designed to house more than 2,500 inmates. that's our report. thanks for watching. i'm john seigenthaler. america's prisons, dangerous, often deadly. there are 2 million people doing time. every day is a battle to survive and to maintain order. >> down on your feet, down! >> among the nation's most notorious institutions, san quentin state prison. our cameras spent months documenting life on the inside where gangs, drugs, and sheer boredom make up a violent mix. this is "lockup: san quentin -- extended stay."

as the oldest prison in california, san quentin is steeped in a violent history. >> get out in the yard. take a hole. >> taking in and distributing inmates from 17 counties, its criminal population changes almost every day. >> just keeping this place functional is an enormous effort. >> the prison uses a set of regulations and procedures to maintain order. but inmates often operate under a different code of conduct. >> the inmates have what they call prison politics here, and the gangs control all of that. they have literally written rules and regulations, and the repercussions for not following those rules are serious. >> get down. >> anyone that's active, they are going to hit me if they see me. they are going to kill me, try to slice me.

>> sir, sir, sir, back up, back up, back up. watch where you're walking. there's blood on the ground. maurice, get me another box of gloves. >> the inmate had a serious cut. almost all the way around the side of his head. and a serious cut across his neck. it looks like at least two guys attacked this guy. it looks like it happened right here. you know, when you got this many guys out on the yard, they can pull it off without it being seen. right this second, we don't have any suspects. we don't have the weapon. >> here you go. the victim was a southern mexican gang member.

but, you know, all violence in prison is gang-related. especially when you're talking about an assault where weapons were used where a guy was hurt this badly. i mean, it just doesn't happen without it being ordered or authorized by the gang. we believe right now that it was other southerners that attacked him. you know, he was probably in trouble for one thing or another that he did in his past, violating gang rules. and you can hear them doing their little solidarity inside the unit there. we don't know exactly what he did. hopefully we'll know in the next few days. >> if it's really important for to you get somebody, you're going to get them. coming to prison made me more violent than what i was. it's about getting basically your little piece of america, but in prison. if a new yard opens up, you're going to fight for that handball

court. you're going to fight for some tables. we're going to get our peace for our people, and we're going to secure that area, but if you ain't a northerner and you come into those areas, you're going to get stabbed. it's a whole different lifestyle in here. it can get complicated sometimes. >> san quentin takes in close to 350 inmates a week. they range from the most compliant parole violators to the most violent gang affiliated career criminals. >> place your ring in. >> take your ponytail out. take your necklace off. everything in the can. shoes, socks, everything. >> i mean, i'm looking at the guy. i don't know what he's thinking. i don't know if he's doing 100 years. i don't know if he's doing 100 days. >> put your shirt on, homes, we've got process.

we will get that in a minute. we will change that. >> we do everybody from the minimum years to death row inmates. and we haven't had too many incidents. the main incidents we have had down here is somehow northern hispanic inmates cross paths, and one guy hasn't told us his gang affiliations and then a fight has happened. >> rodriguez. out the door. >> this prison is different than any prison in the state of california. in here they have got level 4, level 1, level 2, 3, mixed in the same unit. the physical layout is different. you've got upper yard, lower yard. it's quite confusing at times. >> inmates who cause problems or are considered dangerous are placed in a section of the prison nicknamed ad seg.

>> ad seg is just short for administrative segregation. like i said, in essence, it's a prison within a prison. >> yes! >> inmates housed in ad seg are not allowed contact visits and must remain in their cells 23 hours a day. when they are allowed out, they are handcuffed and escorted by an officer. >> they are in trouble. most of the time they're in gangs and violence, so for our safety as well as everybody else's safety, we just have them handcuffed behind their back and escort them everywhere they go. >> if you would have came yesterday, i just sent her a portrait i did of her, all red with hearts on it like valentines. she touched my heart. that's why i get weak. that's my son. i can't be with them for ten years. you know, that's hard. >> angel rodriguez has spent two months in administrative

segregation. he's automatically placed there because he's labeled a validated gang member. >> that means that administration has labeled you as being a participant or an associate of those who are known as gang members. so if you're an associate in the administration's eyes, they will lock you up. you know, what the cameras don't see is when it's quiet and people are sitting there doing their time, it gets quiet, we cry too. you know, even though we're in prison, we got feelings too. i'll cry. i don't let my neighbors hear it. i've got to be quiet or i'll run the water. that's how much i miss my girl. you know what i mean? >> doing ten years in a windowless cell with no positive stimulation and unable to touch family members is an unbearable prospect for angel. >> i'm going to try to talk to administration. maybe i can get my family visits. i have somebody i love, somebody that loves me. i have my little son. i know he needs me. i don't want my son to end up like me and be in prison. i don't want that for him. you know what i mean?

