet, down. >> among the nation's toughest, california state prison corcoran. severely overcrowd and plagued by racial tension. we spent months inside where officers try to maintain order in an institution with a notoriously violent pass. this is lockup, corcoran, extended stay.

in corcoran survival is the number one priority. or officers keeping themselves and the pop race safe -- >> this is what we're looking for. that means it's one last. >> i don't care. he bleed just like i bleed. >> the results can be explosive. in the four months we spent inside corcoran, our producers saw violence erupt many times,

though never between inmates and officers. as we neared the end of our stay, no one foresaw the greatest threat to corcoran's staff might come from an event at a california prison more than 300 miles away. >> three guards and two inmates were taken to area hospitals this afternoon after a stabbing in the maximum security area. two inmates used homemade weapons to stab two sergeants and a correctional officer around 1:00 this afternoon. >> it's significant enough that we locked down statewide the whole system. we made a determination that it had to do with a gang activity, southern hispanic gangs. in this particular case the attack seemed unprovoked. so that gave us cause to wonder about how widespread this would be. >> staff being assaulted and attacked is extremely serious. we need to take all precautions to make sure that type of threat doesn't exist on this facility

or this institution. the decision was made to knock down the southerners pending the outcome of additional investigation. we're going to limit their movement and limit their access while we're investigating the possibility of violence. we want to make sure that we go through cells on the facility, search southern hispanics and try to type any type of intelligence that we the. >> although the lockdown affects only southern hispanic inmates, the resulting tension affects the entire prison. this stress increases the ever-present friction between all inmates and corcoran's officers. >> if a staff below me disrespect me, i got the opportunity to either take care of him or him take care of me. if you don't know what taken care of me, someone will try to stab me point blank.

>> i don't care about no write-up. me, i was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. i don't go to no parole board. i was sentenced to die in prison. so whatever these police say, i don't give a mr. bleep. put it on paper. send it to me. what are they going to take? i don't have nothing. they can't take nothing. you see what i'm saying? you got some staff that think they're cowboys, going to talk to you in any type of way because i wear this uniform and they where this blue. they forget we are human beings. doesn't matter what i wear. i'm a grown man. i'm going to let a 21-year-old tell me to shut the [ bleep ] up or, you know, order me like i'm a kid. >> i've been there for about a month now. >> inmates are not the only ones who must learn to navigate the treacherous rules of prison race politics.

>> i've gotten used to it. the first week or two is nerve-racking. you are with convicted felons. it's a little nerve-racking going through the gates. every time you go through the gates not knowing what might happen. every now and then you think this might be your last day of work. it's an everyday thing. you learn how to put it up with, how to deal with it. >> rookie officers rely heavily on the senior staff like captain devega who knows that information and vigilance are the keys for survival for all officers, especially after what took place at another california prison wherein mates assaulted staff. >> you want to look around, the main thing i'm looking for is anything that's out of the ordinary such as the shock collar for the southern mexicans. that tells me there's something going on, a transaction going on, whether it be a drug transaction or maybe a possible hit on an inmate or staff. look for erratic movements

that draw your attention to a certain area, look for arguments, if you see an argument, get over there and diffuse it before you get carried away. don't be afraid if you see something suspicious to go ahead on your radio and put the yard down. it's always best to put the yard down and investigate it as opposed to letting it go. >> never, never, ever show disrespect, you know, by disrespecting an inmate's race or his family. if you got to pat an inmate down, do it with respect. after you've been here for a while, you start developing senses that you didn't know you had. for instance, we can come out on the yard and know if something is going to happen. the air is thick. there's tension. you know it's going to happen. sure enough, most likely it does happen. >> ever since the officers at corcoran learned of the incident in tehachapi, they've been looking for signs of a similar threat in their own back yard.

