and some younger groups have come in and it's creating a lot of problems for us here at the bexar county jail>> the capacity for 4,500 men and women, bexar county jail is larger than many state prisons. most of the inmates here are pretrial detainees, meaning they have only been charged with crimes and are awaiting the resolution of their cases. but that doesn't stop violence. >> code 2! >> code 2. an inmate has just assaulted an officer. a jail special emergency response team, or s.e.r.t., answers the call. >> put your head to the wall. >> what's your name? >> juan rubio. >> 766399. >> injuries. >> right there to the nose. >> redness -- >> redness around the ear. it's all good. >> i don't have a statement. >> the report will read that juan rubio, currently in jail on charges including aggravated robbery, to which he has pled not guilty, was on his way to the recreation yard when he stopped for a drink of water. corporal odegaard then instructed him to hurry along. >> he turned, threw the water at me, struck me several times in the left side of my face. as he was striking me and i was defendi

ranging from drug possession to murder can be a stressful job for officers in san antonio's bexar county jailn i talk to you? i want to talk to you real for a second. >> even more so, when the jail faces staffing shortages. >> we're at least 120 officer short. right now we're doing what we call a mandatory overtime program where we're requiring officers to stay over after their shift is completed for at least a couple hours. talking to the officers, you can see this is stressing them, really stretching it and hopefully we can do something about that in the near future so it isn't the proverbial rubber band and snap. >> the demands on staff extend beyond inmate housing units to service areas such as the jail's mail room. >> the most overwhelming aspect is not the mail itself, it's the volume of the mail. on a busy day, we'll get about 2600 pieces of mail coming in. going out we probably send out half that, 1300 pieces. daily. then we'll go to the cutting machine and open them all up. and we start the inspection process. we don't read all of the mail. however, we do scan the mail. we open it, i

during our shoot at san antonio's bexar county jail, we did meet some inmates willing to talk.al protective custody unit for gang members who had had enough. >> the ex-gang unit was night and day different than any of the active units we had been to. the inmates had a sense of relief that getting out of the gang provided them, and it showed. >> the ex-gang unit is the only place where those affiliated with warring gangs live together peacefully. but they're fully aware their decisions to leave their gangs carry consequences that could follow them forever. >> we always tell any ex-member of any major prison gang, your life is in danger. there is somebody out to get you. it is going to happen. just remember that you were part of a criminal enterprise and you left it, and there is by their bylaws a hit on you. >> that's the way it goes. you're in it for life or you're dead, you know, there's no -- there's no way out of it. >> victor, who requested we only use his first name for security reasons, once a lieutenant in the mexican mafia. he defected, while serving a prior 23-year pri

number of dangerous gang members joining their inmate population, officials at san antonio's bexar county jailnit. but in one section of the jail, old enemies have made peace. >> i just got to think positive, you know? just hope that everything goes okay, know what i mean? >> johnny robles, a former member of the tango orojones, has found a sympathetic friend in victor, a former member of the rival mexican mafia gang. both men have dropped out of the gangs and are now housed in the jail's ex-gang members unit. >> it feels like reality hasn't hit yet. even though it did hit -- >> robles, charged with attempted capital murder, has been devastated by the recent death of his 3-year-old daughter. >> i ended up losing my daughter in a car accident. i loved her very much. she was so beautiful. she was always so beautiful. i don't think no one could ever take this pain away. i try to do other things so my mind won't think about it. it's hard to. you ain't got no control over yourself, you know? >> it doesn't matter how much you try to push it out of your mind, it's always there. it's always there. the

ticket to a better night's sleep ♪ >>> there are about 3500 men and women housed in san antonio's bexar county jailhare something in common with each other and the staff. unlike prison, where inmates typically arrive from all over the state, jails cater to a single county or city. so it's not unusual for anyone here to come across a familiar face. when officer moore first noticed thomas he was more than a little surprised. >> at first i saw the guy and i was like, is that him? you get that -- is that him? no it's not him, is that him? no, it's not him. >> three years earlier he was making a name for himself in san antonio. due to the popularity of his barbecue restaurant and catering service. >> being a connoisseur of barbecue, i thought i would check it out and the food was delicious. i mean his brisket, whatever you name it, he did it. officer moore's brother was a fan of his barbecue as well. >> he came to my home, met my kids, catered my party at my house and everything. came over, he barbecued. everything was wonderful, beautiful. like i said he was a pillar of the community. >> the business w

and this turf war has expanded from the streets to inside the walls of san antonio bexar county jail.> traditionally the mexican mafia, an outgrowth of a prison gang, had been a controlling gang here in san antonio, but here lately because members of the mexican mafia are getting older and some younger groups have come in and it's creating a

the bexar county jail is a modern-day fortress that houses approximately 3500 male and female inmates. most have only been charged with crimes and are awaiting trial for the resolution of their cases. >> we're very regulated on how we have to handle inmates. we realize that even though they're incarcerated, they still have rights. we also realize that we're not here to punish or to convict anyone. it's just to hold them. >> but in jail, holding inmates is never a simple proposition, especially when they don't want to be held. >> a lot of the gang members, because they're secured in a cell for 23 hours a day, they've got all that time to, you know, think of different games they can play with the officers. because they're trying to create a reputation for themselves that they're not to be messed with. >> i'm easy to get along with, but once somebody disrespects me or something, we going -- we going to take care of business. >> jose hidalgo is a member of what officials describe as the fastest growing and most notorious gang in the jail. the tango orejones. but hidalgo describes the gang

. ♪ >> behind the seven-story high walls of san antonio's bexar county jail there is an >> ever-changingrama that is played out daily among the 3,500 men and women incarcerated here. >> life in the county, baby. >> the majority of them have only been charged with crimes and here awaiting trial on the resolution of their cases. but for some, waiting can be unbearable. the jail's medical staff responds to a code one alert. a medical emergency. an inmate has just attempted suicide by hanging. he is 28-year-old arnulfo guerra. guerra is alive but unconscious. medics work to assess the extent of his injuries. the officer discovered guerra. he was called in after another officer reported that guerra had covered the lights in his cell making it difficult to see inside. >> the duty officer called us. we responded to do a check. and noticed he was hanging. he tad taken the bed sheet, tore into a strip, and around his neck a couple of times. i cut him down and he was still breathing. >> san antonio fire department paramedics arrive, guerra has begun to regain consciousness. >> he was on his knees