i only want good things for him. >> but angel faces a long and difficult process of counselor and committee meetings to get back to general population, the first of which will happen today. >> i feel they should let me out there until i disprove them or whatever. give me the opportunity. >> coming up, angel pleads his case. >> it's up to them to determine to believe me or not, right? so what if i really don't know anything? i'm stuck. >> there's a level of truth and there's a level of dishonesty. >> yes. >> we'll know. >> and sergeant thompson tries to make headway in the soranios gang stabbing case. >> whether they did serious damage to him or not, they were trying to kill him. when you're tries to cut someone on the neck, on the throat like that, there's only one thing they were trying to do to smoke get that confidence that i could do it. some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. some people had seizures while taking chantix. if you notice any of these,

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since 1991, every time i come to prison, boom, i come to the hole just because of their evaluation. >> angel is currently serving a ten-year sentence for infliction of corporal injury. and despite his good behavior, he's being housed in ad seg. >> in talking to angel rodriguez. he's on my caseload. he wants to be released from ad seg, but we have information in our records that he was a validated gang member. >> even if, like, say the gang, they say, oh, no, angel is not a part of us, but we know him, it's up to the administration to believe it, and they don't believe it, so i'm going to be stuck in the hole for a whole which limits my contact with my girl and son. i want to go out there and hold my son and get contact visit. i don't want to be stuck back here, especially for ten years. >> okay. we can go and close the door. thank you. okay. so i looked over your file, and you were placed in ad seg

primarily because you are a validated member of the northern structure. so i understand in your old file there was a lot of good information that you had been a dropout or that you were trying to get out of the group, is that true? >> not a dropout because i never affiliated myself. that's just on paperwork. >> i'm sure there's information out there that says whether or not you are active or inactive, whether you're a dropout, whether your life is in jeopardy. all these things we looked at and that process, the same process that validates you, that can undo that, but it will take some time. >> but here's my concern right here is that being that i was never really involved in an in-depth basis, so, therefore, if i tell the igi, whatever, i don't really know nothing, and it's up to them to determine to believe me or not, right? so what if i really don't know anything, i'm stuck. >> that's going to be between you and them. what's going to happen is there's a level of truth and there's a level of dishonesty. >> yeah. >> we'll know. >> yeah, because i don't want to do my time in the shu again. >> you won't. as long as you -- as long as

your debrief is accepted and it can be corroborated that you are actually a dropout and not active, you will be able to go to main line, but you have to complete this process and you have to be patient and you have to be cooperative. okay? >> all right. >> good talking to you. >> all right. >> yeah, because like i said, i have been down there since '91. i feel because i told them i have ten years to do, they are going to set me on the back burner and take their time. say what? >> why don't you just talk? >> say what? i don't have nothing to say. i mean, you know what i mean but they just probably want to see if i will cooperate and tell them something they already know. that's what they want to see. i'm still going to say like i said last time, i don't know nothing. i hate it. that's how i feel. i don't think it's right, but i can't do nothing about it. i'm in here. i've placed myself in prison so i've got to go by their rules. >> if angel decides to talk to prison officials, he will most

likely be placed in protective custody, also known as pc or sny, short for sensitive needs yard. once an inmate debriefs, there's no going back. >> i don't like to run the yard. i like to play pinochle or cut hair. i don't really run around in the yard. >> george mariscal is an ex-northern structure gang member who lives in sny. because this yard is a mish-mash of inmates who can't function in general population, some consider it an even worse place than ad seg. >> this is the dirtiest place of all places. you're pc, you get to be amongst the garbage in the system. that's where we are right now. we are in the garbage of the system. because in the main line if you are not a gang member or caught up in any type of control aspect, dope trade or whatever, then you are nothing on the main line. here you can be whoever you want. you can be a rapist, child