one particular cell search gives startling evidence that an attack here at corcoran is an enormous threat. >> this was a kite, an anonymous kite. it references that almost as if they're related. now, we have to establish the authenticity of this kite because we don't know where it came from at this point. basically it says everyone has seen the news and the reason for the lockdown. speaking of the incident. it says the next chance that you get -- it specifically cites a sergeant and two officers at our facility, they're our target, indicating there's potentially going to be the next victims of an assault by an inmate. >> fueled by evidence of an imminent attack, officers launch a prison-wide shakedown of the entire southern hispanic population. our producers are allowed to

follow isu as they target one of several cells. >> all right, so we know our target cell, right? 102. we got two inmates in there, lockdown inmates, southern hispanics. standard protocol when we hit the cell, tactical cell search. are we straight? okay. cool. let's roll. we're going to go through the section door, second cell door in from when we enter the unit. we'll go rushing into the door, we're going to pop the door. sometimes these guys fight with us. sometimes they comply with our orders. there's a chance there could be chemical agents or use of force. this is an unexpected type of cell search. they don't know we're coming. we use that element of surprise. thanks. okay. control, are we good? okay. we always take staff threats seriously. but definitely in light of the

recent events where staff were basically put in the hospital, we're going to have to take every recaution. coming up next on "lockup: extended stay," officers score a big fine. but are there more threats looming against them? later, can the rookie keep his cool with a hot-headed inmate. robot 1:good morning... robot 1:...female child. sfx: modem dial-up noise woman: flaws? yeah, um, maybe. anncr: there's an easier way to save. anncr: get online. go to geico.com. get a quote. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance.

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on the ground. on the ground. both of you on the ground! back up. first man back out. bring your knees to your chest. walk him down.

>> put him on his side. bring your knees up to your chest. they didn't expect us. they actually spilled their water and knocked over their fan and got into a little bit of a panic. but it went as well as we could expect it to go. there's going to be a variety of things we're looking for, kites, weapons, contraband, drug paraphernalia. a lot of times if they have contraband, they might want to try to get rid of it and try to flush it down the toilet. these guys complied with our orders. we'll see. now we'll go through the cell. >> how did you know to pick this cell? can you tell me? >> we had some leads that put us on this cell.

there's definitely information in here we'll be interested in. a lot of it is going to be paperwork. we'll see what we can come up with. >> have one officer step out to the yard. >> the violence that erupted days earlier at the california correctional information in tehachapi pervades everyone's thoughts as searches continue throughout the prison. >> we're trying to make sure that it's a little safer for all of us to walk this yard. we're looking for kites more or less, trying to get information on something that might be up and coming. these are southerners right here. and that was who assaulted staff at tehachapi. >> if you guys want to check the mattresses and go from there. >> i'm going to go through the shoes right now just in case they've altered them and hid weapons in here of some type.

>> i'm just curious what parts are missing, compare it with that one there. so it's all connected or point it out. >> you know, at the end of the day, everybody wants to go home to their families. and you always look out for yourself and your partners. not doing a thorough cell search like we're doing right now and if something was to take place, it would be hard to wake up knowing that maybe that was your unit and you didn't take the time to do that search and you lost a fellow partner. for myself, i couldn't live with myself knowing that i didn't search that house right. so we'll keep searching till we come up on something. if we don't, maybe one of our partners searching another cell will.

>> a lot of times what inmates will do is they'll conceal contraband items in their mat or mattress. so this appears to be some ink from an inmate-manufactured tattoo gun. they'll hide ink and needles and rigs and stuff inside these mattresses. >> basically we hit the cell looking for paperwork that might incriminate these guys to being participants in this threat against staff. we've collected a bunch of paperwork. we're going to take it back to headquarters and go through it with a fine-tooth comb and see what we can come up, see if these guys are actively involved. to err on the side of caution, we'll put them in ad seg. we we will do some investigation and determine what their outcome should be. we'll place them back on this facility or maintain them in ad seg.

