visited riker's back in 1999, when the commissioner of the new york department of correction was bernard kerikrime policies have continued today. the new york city department of corrections says the result is a remarkable 90% decrease in violence at riker's, which has led to a substantial reduction in the inmate population. five years later, our cameras went back inside rikers to see how this once infamous jail has re-invented itself. >> i've got friends here. i have acquaintances. you don't come here to make friends. >> i know i should have at least 80 something arrests, close to 100 arrests, and i've been here at least about 30 or 40 times. >> it is not a pleasant living space. we're not comfortable. we make ourselves feel comfortable to ease the fact that we're in jail. >> the inmates call rikers the rock. the penal colony. iraq island. the guards call it the meanest precinct in america. welcome to rikers island jail. >> it is easy to get cut up, stabbed, murdered, raped. all type of things you have to deal with in here. if everybody's thinking that this is all good, this is something comin