molester. or gang dropout, which is me. don't get it mixed up. i'm a gang dropout. you can be whoever you want to be. you can be a transvestite. you can be a snitch. and no one is going to trip on you. if i go to main line, let's say i get escorted past the main lines, they are going to call me a piece of [ bleep ], rat because i've told certain things to get here. >> is your life in danger? >> yes. if i go to the main line, if i go to the streets and they recognize me as a gang dropout, they're going to try to hit me, which means kill me or slice me or shoot me. >> when he was younger, george might have carried out that very hit. but as he rose through the ranks, he questioned his involvement in the gang. >> it took me from '88 to '99 to figure out that it was a big ole lie, big old smokescreen. most of the people who are calling the shots are lifers anyway. and misery loves company. they would like to see you as a violator doing life just like them, caught up in the system doing life. >> you're moving my head that way. >> i'm not moving it. you're moving it. >> i want a nice little haircut

and he gives me a bald head. whatever the barber says goes. >> i ain't got time to give him, you know, his hair is pretty short. >> a lot of these other individuals were waiting before me. but i'm his celly, so i get in there. >> i was a northerner. i was a member of the northern california gang member. to be honest, i just wanted to be a gang member, to be honest. and at that time i thought, okay, i'm going to represent the neighborhood and this and this and that. you know, no enemy is going to come step foot on our territory. but i mean, at the same time it was also just for looks when i was in school because girls like gangsters. you know what i mean? they don't like little square boys. do you know what i mean? they liked gangsters. so that was part of the reason why i did too because, you know, i got a lot of attention for it. and i loved it. i'm not going to lie. i loved it. i mean, to be honest, if i could take the time back, i wouldn't be here. >> unlike his cellmate, george, phillip still questions his decision to drop out.

one month ago, he told us why he left the gang. >> my home boys like the northerners, they gave me some contraband to hold for the house. and i was holding it and everything like that. during the process of me holding it, i lost it. so instead of just going to my home boys and letting them know, there was some violent information in that contraband that i thought was going to cost me my life or safety of my life. instead of letting everybody know, i just rolled up. i thought they were going to move on me and that's it. if i could go back and if i would have known better, that i wouldn't have to have left, i wouldn't have left. i would have stayed there. >> coming up, the investigative services unit shakes up the yard. >> hands on your head. there's going to be a little search. >> hands on your head, gentlemen. >> don't pick nothing up. >> sergeant thompson questions the gang stabbing victim. >> victims very frequently don't want to cooperate with us. but you've got to use everything you can do to try to figure out what happened.

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these are photos of the assault that took place on friday in badger section. inmate had some pretty serious wounds to his head made by a slashing-type weapon. >> although sergeant thompson is still searching for suspects in the gang stabbing, two things are clear. the victim was stabbed by his fellow gang members and their intent was not just to scare him. >> whether they did serious damage to him or not, they were trying to kill him. it's fairly common they'll try to cut each other in the face. just another way in prison to let him know he's no good, you try to cut somebody on the neck or throat, there is only one thing they are trying to do. there's all kinds of reasons why these guys can be assaulted by their own. we have an idea of why it is here. we are pretty positive we know. but it's an active investigation so we don't really to want

disclose it right now. the next thing we will do is try to talk to the victim. the victims very frequently don't want to cooperate with us. we know very little about the suspects. i mean, we can't even positively say who it is right now. and he knows who did this to him, and he knows why. so we will try to talk to him and see if he has anything to say and go from there. >> do you remember me from friday? sergeant thompson? i just want to talk to you about what happened. they got you pretty good, huh? so you know i'm just here doing my thing, right? my bosses told me to come talk to you to see what we could find out, right? >> after five minutes of questioning, it becomes clear that the victim won't share any information. sergeant thompson has no choice but to give up for now. >> all right, man. i'm sergeant thompson in isu. just remember my name in case, all right? take care. >> hey, lock up.