it was very successful. we got what we wanted at this point. paper work, we'll see what kind of paperwork they have, see what kind of document s they have that we might be interested in. >> these inmates will be held in administrative segregation until isu's investigation has been completed. although the incident at tehachapi forced corcoran to alter its day-to-day routine, the arrival of new inmates never ceases. for these new inmates, survival depends on knowing the rules and knowing your place. >> everything comes down to a code and how you conduct yourself. the overall code of how you conduct yourself, it's designated by race. you no longer become human. you become a color. >> in the four months we spent inside corcoran, our producers learned that for most inmates, the safest place is with their own race. >> [ inaudible ]. >> were you out with asian guys? >> yeah, i was.

but if there's blacks then it will be a problem being a cellie ch cellie. you got to either kill our celly or he'll kill you. >> i might expect to go in this cell with this man here, but what my people or who i hang with might have a problem with it. i have to do what the community says in this issue because i'm just one man. there's like -- there's safety in numbers. so me trying to stand out, it's a hard thing to do, up in high levels it's a hard thing to do. >> knowing these racial guidelines has kept inmate jacob bell out of trouble. >> for the most part this is peaceful. a lot of times it is what you make of it, a lot of prison politics as far as race. you have to know where you at and how to depend yourself. it depends on your stay at corcoran and how things turn out.

>> the politics of race create rigid demands which control the smallest details of inmates' lives. >> you pretty much can walk around. but there are certain areas -- same way it is on the street when we have neighborhoods and things like that. it's a territorial thing. so we try to keep it like that and give each other respects so we can give ourselves distance so we won't cross paths in the wrong fashion. >> the rules are merciless, and ignoring race politics can lead to catastrophic results. >> i'd be in violation of prison rules if i was to sit there because that area is for mexicans and whites. blacks is on the other side. i'd probably set off a race riot if i sat right there. that wouldn't be too nice. i'd probably hear a lot about that when i go back to ad seg. got to go all the way around. i can't even cross through. i have to walk around these

borders and walk all the way around to the other side. that's prison. >> jacob's ability to adhere to prison politics has kept him out of trouble. a previous fight within his race may catch up with him and delay his original parole date. also ahead on "lockup extended stay," isu uncovers a lethal weapon. did it have their name on it? >> we probably caught him in the act of attempting to sharpen and put an edge on the weapon. while energy developement comes with some risk, north america's natural gas producers are committed to safely and responsibly providing decades of cleaner burning energy for our country, drilling thousands of feet below fresh water sources within self contained well systems and using state of the art monitoring technologies, rigorous practices help ensure our operations are safe and clean for our communities and the environment we are america's natural gas.

after an incident at another california prison, where inmates stabbed officers, everybody in corcoran is feeling the tension. for jacob bell, it's tension of another kind. today he faces a hearing for a fight with a fellow inmate. >> there's a classification committee. my counselor is calling me in this morning. i was just involved in a mutual combat where i lost 90 days of credit. if i don't get my time back, i'll be in a lot of trouble. if i don't get it back, i'll be going home 90 days later.

i'm hoping that i will get 100% back. >> you're here for your annual review. you're in front of the captain and the staff assistant. this is a 36-year-old parole violator with a new term serving a sentence. it's his strike two. inmate bell received it on 7/28/07. it was a division d offense. he was found guilty and assessed 90 days loss of credit. increasing his release date. to 6/13/2008. inmate bell has met the disciplinary free period and applie for the restoration of credit to be restored. >> i'm going to go ahead and restore your restoration of credit for the mutual combat which is 90 days. you'll be getting that back. you have an early release date coming up, right? >> yes, sir. >> you already did your parole plan? >> yes, sir. >> any other questions? >> no, sir.