>> we want to get our job done and here's a guy who doesn't see the big picture. he thinks someday he's going to get his status back. i don't know what he thinks. i don't know what he could possibly think. he's just attacked. you know, if somebody attacked me, i'd be telling all day long. it was him, it was him. these guys just don't have anything to say. i don't know. >> bottom line is, when we see people out there doing gang business, challenge them. >> those inmates do not run this yard. you run this yard, and i want you as a staff to go down and take it back. basically what's happened is over the years, the department of corrections has pretty much given over control of the general populations to gangs. i worked at san quentin at a period in my early years, and san quentin was a source of

pride. people loved working here. they were proud to work here. but over a period of the last few years, san quentin had developed a very unsavory reputation in the department. we need to focus on behavior. quit wasting your time trying to validate somebody as a this or a that and focus on what they're doing. if there's something that i can do that can help the people regain the sense of self-esteem that i had in my younger days, i would really want to do that. we all know what gang behavior is. they don't have a right to do that. and you have every -- you have a responsibility, not a right, a responsibility to challenge him and say, you're not doing that. not here. not on my watch. not in my unit. not on my yard. okay. thank you.

>> thank you. >> we have to keep in mind, this is a small city. the inmates are the population of the small city, and correctional officers are the police force for that small city. >> a specialized group of officers is responsible for monitoring gang activity. this is the investigative services unit or isu. >> i've been spending a lot of time challenging isu to get out and take the lead. be the spear tip out there to challenge gangsters and tell them, you can't do that on our yard. >> we're tasked to cover anything that affects institutional activity, in-prison truck trafficking, responding to services, crime scene investigations, but our prison gangs tend to cause the most problems here in the institution. so they are mainly our focus. >> we will be putting cuffs on. so we're going to put cuffs on him and then get him out. >> if you're working in prison, this is the best job to v these

guys are self-motivated. they are out the door handling something before i even get the chance to tell them to go do it. >> i'm the runt. i'm the baby. i'm the rookie. i'm the rookie. everybody is bringing me under their wings and saying, come on, let's go learn. you see all the, i guess you can say, backstage work, where it all goes. oftentimes we will find things, weapons or kites, and you wonder where it all went after you turn it in. well, now you get a chance to see it and how investigations work and how prisons are linked, how we can link up real fast with another prison, hey, do you have so and so there. we just got a kite on this guy. so it's nice to see how it all works, comes together. >> anybody else want a piece of gum, make sure we don't disrespect them? fresh breath. fresh breath 101. what do they call me? big mo. mongo is the new one now. from "blazing saddles." >> mo?

man, where do i start with mo? he is a good guy. you know, when he first came to san quentin, he was able to share information with us. opening came up, he jumped on it. we brought him in. >> we know what we are doing. just going down to the lower yard and doing the usual things with the gangsters. warden wants us to pay more attention to the lower yard. we'll have them all walk over to the industries wall. we will pat them down. i want names and numbers on everybody. make sure you have something to write on. and then anybody that catches our attention, we will find their housing and go visit their house while they are still on the yard. that will be that. >> the majority of prison crime happens on the yards. isu's surprise searches are part of an effort to prevent violence. >> they are down there passing drugs. they are down there passing information. there are orders on who is to be hit. who is supposed to be holding weapons. who is supposed to be holding drugs. that's their time to do their business, and i could walk the yard and not catch half of what's going on. they are good at what they do. >> coming up on "lockup" -- >> you don't know what's going

to happen. it could go real smooth or they could decide to soldier up. so it's a little bit of a different game face. the house tried to keep out all the water, but water got inside and ruined everybody's everythings. the house thought she let the family down. they just didn't think it could happen. they told the house they would take better care of her... always. announcer: protect what matters. get flood insurance. come from all walks of life. if you have high blood sugar, ask your doctor about farxiga. it's a different kind of medicine that works by removing some sugar from your body. along with diet and exercise, farxiga helps lower blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes. with one pill a day, farxiga helps lower your a1c. and, although it's not

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♪ ♪ i'm in this and i'm catching more fish than a gordon ♪ ♪ so everybody bounce your head like a b-ball ♪

♪ coming and i chew them up like a gumball ♪ ♪ selling more platinum than a harry potter ♪ ♪ we got it buy food in california and when i open my mouth you know what i'm talking about ♪ ♪ now i'm catching more fish than the gordon's ♪ ♪ i'm the king of the arena so bounce your head like a b-ball ♪ there you go. >> to the inmate in san quentin, it may seem like just another day on the yard. but the investigative services unit has something else in mind. and it could mean a bad day for inmates holding contraband. >> these guys can resist us.

if they've got weapons on them, obviously we want to get to the weapon before they get to the weapon. we try to control their hand. we always watch their hands. they hide weapons in their mouths, you know, in their bodies. >> give us ten seconds. >> so, you know, you've got to pay attention. you've got to keep control of the situation. and just swoop in on them before they see you coming. >> gentlemen, listen up. happens on your head. this is just going to be a little search. don't pick nothing up. you guys slowly walk over towards the wall over here. gentlemen, this way. >> hold up. hold up. >> hey, mo, spread them out a little bit. >> come on out of there. slide down, slide down. >> you've got one behind you. >> go ahead, gentlemen, turn around for me. take your shirt off for me. our biggest thing is safety. the less confrontation, the better. minimize any kind of threat.

we're here to keep the peace. and if that means we prosecute to maintain that control and maintain that peace, then that's what we have to do. >> they are going to hold these guys on the wall. let's hit their area and see if they left anything behind. >> mainly when we are searching these guys, we are looking for weapons, obviously. we're looking for information. these guys write down a lot of information. they call them kites, the notes they write. these are the kind of areas they will hide them in. they'd rather lose the information than be caught with it. so a lot of times when they see a search coming they'll drop them wherever they are at and move on. it's always fun to find something, though. it makes it worthwhile. you go through a dry period where your routine gets a little stale, but when you come up good on a search, it kind of charges the batteries. >> i was doing my search here and inside the dirt there moving the dirt back and forth i found these two kites and underneath these two kites was this piece here. i believe it to be a weapon. >> is it a razor? >> i believe it to be a razor.

tomahawk. so we'll take it with us. >> cool. >> another weapon. >> found another one? >> found another one. >> share the wealth. share the wealth, brother. >> we're going to go into the gym. a couple of those inmates had some tattoos indicative of gang membership. we're going to go take a look at their bunk areas, their lockers, see what they may have left behind in their bunks. s-3, s-2. >> watch out. i got gloves, so watch for needles. he's on fire. here we go. he come up with another one. that's a tattoo pattern. i'm going to try to prove myself, and i got the veteran here to my right knocking it out left and right.

>> you've got a roster? >> roster. this is good stuff because a lot of time what these guys do when they are writing their kites, instead of signing their name, they will sign an aka, which is not that easy -- not that hard to figure out, but a lot of times will go a step further and i'll come up with what they are identifying themselves and this is a list showing which inmates goes with along with which code. these kind of keys are invaluable. >> the officers head back to the unit to examine the weapons they found and decode the hidden messages in the kites. this newfound information could lead to an arrest in one of the many cases that is ongoing. >> we are always trying to figure out exactly how much work we are doing. we have enough work you could double the staff at this institution and there would still be plenty of work for everybody. it never ends. >> yeah, this food sucks.

prison food is nasty. that looks like some type of chicken something. in some type of sauce. doesn't look very appetizing. looks like it's going to be a canteen night for myself. because i'm definitely not eating that. >> speedy entered protective custody after dropping out of his gang, the nlr. >> what's up? all right. >> we kicked it with the southern mexicans. and to be a white guy and to kick it with mexicans that are basically low riders, that's where the nlr term came from. was the low riders. to get into that, you have to have three different hits on three different people. i ran the organization. drug trafficking, making money, just a lot of violence and a lot of [ bleep ].

i'm in protective custody because i'm a dropout. i get to live with child molesters and rapos and weirdos, and people that are mentally sick. this is what i get for debriefing. >> look, i got married. >> shy boy give it to you? >> huh? >> shy boy proposed to you? >> yeah. >> people that i have met since i've been in this type of unit are in my yard. i have met people that i have actually befriended and know a lot about. out on the mainline, i wouldn't have even talked to them. we would be trying to kill each other. and now we are right next door to each other. we eat out of the same bowl. they are my friends. we're together as one in here. >> how i met speedy though, he was a good drawer, right, and my wife, she like art, right? that's really how we met up is he showed me some of his good work. he has good work. he can draw real good.