>> okay. you have a good day, and good luck to you with your release date of 4/6/08. >> thank you. >> i went in and got my annual review on the situation that went down with me in the last year. i was involved in a mutual combat. but i was granted back my time 100%, my 90 days for credit, so, you know -- >> how do you feel? >> i'm feeling pretty good about that. i'm feeling pretty good about that. i feel pretty good about that. i've been on the yard roughly two years. it's time for me to stay out of the way. you know, you stay out of the way and sit back and meditate on things i'm going to do when i get out and just prepare, prepare to go home and live a better life i'm trying to live. >> while jacob looks forward to getting away from prison politics, for level 1 inmate stephan ferrell, politics play a large part in his everyday existence. >> what i do as a housing clerk

a primary housing clerk for the yard is accommodate people for their race affiliation and medical needs. you have to be very careful about what information you acquire because once you acquire it, then you have certain obligations to pass some of it on. so if you have information you do go to your people first. if there's something going down that you're privy too, if there's information about -- whatever it is, i always go to our remember on the yard first. this is simply the protocol that you follow, and it keeps things organized here. if i don't do that, it would put me at risk. you don't want to get beat up. that's rule number one, protect yourself. and my focus is to get through here with all my teeth. >> stephen learned early that no one is exempt from claiming a race allegiance, nor exempt from the associated violence.

>> i had to fight somebody. and the reason i had to fight them was because at first i said i wasn't going to fight. it being my second or third day in prison, i was informed that if you didn't fight, it would put me at risk. i just accepted where i was and what i was going to have to do, and it wasn't going to kill me. so i -- i fought. and that was pretty much the first fight i've ever been in in my life. i couldn't walk very well for about three or four weeks. i had bruised ribs, bruised kidneys, i had black eyes for about six weeks. what i do to get by here is i make a purpose out of it. if you don't find something valuable in this experience, you're going to come back. and that's what i -- [ whistle blowing ]

>> false alarm. false alarm. >> false alarm. >> how long did it take you to get used to doing that? >> well, when i was in jamestown i got a lot of practice. the yard goes down there a lot. so glad that happened for you guys? >> coming up next on "lockup: extended stay," jacob's release date arrives. but is he ready for the outside world? and later, can the rookie officer stop an inmate's anger from escalating into violence? [ female announcer ] this is not a prescription. this is kate. [ kate ] can't believe i have high blood pressure. what's that thing?

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i'm veronica de la cruz. a credit rating agency downgraded us to aa. the white house says s&p messed up the math and their analysis is off by about $2 trillion. meanwhile, in north carolina at least one person is dead. another missing after heavy rains caused flash flooding near charlotte. i'm veronica de la cruz. let's get you back to "lockup." >> due to mature subject matter, viewer discretion is advised. ♪ i aim to thrill and i flip torpedos like navy s.e.a.l.s ♪ ♪ you can call me bruce willis ♪ because i'm worth the kill and ♪ ♪ you better start running, the bullets coming real fast ♪

♪ they going to catch you ha haters ♪ make you feel that with the brand new cap ♪ ♪ let my pants hang low cock the 0 cal back ♪ ♪ you never had to beef like this ♪ boat burn it really quick ♪ >> get down! get down! yeah. >> [ bleep ]. [ bleep ]. >> how did it go? >> it always go down when the cameras on the yard. ♪ i'm going to take off his neck ♪ ♪ might as well call me bin laden i'm a terrorist threat ♪ ♪ so my guns is quick to blow just like eliot nest ♪

>> hit that [ bleep ] >> when it comes to staff threats, we take them seriously and do everything we can to collect all the information we can. definitely in light of recent events at other institutions -- we always take staff threats seriously and we're going to act on them. >> 17 news at 5:00. >> two inmates stabbed three tehachapi prison guards in what's being described as a violent attack. following the attack, the prison and allstate facilities went into immediate lockdown. authorities say it won't be lifted until they're sure this incident was an isolated one. >> ever since the last incident, in tehachapi, corcoran has been on full alert, searching cells and shaking down inmates to prevent similar attacks in their own prison. >> what are you looking for right now? anything, weapons, anything that

would be considered contraband. pornography, not supposed to have it. we'll give him a cell search receipt saying we took it. most of the time we'll just destroy it because it's not dangerous contraband. >> what are you really looking for? >> just anything like needles, drug paraphernalia, information. like that would be information. that would be information. you got names, numbers, a/k/as. >> what makes the information is so dangerous? >> what we don't know is what's dangerous. these guys had a major staff assault in tehachapi less than a week ago. so we don't know. could it go down here? very easily. you never know. i like to go home after i do my eight and i like to see everyone else go home after they do their eight. if i find something that can keep someone safe, great. have you heard the term birdbath?