right? the type of stuff that i send home to my wife, and she likes that type of stuff. so, me and speedy, we cool. he's a cool cat. >> not being a bigot -- when you're not busy hating people, it's pretty cool to get to know them because there are a lot of people that have a lot to say. that have cool stories. to not like somebody because of the way they look or because of the color of their skin is ignorant. and my ignorance showed for a long time, and i'm glad i'm away from it. coming up on "lockup" -- some inmates get special attention on the sny yard. >> they're looking at all this. it just goes along with the territory. you know? that's what you are going to get a lot of cat calling from the guys and stuff like that. and later -- >> we got information on who some of these guys are that were involved with the slashing. >> sergeant thompson prepares for an arrest in the surenos gang stabbing case.

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i'm on this side, protective custody, because of, you know, all the drama that goes on over on the main line. living my alternative lifestyle here, it's not really hard because you are surrounded by a lot of men. there is a lot of men in here. you know what i mean?

and to a lot of men in here, we are like the closest thing to females to them. >> they are looking at me. they're looking at all this. >> it just goes along with the territory. you know, if you're in that alternative lifestyle, that's what you are going to get, a lot of cat calling from the guys and stuff like that. and it's going to make you feel pretty. >> i'm married right now. to somebody in here and everybody knows that, and so everybody leaves me alone. >> yes, i do. as a matter of fact, he's right here. this is him right here. >> what do you like about her? >> well, i like her personality. she keeps it real. she keeps it real all the way around. you know what i'm saying? she don't lie, don't cheat, don't steal. you know what i'm saying? she's not shy. you know what i'm saying i like that. she don't mess around and i like that. you know what i'm saying? she's a woman and a woman needs to be a woman.

>> when i met him, i met him -- i had met him on the street. okay, and he was already on parole and i was on parole. and it took like a whole month for him to tell me that he was on parole. you know what i mean? but he finally told me that he was on parole and he had also told me that he was married. he was married. you know what i mean, to a female out there. so he had a wife when i met him, you know, but -- and we both ended up in here together, you know what i mean? when i seen him, i was like, whoa, you know what i mean? so we decided to go ahead and become cellmates. he told his wife on the streets about me. he wrote a letter and told her about me, and about a month later, she served him divorce papers. he got divorce papers served here. >> that's my number one hero. i'm always going to love her. that's going to be my number one pride and joy. ain't nobody else step in front of that. nobody.

>> i got sunblock on my hand. >> we ain't worried about it. look at the camera. >> while some inmates get along together in sny, others have a more difficult time. >> i got into an incident out there where they said if i'm found guilty, they're going to take away my status. so it means that they could send me back to the shu or the main line, general population. >> one of the things that is always in the front of everybody's mind in committee is when inmate x comes in and sits down and says, i have to lock up in protective custody because i don't want to play the gang politics anymore. >> if i was living in general population, i would have to stab the first person i see. if not, i'm going to get stabbed. unless they find out who i am. >> well, is this really a wolf in sheep's clothing that truly wants to get into the pc unit to hurt somebody who has already gone in there?

>> this subsequent classification hearing, we are going to talk about your housing again today. >> san quentin employs a multilevel screening process before inmates are allowed into protective custody in order to ensure that the sny population remains safe. this ex-gang member is currently in ad seg for threatening a cellmate, but he wants to be returned to sny. >> there was a battery that was in 2005, the current charge, though, is of threatening another inmate. >> he doesn't want to be housed with inmates who have sex-related offenses, whether it be against women or children or such. even though he's kind of in the same boats because now he's also requesting protective custody, he has to be safeguarded from the rest of the general population. realistically whether he is a gang dropout or has sex crimes, as far as the general population goes, it doesn't really matter. but he still wants to have that mentality that he is a little bit better than a particular inmate in the prison setting.

>> did you have a problem going back out to that particular housing unit? >> you know what -- >> refusing a celly? >> like i said, i was out there, never got in any trouble while i was out there. me personally, right, it's like if i don't know anything about you, i'm just trying to do my time and go home. you know, i didn't mess with them. i never downtalked to them. i never picked on them. i just went over there and let everybody alone and did my thing. but this individual started telling me about his case, and i got my pictures on my wall of my little girl and little boy. it's kind of hard. that's why i told the co i don't want to be here with this guy. if you could please move me. >> okay. >> but, like i says, i got no problem. >> let me just -- i'm going to tell you something you know. >> yeah. >> once you go over into special program -- >> yeah, i know. i know that. >> and because we gave you that song before you ever went over there the first time. okay? >> yeah. >> so you can't be going over there saying you have an issue with these kinds of people or

those kinds of people. you know, that's the bottom line. >> i believe what we are going to do today, we are going to assess and impose a shu term for the threat. since you were found guilty of that, you can appeal that at a later time. >> yeah. >> all right, so we are going to suspend the remainder of that. the recommendation is to release you today from the shu. we are going to put you up for transfer. the recommendation is for, you are level three, so he is going to be probably salinas valley or high desert. >> any way you can put me up close to like folsom? >> the quickest one you can get out to is the one you need to go to right now. and you're a veteran. so we don't need to tell you this, but, you know, if you pick up anything, it's just going to delay that trend. >> that's what i've been trying not to do. >> okay. all right. you got any other questions? >> no. that's it. i mean -- >> all right. thank you. >> we were satisfied that he could go back in the special program unit until he gets his

transfer to where he's ultimately going to live, which is going to be a sensitive needs yard someplace. and what we tell people when they go into protective custody, once you have made that decision, you're in with all kinds of people that are -- have protective custody needs and you don't get to differentiate who can be in there and who can't. >> it's 5:15 a.m. at san quentin, and the prison appears silent. but in the isu offices, there's a meeting planning for a surprise arrest. it's taken isu nearly two months to identify four suspects in the surenos gang stabbing. >> we've got information on who some of these guys are that were involved in the slashing, and we are following up on it this morning, but we can't really get into how we got the information. >> guys ready?

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after an exhaustive investigation, sergeant thompson is ready to make an arrest in the surenos gang stabbing case. it's 5:30 a.m.

and the officers are hoping the suspects are asleep. >> hand, hands, hands, let me see your hands. >> hand, hands, hands, let me see your hands. >> hands, hands, hands. >> as the suspects are led away to ad seg holding cells to be strip searched, sergeant thompson and other isu officers comb through the cells for contraband. >> looking for more weapons, any indication of gang membership. >> why do we hear so many toilets flushing at once?

>> it is first thing in the morning, but it's a good possibility they think that they might be next, and they might be getting rid of whatever they have in their cell. you know, we are not here with the intention of demolishing their cells. but sometimes they got a lot of stuff, and you want to do as thorough a search as you can. and that's that's the way it goes. >> is that a can lid? >> it looks like a can lid or something sharp. >> shawna. >> he's the suspect in the -- you know.

>> yeah. >> that's two cases for him. >> yes. >> with the search completed, isu officers have found enough evidence to make a strong case against the suspects. but the find of the day was made by officer de la rosa. >> i don't have anything to say, really. >> hopefully the stuff we are going through, you know, we might get lucky and find enough information about the assault, just a little more evidence to pile onto it. i am confident that those guys are going to do some extra time for that. they are going to spend a lot of time in the shu. you know, we're always excited to get a weapon out of there. that's almost better than the rest of this. so it's a good morning. >> even though this case is almost closed, the isu's work is far from over. >> by the time you finish up one, you know, you've already got two or three more stacked up in front of you. so finishing this one up and moving on. >> these people do a pretty darn good job in here every day, and they do a darn good job in a

very difficult environment. much to the frustration of my wife, when i come in, i don't like to relive my day, and she wants to know what's going on, what happened today, i tell her, nothing, which just frustrates the hell out of her because she wants to know every little thing that went on. and like i told her, i've already lived it once. i don't need to do it again. just another routine day at the prison. >> as the lights go out, the four stabbing suspects are in administrative segregation, and for the guys in the tier there, it's a typical good night rallying cry. >> attention.

america's prisons, dangerous, often deadly. there are 2 million people doing time. every day is a battle to survive and to maintain order. >> down on your feet. down. >> among the nation's most notorious institutions. san quentin state prison. our cameras spent months documenting life on the inside where gangs, drugs, and sheer boredom ke