where they birdbath inside the cell? these guys made their own shower. you stick it in the end there and hit the button, and they sit over the toilet and wash themselves off, you know. >> pretty handy. >> you've got to improvise, you know? >> that's a trip, man. >> the restrictions of a lockdown and the realities of prison life require new rules of etiquette in order to survive within a cell. >> you got to be compatible with your cellie. two grown men in a cell. both got their own stress and got their own problems. you make it do what it do. it's hard, but it's not impossible. >> it's imperative for us to keep this cell clean. interactions and you walking outside with all the dirt and spit and stuff and you track it back in. >> if i come in off the yard every day, i've been out there walking around, i'm nasty. i got to clean up, clean myself.

>> they got all this [ bleep ] floating around. staph infections and all these other people out there with all these viruses and stuff, so you've got to clean this cell. >> i just came from outside, so instead of me getting in the shower, i use the sink. i fold this up like this. >> the you are then's the sheet. >> this is my curtain. this is my bathroom. i fill this up with water. >> you need to do that anyway. >> this is how we wash our clothes, too, in the toilet. >> see how small that is? got to maneuver it. >> this is cleaning. this is the way we clean our cells. we use the toilet and the sink.

>> but it's kind of limited for us to clean like this because we only get three flushes. i used two flushes already, so i only got one more flush and the whole toilet will be off. you know, you get used to it. hopefully my cellie doesn't have to use the bathroom. it has to sit there in the toilet and we have to put a cover over it. this is the only prison i've been into that got three flushes. i didn't know it when i first got here. nobody tell me. so when i first got here i caught myself taking a [ bleep ] and usually drop one flush one. i kept on pushing, and that's when i found out the hard way. you got to burn incense. you know what i mean, you have find some toilet paper or oil. >> what is that? >> it's praying oil. it's praying oil.

i tape it to the vent. that's how the oil come out of it, so it work. it doesn't kill the smell. that's why you try to use the flushes. that's in case you use all your flushes up then, hey, you got to deal with it. >> cell searches continue at corcoran in the wake of the incident at tehachapi. other incident. giving the rookie officer a crash course. >> it definitely opens your eyes up and lets you know, you know, this can happen to you. so, you take extra precautions in everything you do. make sure no one's behind your back that's not supposed to be there. you just sort of got to live with it. this is what i want to do so i'm here. you know? there's no turning my back now. >> are you worried about pissing some enmate off? >> not at all. i don't go hit cells intentionally. they come at me, i don't hit their cells right after or anything like that. when i do a search, i'm taking what they're not supposed to have.

i don't go beyond that. they know what they're allowed to have. anything i take is the stuff they're not allowed to have. anything altered, any excessive items, any like weapons, paraphernalia, anything, i'll take it. not every inmate is going to agree with us with what we take, but we just got to deal with it. >> how do you handle that? >> we talk to them personally later, usually. like, hey, you need to calm down. we'll see what we can do to resolve this. we don't want anything getting too hectic. try to keep the peace. >> moments later faldon is tested as a simple cell search angers an inmate. >> what? what? what? [ bleep ]. you know what i'm saying? huh? you know what i'm saying? and i don't give a [ bleep ]. i don't give a [ bleep ] about this [ bleep ]. huh-uh?

i ain't never said that. take my [ bleep ] off. i ain't give you nothing but respect, man. i done told you [ bleep ]. tell me, all you got to do is -- didn't do nothing, didn't do nothing. all you got to do is tell me something. something i took from him. we'll have to clear it up later on when we're able to talk to him when he calms down and we'll handle it that way. i think i handled it well. we got him out of here. hopefully it runs smooth tonight. >> coming up next on "lockup: extended stay." the isu search pays off. >> that into your neck wouldn't be a good scenario. >> but will it be enough to stop

more violence? >> something could go wrong and all it takes is something to let it off and it becomes a forest fire. ne all of your missed opportunities in one place. ♪ the race of your life you never ran. the trip around the world you never took. the best-selling novel you never wrote. but there's one opportunity that's too good to miss. the lexus golden opportunity sales event, with exceptional values on the lexus es. but only until september 6th. see your lexus dealer.

last night we conducted cell searches. we rushed up on the door, caught the inmates by surprise. searched them after business hours. upon entering the cell, we found some contraband. metal stock and an inmate-manufactured weapon. we probably caught them in the act in attempting to sharpen and put an edge on the weapon. we feel that's what happened. this is the weapon and metal stock we removed from the cubicle. we placed it out on the bunk to take some better pictures of it. it's nine inches in length.

the one closer to the ruler you can see has a big tapered point. that's some pretty thick metal. it could puncture the skin. it could easily get to a vital organ. you know, that into your neck wouldn't be a good scenario. this is what we're looking for. we're always looking for weapons. any time we remove weapons out of the cell, that means one less weapon out there on the yard. one less weapon that could be used against staff. >> the search has yielded solid results, allowing officers to remove certain suspects from the general population and send them to ad seg while releasing the rest of the southern hispanic population from lockdown. >> this day is unique because it's actually the first afternoon these guys have been on yard in about eight days. like a new kid on the playground

you two go to a new school and start all over again. certain inmates have weapons inside their cells. those individuals are some of the key players on the yard. it's like a spoke on the wheels. now they have to figure out what's going to be done or who is left in charge. i don't think anybody knows yet. they're all still playing the guessing game. they're like little kids. no, i'm the chief. no, i'm the chief. daddy left me in charge. it's sort of like that until somebody gets a word from another source. everybody is out sort of throwing everybody else around waiting to hear from their higher power waiting to hear who got left in power, who's doing what. they're getting in touch with the world, the other side of the fence. >> sergeant rivera knows that survival hinges on information and vigilance in this tenuous environment. >> it would be nice if we had one building at at one time. but we couldn't tell much if we brought one building out at one time. we couldn't tell what was going on with the other units. if we keep them all locked down. it gives the cops a chance to see how the other inmates are

interacting with each other. it gives the cops a chance to interact with the other inmates. it isn't like that all the time. it's just how you conduct yourself and the inmates and how the inmates perceive your actions. at any given time, at any given moment, something could go wrong. all it takes is something to let it off and it becomes a forest fire. >> though the staff believes they've stopped the further situation, there will always be cause for tension between inmates and officers. >> in prison it's not crypts against bloods. even though you have different groups, it's a black thing and everything else. yeah, i'm a crypt. they are blood. but i still speak to them. our war is with the police or the races. it's more race riots than anything than gang riots. my belief is gang. prison life. just like the staff believe for their comrades.

my home boys are my comrades. there's always two sides. i got my gang, they got their gang. they might not be actual gangs but they represent the green uniforms. i represent my blue rag. point-blank. you know, you got some good staff. you got some [ bleep ] staff. i can't let no staff disrespect me because i'm a man. if i let them disrespect me that reflects my home boys. if i don't do nothing to that staff number for disrespecting me, something might be done to me. i've spent nine, ten months in the hole for conspiracy to murder staff. >> was there a conspiracy to murder staff? >> i don't know nothing about that. you know, i never did nothing that they didn't have coming. >> staffs are targeted? >> hell, yeah. >> why do they target them? >> everything have a reason. it can be, okay, it can be a staff, like i say, coming in. he [ bleep ] want to talk to me in a tougher way. i'm not going to accept that. i don't care if he wears green. he bleeds just like i bleed.

you know what i'm saying? >> coming up next on "lockup: extended stay." after more than two years in prison, jacob bell finally has his freedom. >> i feel really nervous right now. i'm really nervous. kind of excited to see my family and things like that. and things like that. okay. i found one that uses robots instead of real people 'cuz robots work for free. robot 1:good morning... robot 1:...female child. sfx: modem dial-up noise woman: flaws? yeah, um, maybe. anncr: there's an easier way to save. anncr: get online. go to geico.com. get a quote. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance.

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every year, hundreds of inmates are processed from corcoran's main gates. each of them must find his own way to survive in the merciless environment behind bars. >> okay. you guys, listen up. i'm going to give you a quick rundown of what's going on in here. you guys have been here for about two hours. okay? i'm going to work on getting you guys housed. the sergeant is going to review your files. you're going to see the nurse. after you see the nurse, you're going to be interviewed by the sergeant.

any questions? >> corcoran staff interviews each inmate individually in an attempt to facilitate his needs. >> how old are you? >> 22. >> you're 22. where were you born at? >> philippines. >> philippines. you got life, huh? >> yeah. >> okay. you take medication? >> no. >> can you cell up with any other race? >> i cell up with asian. >> asian only? >> yeah. >> you're eligible to bunk up with any race right now. >> why's that? >> you've got no history of fighting blacks, hispanics, whites, you have none. you're eligible to be celled up with another race because you've got no history of anything. you understand that? >> right. >> okay. you're going to be going to level 4 gp facility orientation unit and you'll begin your proffer here in a minute. you'll be escorted to a yard, okay? >> okay. even the newest inmates already know the rules that must be followed.

>> on the street i was lrc, crypt. so it's a new world in jail, so it's different, you know. >> when i go to prison i'm an asian person. i'm a crypt on the streets. i'm also asian, because that's who i am. when i come to jail, i got to be -- i got to pick, i got to choose one. >> if i'm a crypt, i've got to go hang with the crypts. i choose to be an asian. so i'm going to be with my people. >> 206447. >> i'm just thinking about who's going to be my cellie. i was just thinking about what cell i'm going to. who's going to be my cellie, is he going to be cool or not? i don't think about the bad situation first. i look at the positive things before the bad.

because if i look forward to the bad things, you know, bad things are going to come, so i just think about the day i hit the yard, who is going to be out there. me, i can finally settle down and just get a job and just start a new life. prison life. >> for those lucky few like jacob bell, the prize for following the rules is a release date. >> it's all over, man, it's all over! all right. thank you, man, god bless you, too. i didn't have too much time to say good-bye. all right, son. because we've been on lockdown lately, but i'm definitely not going to miss this place. this is no place for me anyway. but it is a wake-up call.

i know this is just one step to getting my freedom back. it's a huge step because without my freedom i don't have anything, you know? >> give me your full name. >> jacob lewis bell. v, victor, 27698. >> well, you've got to sign right here for your parole clothes. you've got tennis shoes, your socks, shirt. >> i'm beginning to feel like me again, you know? so far, so good. it's been a long ride. so now i got to get out there and being responsible as far as being there for my kids and doing some positive things for myself, you know? >> okay, let's go. thank you. >> i feel really nervous right now.

i'm really nervous but i'm kind of excited to see my family and things like that. >> thank you. >> as jacob passes through the gates after more than two years in prison, the reality of his release begins to settle in. >> you know, i just can't stop smiling right now. when i was on the inside, you know, i was serious about everything. you know, right now i can, you know, back to smiling and feel good and be myself. you know? i mean, just it feels a whole lot better on this side than on that side, i tell you that. very nervous, though. very nervous. seriously, i don't think i'm coming back to prison. no matter what i have that sense of fear inside of me before i do anything wrong where i can end up. i think that's going to keep me on the right track because this is not it. >> stay out of trouble, take care of yourself. don't let nothing keep you down. you know, keep up that faith, take care of your family.

all right. >> thank you. >> all right? don't come back. >> i won't. >> take care, bell. i think he's going to be okay. >> jacob is finally free. but now a whole new set of rules apply as he must learn to survive back in the free world. >> i think he's going to be fine. of all the people i see coming in here, i hope that's one guy we don't see coming back in here. i think he's got a lot of potential out there.